It has been a troublesome time for West Ham both on and off the pitch. Monday night’s 3-1 defeat at Manchester City left Gianfranco Zola’s men languishing in the Premier League’s bottom three, albeit with a game in hand on many of their fellow-strugglers. And the club have been hit with four Football Association charges in relation to crowd trouble at August’s Carling Cup win over bitter local rivals Millwall.

The Hammers have failed to win since the season’s opening day when they overcame newly-promoted Wolves at Molineux. And Zola was uncharacteristically forthright ahead of this Sunday’s trip to Craven Cottage, which he described as a “Cup Final”, which indeed it was in 1975, a game West Ham won 2-0. The Sardinian said: “We are preparing for a cup final on Sunday, so everybody will be producing the best thunder they can give, including myself. “I am angry with myself, my team and with everybody right now. At the moment, it’s not good enough.”

Zola, meanwhile, is looking back to his homeland in order to strengthen his squad during the January transfer window. With West Ham’s problems mainly considered to be in front of goal, Zola has been keeping a close eye on developments at Bayern Munich where Italian international Luca Toni has taken his description as a striker a little more literally than most. Unable to break into Bayern’s first team, Toni has had a falling-out with Bayern’s Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal. Van Gaal has insisted that Toni have a spell in Bayern’s reserves to regain match fitness. Toni has flatly refused to do so, which could hasten his exit from Bavaria.

Zola is also interested in 22-year-old midfielder Antonio Candreva, who played for him during his brief spell in charge of the Italians under-21 side. Candreva’s contract at Livorno, newly-promoted to Serie A this season, expires next summer, so the Serie A side might be keen to recoup a fee. Zola raided Livorno’s ranks in August, paying a reported £6.5m for striker Alessandro Diamanti.

Details have emerged about the possible sanctions West Ham may face in the aftermath of the Carling Cup crowd disturbances. A Football Association statement, issued on September 28^th, listed the charges against the East Londoners, saying that they failed to ensure their supporters:

• refrained from violent, threatening obscene and provocative behaviour;

• refrained from racist behaviour;

• didn’t throw missiles, harmful or dangerous objects onto the pitch; and

• didn’t enter the field of play.

Both West Ham and Millwall were given 14 days from the publication of the statement to respond. And West Ham are expected to defend the charges vigorously, although they will review them thoroughly before making an official response. A club spokesman said: “The club followed the strict advice of the relevant authorities at every stage of the planning process. “That full co-operation continued on the night, with the club working closely with police. We will continue to take strong and appropriate action against anyone found responsible.”