Donadoni rules himself out

Italian out of the running to replace Curbishley

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 9th September 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Donadoni rules himself out

Donadoni: Out of work

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Roberto Donadoni has officially ruled himself out of the running for the vacant managerial post at West Ham.

The Italian was one of the names featuring prominently on the Hammers' wish list.

With Alan Curbishley having resigned from the job last week, the Upton Park club are keen to get a new man on board as soon as possible.

Having already missed out on Michael Laudrup, who has taken a job at Spartak Moscow, and fans' favourite Slaven Bilic seemingly unwilling to step down as Croatia boss, the Hammers were understood to have narrowed their search to just two candidates.

Former Chelsea star Ginafranco Zola and ex-Italy coach Donadoni were thought to be battling it out for the role, although that is no longer the case.

Donadoni has been out of work since the Italian FA decided against renewing his contract following a poor showing by the Azzurri at Euro 2008.

He has previous club management experience from spells at Livorno and Genoa, but has no interest in taking a job in England at present.

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"I would like to thank West Ham United Football Club for approaching and speaking with me in relation to the vacant manager's position at the club," said Donadoni.

"I welcomed the opportunity of speaking with such a prominent Premiership club and of course, the opportunity of coming to the English Premiership.

"However, is does appear that the board have not yet, after some time, come to an agreement and a conclusion on who the successful candidate should be.

"It is important for me to feel that I have the full support of the club and I have therefore this morning taken the decision to withdraw myself from the candidate shortlist for the club."