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Josh 12:31 Fri Nov 25
Bilic ES Column

I 100% back him as manager, even with this hard period coming up.





West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: I understand why there has been speculation over my future

The defeat at Tottenham was hard to take. In five years’ time, the memory will still be painful for me. We knew how much this game meant to the fans, as it did for us at the club, and we came so close but in the end we lost.

Had we held out and won we would have pulled away from the bottom of the Premier League but, as it is, we are just one place above the bottom three with a tough schedule ahead.

Following the 3-2 defeat at White Hart Lane, there has been speculation about my future. I understand that will happen.

I am not a newcomer to this game and neither am I stupid. I know you are judged on the table and the number of points you have.

There is nothing I can do about that except work hard and look for us to win games. It is not as if we have dropped our performance level. We were a confident team at Spurs.

All I am thinking about is how to improve things, to keep our concentration up until the last second and to eliminate those silly mistakes.

In the corresponding match last season we went to White Hart Lane in a good run of form and lost 4-1. Some people have suggested that last weekend’s 3-2 defeat was even worse.

I think that what they mean is that this one hurts more and it is taking longer to get over it.

Would we rather get hammered? No. This defeat is very painful because we should have won but we can - and we will - take many positives from it. When you are beaten 4-1 there can’t be too many plus points.

This one really hurts - and for longer - but when we analyse the display, then for almost all of the game we did well, both individually and as a team. The mistakes cost us dearly but I can take positives from 80 per cent of that game.

For the next couple of days, the players were low and you could see it hurt them but now we are approaching a new game - admittedly another tough one at Manchester United - and we know if we do the majority of things as well as we did at Spurs, then we have a good chance.

We now face two matches at Old Trafford within the space of four days. I certainly won’t look at Sunday’s League match, though, with one eye on the EFL Cup quarter-final the following Wednesday. We will go there with our strongest team this weekend and see what happens.

As for United, they haven’t yet hit their best form but they were looking better against Arsenal last weekend and certainly looked the part last night in their Europa League clash with Feyenoord.

They played well against Leicester, Fenerbahce and even against Burnley, they were so unlucky not to win.

Of course, I have great respect for them and it is one of the toughest fixtures of the season but now even more, we have to concentrate on ourselves.

Our captain, Mark Noble, is available again after suspension and we missed his character against Spurs, especially towards the end when Tottenham were taking risks and bombing forward. You always need leaders.

It is worrying that, as at Spurs, we’ve had real trouble killing games off after being in front. We must do better.

I also came in for criticism for the substitutions at Spurs and, straight after the match and in view of what happened, I knew it would have been better had I not changed certain things.

For me, though, it was an absolutely logical thing to do at the time. I was happy with the first two substitutions, with Andre Ayew, who is still coming back to full fitness, and Diafra Sakho, who was playing his first game of the season, coming off after an hour.

For many, though, it was the last one - Havard Nordtveit for Dimitri Payet - which ultimately changed the game.

Before the game I was asked if the team I had picked was too attacking but it wasn’t like that. An important part of defending is how good you are when you have the ball.

After we scored our second I didn’t expect us to be holding on for half an hour. We wanted to kill the game off and had three opportunities to do that.

But they were putting us under more and more pressure and with just over five minutes left I wasn’t thinking any more about scoring another goal but rather that we just needed to hold on.

So that is why I made the substitution, I felt we needed an extra body in a midfield holding position with Pedro Obiang but it didn’t work out well.

As I said, if someone reminds me about this game in five years, the hurt will still be there - it’s one of those.

Having said that, I’d recovered by the following day. As a manager, you have to do that. You have to set an example, you dust yourself down, clap your hands and say: “Okay, let’s go again!”

Wonderkid 12:36 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

At least bilic can admit when he is wrong and the spurs game was a massive bilic mistake

JustAFatKevinDavies 12:39 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

pretty refreshing that when compared to other managers, not just our previous ones but in general.

, 12:50 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

An impressive mea culpa.

Eddie B 12:51 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

So reading that he's admitting he fucked up the last substitution?

