Steve Clarke ready for top job
West Ham's assistant manager Steve Clarke has said that he is ready to take on the responsibility of being a manager.
Clarke served as a youth team coach and then assistant manager at Chelsea for several years, before following former team-mate Gianfranco Zola to Upton Park. Although happy at West Ham for now, Clarke said in an interview with the Sunday Times that his next move must be to step up as a manager in his own right.
Clarke said, “It’s the last one to be ticked off,
“I’ve done all the groundwork. I’ve done everything. I’ve been the player, the youth team coach, the European scout, the assistant manager, first-team coach, I’ve worked with a whole spectrum of players, now it’s time for me to be the guy who makes the decisions and takes the stick. To have done so much to get to this stage and not give it a go would be foolish. I have to try it. I just need somebody to give me the opportunity.
“The next step is finding a chairman who’s willing to give me that chance. If you’re asking me, ‘Could I manage a Premier League club?’, I’d have to answer, ‘Yes’. Whether it’s this year, next year, I don’t know. I’ve never been in a position where I’ve had to make a decision on it. I’m still waiting for someone to test my resolve. In my strange little plan, this would be my last job as an assistant and the next one I’d want to be manager. If it works out, great, if it doesn’t then maybe I have to make another detour. I’ve got no problem with people judging me as a manager. When I decide to be a manager, I think I’m going to be a good one.”
Commenting on his role at West Ham, Clarke commented, “Since we went to West Ham there’s been turmoil,
“About 10 days after we went in was the start of the downturn for the Icelandic banks. It’s been difficult, but in a strange way enjoyable".
On his relationship with West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola, he said "For Franco, it’s a job that looks difficult from the outside, but I can tell you from the inside it’s even more difficult. Our friendship is strong. We resolved at the start, ‘No matter what happens, the friendship is first and the professional relationship second’, and we’ve always respected that.”
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