Gianfranco Zola: 'Negative football behind Sam Allardyce exit'

Gianfranco Zola believes that Sam Allardyce's negative style of football is behind his expected departure as West Ham United manager.

The 60-year-old's contract expires at the end of the season and it appears that the Hammers have no intention of keeping him on.

Allardyce has faced criticism from some sections of fans for his perceived negative style of play and, despite making a positive start to this season, former West Ham boss Zola says that he has still failed to win the supporters over at Upton Park.

"Normally people don't look at the first half of the season, they only look at the end of it. Over the last 14 games, West Ham have not done very well. That's the problem with Sam," he told talkSPORT.

"He did fantastically well at the beginning of the season though. Sometimes there was a difficult relationship between the way Sam played and the sort of football West Ham supporters wanted to see.

"I know how important the style of football is for West Ham fans. That might be the biggest problem to overcome. I don't know what's going to happen. Nobody can question whether Sam Allardyce has done a good job for the club though."

Allardyce has been West Ham boss since 2011.