Sven Roeder 12:52 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

Someone like Mourinho would blame the player
Wenger would blame the referee
Klopp would gabble like a madman and then eat a handful of his own shit

stewie griffin 12:54 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

JustAFatKevinDavies 12:39 Fri Nov 25
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bell 12:55 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

What Stuart and Kevin said.

Marston Hammer 12:56 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

such a fine line in games like that. if Randolph hadn't got his fingertips to that that cross and ogbonna cleared it we probably would've seen out a famous victory.

substitutions would barely have got a mention.

AKA ERNIE 12:56 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

Great article good to see his honesty

Spandex Sidney 1:05 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

Sven Roeder 12:52 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column
Someone like Mourinho would blame the player
Wenger would blame the referee
Klopp would gabble like a madman and then eat a handful of his own shit


It's funny that all of those managers are SIGNIFICANTLY more successful than Bilic?

He's fucked up too much this season, he's lucky to still be there already. Who the fuck goes into the season not knowing his best formation?? Even when you've signed the likes of Tore, Nordveit, Feghouli, surely you had a thought about where they would play?

Oh yes, Antonio at RB.

I've lost count of his fuck ups this season, the Tottenham one's were just the final straw for me.

Lily Hammer 1:08 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

With hindsight, it was a mistake to sub Nordtveit for Payet, but at the time, I saw some sense in it, as Dimi was kanckered, after playing two matches for France he was lagging a bit, and I thought it was the Noggy's big chance to earn some brownie points. History now tells us that went tits up.

Fine lines, because Bilic was so close to being credited with a tactical masterclass for what happened during the first 88 minutes.

Horrible kick in the nuts that made me so sick I couldn't face coming on here for days. A point on Sunday will help a little, a win would help alot. We can do it, hopefully we do do it.

COYI!

Dr Moose 1:11 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

Impressive he's kind of put his hands up but still needs to factor in past mistakes that account for the position we're in, 2-0 up against Watford to lose 2-4 to then capitulate against West Brom, draw against Boro; this is what'll see him getting the sack.

The players have contributed to this but ultimately they follow the managers instructions.

Sven Roeder 1:11 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

Which makes it even more pathetic
Carry on Slav.
Keep being honest and ignore the snivelling fifth column quislings within.

Willtell 1:30 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

Personally I think the thing Bilic has got wrong is approve some shit transfers. Where they all originated from is academic. The manager approves every signing and if he didn't want some players he should have said. It is his fault we are without a decent striker after spending several millions.

I still like him as a manager and hope he gets beyond the January window OK when returning Tore and Zaza and replacing them with a couple of new signings would make all the difference...

Biggie Biggs 1:34 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

Nice that he admits to his mistakes , perhaps now he will stop continually making them

Nagel 1:53 Fri Nov 25
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"Who the fuck goes into the season not knowing his best formation??"

Well Conte changed Chelsea's formation to 343 about the same time Bilic did and they're top of the league.

In any case I'd rather a manager try to change things than stubbornly carry on with his preferred method if it doesn't work.

franksfat&slow&wank 1:56 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

comes across well but that doesn't get us points

time is running out

hope he pulls it around but got a shitty feeling tbh

Northern Sold 2:07 Fri Nov 25
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stewie griffin 12:54 Fri Nov 25
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JustAFatKevinDavies 12:39 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

boleyn8420 2:27 Fri Nov 25
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Unfortunately, his comment about the Mancs not hitting top form seem a bit hollow after last nights performance from them. So, basically, Mancs hit form just as we arrive and Rooney, the thick scouse cunt, has only got 1 more goal to score to equal Charlton's scoring record. So A penalty in the match is 13/10 and Rooney to score any time is 2/1. We may as well get on it because this is West ham so you just know what's going to happen, he will have scored 1 and they get a, quite obviously NOT, a penalty in the 94th minute for him to get the record. Its the West Ham way.

OR, sliding door number 2. He egts the winner against us to equal the record and then gets the winner on Wednesday to get the record. Yes that sounds exactly like us.

gph 2:31 Fri Nov 25
Re: Bilic ES Column

I'll even forgive him using 'United' to refer to Manchester United, although my preferred option is to blame the journalist.

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