Tony Sutton, of the Dubai Hammers’ Supporters Club, examines the appointment of cult hero Slaven Bilic as new West Ham boss.
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After weeks of speculation, West Ham have finally announced that Slaven Bilic is to be the club’s 15th manager in history. The announcement came as no real surprise with the former Hammer always looking like the obvious choice for West Ham to after Real Madrid took their chief target, Rafa Benitez.
Bilic achieved cult hero status in his brief spell with West Ham as a no-nonsense central defender who gave his all alongside the likes of Julian Dicks. Setting up the winning goal on his debut in a 1-0 away win at Tottenham and was runner up in the club’s Player of the Year vote in his first full season. Huge disappointment followed when Bilic moved to Premier League rivals Everton after just 15 months having avoided relegation at Upton Park.
Despite the fact that Bilic is a former player, there is still an element of risk element attached to this appointment. With West Ham set to move to their shiny new Olympic stadium in a year, media pressure will intensify if the Hammers do not start the season well. Bilic has no Premier League experience as a manager and despite some impressive work in charge of both Besiktas and Croatia, the risk of this turning into an absolute disaster will be on the minds of all who feel the club should have stuck with the safe option of Sam Allardyce for another season.
Bilic will be take comfort from the fact he is taking over one of the strongest West Ham squads in recent memory and he has been promised further funds to improve his team on the back of three consecutive mid-table finishes. Sampdoria midfielder Pedro Obiang has already signed and the owners have promised as many as five more additions before the season starts.
One thing is for certain that, bar any major disasters, Bilic can expect the full backing of the fans and if he can secure another mid-table finish and guide the team to the Europa League group stages there will be some very happy people in the East End of London.
Bilic understands the passion of the West Ham faithful and in his first interview as manager he described the club as more of a “cult”, saying there is “something special” about it. It’s exactly this type of sentiment that the Hammers fans need to hear and Bilic can be sure of a very warm welcome back to the Boleyn Ground if he continues that particular charm offensive.
With the potential of Europa League football, the addition of a few new face and a manager backed by supporters, this season has all the makings of a perfect send off for Upton Park.
Interesting Facts…
- West Ham have only been relegated five times in their history, less than both Chelsea and Manchester City.
- Bilic is only the 15th manager to take charge of West Ham.