This is what I've been talking about...

The rumour is that Donadoni have pulled out "after expressing dissatisfaction at the way the club have handled the appointment, and the decision to rate his former understudy in the Italian national set-up as a better prospect."

This is what I have been afraid of since we first saw West Ham officials and people closely associated with West Ham (Kia) going public with shortlists and their thoughts on the candidates before the selection process was finished and a contract signed.

Again I have to bore you with my experience of hiring processes.
You tell people of the outcome after someone have signed the contract. This is common sense as well as common practise at any company, and that for a good reason. If “the chosen one” pulls out at the last moment (or suddenly comes up with new demands that you cannot accept - which is not unheard of), you need to go back to number 2 on the list and at that point you don’t want him insulted by official statements!
After some time it will also be apparent that you are going down a list so you don’t want people to know who you have been courting, so leaking the list, and/or confirming the names was another mistake.
At this point I sincerely hope that Zola is the one agreed on by the board and that it is 100% sure that he will sign and that there are no major issues left to be discussed.

And I was the one to be grateful that businessmen ran this club – now I’m not quite sure who is.
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