Zola unhappy over owners' pay-cut talk

West Ham's leading shareholder CB Holding said Wednesday they were in no hurry to sell their stake in the Premier League club if offers didn't meet their own valuation.Former Birmingham City owners David Sullivan and David Gold are understood to have tabled a 50 million pounds takeover bid - around half of what the club think the east London side are worth.Sullivan and Gold are reportedly also ready to give manager Gianfranco Zola some 20 million pounds for transfers during the January window to bolster a squad struggling to escape the Premier League relegation zone.

Former Birmingham owners David Gold and David Sullivan have taken control of West Ham after acquiring a 50 percent stake in the English Premier League club, they confirmed on Tuesday.The announcement came after Tony Fernandes, the chief executive of AirAsia and the boss of the Lotus Formula One team, confirmed that he had pulled out of the race.The Malaysian businessman posted a message on Twitter which read: "Deal lost on West Ham. Hopefully new owners protect what's good. We gave awesome deal and new ideas to rejuvenate a club and bring excitement."

West Ham claimed a crucial 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Portsmouth in Saturday's relegation battle at Upton Park.Gianfranco Zola's side started the day just one point ahead of rock bottom Portsmouth, but goals from Alessandro Diamanti, who put the hosts ahead with a first half penalty, and Radoslav Kovac enabled the Hammers to boost their hopes of beating the drop.It was West Ham's first win since late November and Zola will be hoping for another Christmas revival from his club, who were in the relegation zone at this stage last season before climbing clear.

Gianfranco Zola remains confident his West Ham side can turn their season around despite falling back into the Premier League relegation zone following the 2-1 home defeat to Everton.Louis Saha and Dan Gosling struck either side of the break on Sunday to give David Moyes?s side a two-goal cushion and while an own-goal from Tony Hibbert gave hope of a West Ham fight-back, they were unable to find the equaliser that would have extended their unbeaten run to four games.

David Sullivan and David Gold increase their control of West Ham by upping their shares in the club to 60%.

Gianfranco Zola believes his struggling West Ham side can pull away from the relegation zone after claiming their first victory since the opening day of the season.A 2-1 defeat of Aston Villa on Wednesday evening was also the Hammers' first home win of the season and Zola believes the gutsy performance from his players could represent a turning point in what has been a tough campaign so far.An injury-time winner from substitute Zavon Hines sealed the points after Villa's Ashley Young had cancelled out a Mark Noble penalty.

West Ham owner David Sullivan says the club faces "Armageddon" if it goes down this season.

West Ham have appointed Avram Grant as their new manager on a four-year contract, subject to a work permit, the Premier League club confirmed on Thursday.The Hammers have been searching for a boss since Gianfranco Zola was sacked at the end of an unsuccessful season for the east London outfit.The 55-year-old Israeli led Portsmouth to last month's FA Cup final before leaving Fratton Park two weeks ago and also coached Chelsea into the 2008 Champions League final.