Gianfranco Zola has been speaking about his excitement at landing the job he simply 'couldn't say no' to.
The new manager of West Ham United, who was unveiled at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, said that when the offer came there only ever going to be one answer. A smiling Zola said: "It is a great club and I couldn't have said no. I'm very pleased to have accepted it. It's a great opportunity and I'm sure I can do a good job."
He already has a vision for the style of football he wants to see at the Boleyn Ground, joking: "I told the club already that I want to play with ten defenders but they didn't trust me!
"It's my philosophy is to play offensive football if I can as I have always done that so we will try to play this style of football. What we do here is to make it enjoyable for the players and for the club," he added.
The Italian also has ideas about the type of manager he wants to be. He said: "The players need to trust what you are doing and know everything you are doing is for the good of the team. That is what I am going to try to do and when the players see that it will not be necessary to tell them off - but if I need to tell them off that's what I will do!"
The forward was famed for his flair and skill as a player and it is clear that he intends to translate that into his role as manager. "When you play nice football it is a joy and I firmly believe that the best part of your game comes when you are enjoying it so my first target is to make it enjoyable for the players. Once this happens their performances will be better and the club will get the best of them," he said.
Although Zola has spent the last two years as coach of the Italy Under-21 team, he is more than familiar with his new players. "West Ham have good quality players here. I already know of [Craig] Bellamy, [Valon] Behrami, [Lucas] Neill, [Dean] Ashton and Carlton Cole, who started his playing days with me. The first thing will be to see them playing, see what system they use and then put my ideas into it."
The new manager was keen to stress that once he is settled in, he has high hopes for the future. "This club is ambitious and I am ambitious too. I want to get better and better ... ambition is very important to me. As long as you work hard and you know what you are doing you will be fine," he added.