Gianfranco Zola and Gérard Houllier are the relatively young and old managers being considered by West Ham United to succeed Alan Curbishley, who resigned on Wednesday. No Englishmen figure on their six-man shortlist, so the club are set to appoint a foreigner for the first time.

Other leading names being considered include Roberto Donadoni, the former Italy coach, and Slaven Bilic, but significant hurdles would need to be overcome for the Croatia coach to be appointed. Bilic has informed West Ham that he would be available only from January because of clauses in his contract and that would be unacceptable to the club’s board.

An initial list of more than 20 names was quickly cut down during a conference call yesterday. Gianluca Nani, the technical director, has been given the task of establishing the candidates’ interest in taking the position before formal interviews can begin at the weekend. No time-frame has been put on the appointment by the club’s Icelandic owners, who appreciate that prising a club manager so early in the season could be difficult.

West Ham will probably want to gauge the fans’ reaction to the idea of enlisting Zola, the former Chelsea forward, now a coach of the Italy Under-21 team, but the dignified and diminutive Italian, 42, is held in high regard throughout England.

At the other end of the scale, Houllier would come with a wealth of experience. The 61-year-old has managed France, Liverpool and Lyons and, now the technical director of the French football federation, would meet West Ham’s desire for a coach who can develop players from the academy through to the first team.

Stuart Pearce, the England Under-21 coach, and Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, ruled themselves out of the running yesterday while Roberto Mancini cannot come under proper consideration until his severance dispute with Inter Milan — from whom he is claiming £20 million in compensation after he left in the summer — is resolved.

After appointing a manager, West Ham will turn their attention to finding a first-team coach, but Paolo Di Canio, their feisty former forward who is not being considered for the manager’s position, is unlikely to accept a less senior role.

It has emerged that Curbishley read a resignation statement during a meeting with Scott Duxbury, the chief executive, on Wednesday and in doing so forfeited a guaranteed payoff of up to £2 million. He left for Spain yesterday, having told West Ham that he will lodge a compensation claim for the same amount — the estimated value of the final two years of his contract.

Curbishley believes that he may have a case for breach of contract because of a clause stating that he had control on transfers. He claimed that George McCartney, the left back, was sold to Sunderland without his approval, but the club believe that the board’s consideration for their financial position negates such a clause.