COBHAM, England (AP) -Chelsea first-team coach Steve Clarke handed in his resignation after the club refused to give West Ham permission to speak to him about becoming assistant to new manager Gianfranco Zola.
Clarke, who aside from a brief stint at Newcastle has been at Chelsea as a player and coach for 20 years, met with Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari and chief executive Peter Kenyon on Thursday before offering to resign.
Scolari is reluctant to lose a crucial member of his coaching team and Chelsea has yet to accept his resignation. The club said Friday that it will hold more talks with Clarke.
"Steve is very important to me and very important to Chelsea," Scolari said. "He is a man who is a point between me and the players. He knows Chelsea very well and England very well, the clubs and the players.
"When I hear that he goes, I am worried and sad. But I understand."
Clarke spent 11 years in Chelsea's defense and was youth-team coach before becoming assistant to Jose Mourinho in 2004.
Popular with fans and players, Clarke was a key part of the coaching team that helped Chelsea to the 2005 and '06 Premier League titles and retained his position under Avram Grant when Mourinho left last year.
Clarke helped provide stability and continuity during the upheaval that led to Mourinho and then Grant departing.
Scolari, a World Cup winner with his native Brazil, rated the former Scotland international highly enough to keep him on when he took charge of the Blues in July and said Friday he was worried about the effect his departure could have on his injury-hit squad.
"Maybe in the morning the players discuss and say something about this," Scolari said. "He is very popular, but not just very popular. He knows the players and he is a very good coach."
Zola, a former Chelsea player who took charge of West Ham on Thursday, is looking for an experienced assistant to help him in his first managerial position.
A move across London could prove contentious among fans, but Clarke appears to have decided to end his long association with Chelsea and make the move.
"I think all people all have projects in their life," Scolari said. "Steve wants to fly alone in the future. I understand because I am in professional football. I don't agree, but I am happy with Steve.
"I like him as a person and as a coach. I wish him all the best."
