Suggestions that Bilic’s job is on the line are ridiculous.
With confidence restored and West Ham favourites to win in the upcoming match against West Brom, Slaven has laughed off claims that last week clubs owners David Sullivan and David Gold were considering replacing him.
West Ham look after their own, always have done and always will. Until club legend John Lyall lost his job and was replaced by Lou Macari following relegation to the old Second Division in 1989, the Hammers had always appointed their manager from within. It was a recruitment policy that ensured the ‘West Ham way’ of free-flowing football was always adhered to and led to long periods of stability in an industry otherwise renowned for hiring and firing. In the first 89 years of their existence West Ham remarkably only had five managers. While there have been twice that many from Macari’s reign onwards, a roll call of 10 managers in 28 years is still way below average.
Bilic may be a Croat but, as an ex-player of some repute, he is viewed as part of the West Ham family, and in terms of popularity he is on a par with Billy Bonds and Harry Redknapp, two other former managers to don the claret and blue. There is a touch of Jurgen Klopp about him in the way that he is often given the benefit of the doubt if things go wrong. His passion for the club and its fans is plain for all to see, making it hard for any doubters to have their voices heard.
For that reason, it was hard to find any Hammers fans calling for his head despite the disastrous start endured in the first season at the London Stadium. Instead of Olympic rings, it was the vultures in the red-top Press who were circling down in Stratford.
To be fair, a lot of West Ham’s problems were not Bilic’s doing. A sickeningly long injury list made the team unrecognisable from the one signed off at Upton Park so spectacularly with a seventh-place finish. Up front, West Ham were particularly badly hit, injuries to Diafra Sakho and Andre Ayew along with the ongoing problems suffered by Andy Carroll meaning goals were hard to come by, while at the back, two of last season’s leading lights – Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio – and new signing Sam Byram among others had spells on the sidelines.
The return of Carroll has seen the situation improve markedly. A run of six wins in nine games has seen the Hammers move into the top half of the table and it isn’t that far-fetched to suggest that improving on last year’s position isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
Admittedly, some of the performances at West Ham’s new home have been particularly galling, the Europa League defeat to Romanian champions Astra Guirgui setting the tone for a campaign where Man City (twice), Man Utd, Watford, Arsenal, Southampton and Swansea have all won by two goals or more.
Even so, reports suggesting that former Man City boss Roberto Mancini is being courted by owners David Sullivan and David Gold as a replacement for Bilic in the summer must surely be as wide of the mark as one of Håvard Nordtveit’s passes.
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