Collison: fans' favourite

After training sometimes he would take the boys for a one-on-one session which was nice to see from a manager because you don't always get that... well I haven't experienced that all the time.

Jack Collison
Quotes of the week

Jack Collison says he owes his former boss Ginafranco Zola a huge thank you for giving him his big break at West Ham.

The Hammers midfielder made his debut on New Year's Day in 2008 and has quickly become a favourite amongst the Upton Park faithful.

A serious knee injury has recently halted his progress, while Zola parted ways with the club at the end of last season, but as he bids to make a return to first team action he told Soccer AM why he holds his former gaffer in such high esteem.

"He was the one who gave me my first big chance and I feel like I owe him a lot to be honest," he said.

"He took an interest in a lot of the young lads and for me it was great because he wasn't a bad player was he!?

"He could still cut it. He would join in in training and some of the stuff he could do was pretty unbelievable.

"The first day in training we were playing two-touch, and he's got the ball, flicked it around the corner and dinked it over Rob Green, and everyone's just stood there like 'ooohh, what've we got here'!"

The former Chelsea striker may still have unbelievable tekkers but he was equally adept at coaching, according to Collison.

He added: "After training sometimes he would take the boys for a one-on-one session which was nice to see from a manager because you don't always get that... well I haven't experienced that all the time.

"He took a real interest and he let all the boys go out there and express themselves which was nice, it's just a shame with obviously what happened."

Successor

Zola's successor, meanwhile, Avram Grant has not had the best of starts to life at Upton Park.

The former Chelsea and Portsmouth manager has seen his side lose all three of their opening games this season, however, Collison remained upbeat about the club's prospects.

"The new manager seems good," he said. "He's quite friendly, obviously comes over and says hello and at the moment I'm in getting physio everyday so it's nice to be in and around the boys.

"I think they've all reacted really well to him. He's bringing in his own ideas and it's up to us now to start picking up a few points I think.

"It's not a great start to the season and no one wants to start like that, but as I said the new manager has come in with his own ideas and maybe it's going to take a while to adapt.

"But it's only early doors and we've got a nice easy one next week with Chelsea, so hopefully we can start picking up some points there!"