Their team’s form has picked up but these are still testing times for West Ham United supporters. How to react when Harry Redknapp, the former West Ham player and manager, arrives in the Upton Park dugout on Monday night as manager of the club’s fierce rivals, Tottenham Hotspur? And how to behave towards the club’s own left back?

Gianfranco Zola, the manager, sought to defuse one of those potential flashpoints yesterday by emphasising Herita Ilunga’s commitment to a side he described this week as “second-rate” in a moment of plain-speaking straight from the William Gallas school of public-relations disasters.

The defender, on a season-long loan from Toulouse, reportedly said that he is using West Ham as a stepping-stone. However, Zola said that Ilunga’s comments would not stop him offering the defender a permanent deal. “I know Ilunga very well,” he said. “He is totally committed to what he is doing here and his answers were taken in the wrong way.

“He is happy to be here and is looking to sign a contract with the club. As far as I’m concerned he is a player I will try to sign.”

Zola will, though, seek to reduce the size of his 24-man-squad in January, which would help ease the financial burden on the club — though he aims to keep hold of his stars. “We will consider selling some of them but we are not going to sell the best players,” he said.

“They [] are among the best players we have. This club wants to progress so we are not going to sell our best players. This is what I am told by the club and I trust the club 100 per cent. Right now we don’t need to bring anyone in. When everyone is back there will be many, so maybe some players will go.”

In the wake of Roy Keane’s departure from Sunderland, and after Zola’s own struggles for wins soon after taking charge, the Italian ruminated on the impatience of the modern game. “I know that in football now it’s becoming more and more difficult to set up your own long-term project. People are expecting results straight away and I have to say for the managers it’s becoming difficult,” he said.

"You need time to establish your ideas and get the players doing what you want. Like in other countries, it looks like time is running out.”