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gooders 11:23 Tue May 2
Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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David Hytner
@DaveHytner
• Matches against Tottenham and Liverpool key to whether Croat will stay in job
• West Ham have been outplayed by the top clubs at home so far this season
Slaven Bilic’s future at West Ham United will be determined by how his team performs against Tottenham Hotspur on Friday night and Liverpool on Sunday week in the final two home matches of the season.
The club’s hierarchy has watched Bilic’s team labour at the London Stadium since the move there last August and they are conscious of how routinely they have been out-played by the leading sides. Manchester City took them apart in both the Premier League and the FA Cup, as did Arsenal in the league, while Manchester United and Chelsea have also beaten them in the league.
The Tottenham game is pivotal and Bilic could re-energise his tenure and be able to look towards the summer with optimism if he could oversee a good result against the club that West Ham fans most love to hate. Those supporters would love to end Tottenham’s title hopes and, if they did, it would go a long way towards ending a disappointing season on an upbeat note.
On the other hand, another bad home defeat would put Bilic’s position in jeopardy. The board of directors will review whether to persist with him at the end of the season and it is difficult to overstate how sorely he needs some positivity against Tottenham and Liverpool, with the former the most important game because of the local rivalry.
West Ham finish the season at Burnley. They have restored a measure of stability in recent weeks with a run of four matches without defeat, having lost five in a row previously and they look to have done enough to stay on the right side of the relegation cut-off. But if results were to go against them, they might need one more win to make sure.
The club’s various settling-in problems at the London Stadium have been well-documented but arguably the biggest issue to bog them down has been the lack of spark in their displays.
Bilic’s team beat Chelsea 2-1 in the EFL Cup last October – on a night when crowd trouble led to unwanted headlines – and there was the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace in January, when Andy Carroll scored one of the goals of the season. Those games apart, the pickings have been slim and the picture has not been much better away from home.
There is an acceptance within the hierarchy that the club’s recruitment last summer left plenty to be desired and Bilic cannot be blamed for all of it. Of the 10 new faces to arrive, it is hard to say whether any of them have been out-and-out successes. Edimilson Fernandes has done well, at times, while Havard Nordtveit and Arthur Masuaku have shown flickers of late.
But Bilic made it plain that he wanted Gokhan Tore above anybody else and the loan signing from Besiktas has started only three league games. His decision to rely upon Michail Antonio as a right-back at the start of the season was also flawed and it left the team short in the position.
Bilic has – by and large – been able to retain the support of the fans and this has helped him during the season’s low points. He urgently needs to give them something to shout about at the end.
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Replies - In Chronological Order ( Show Newest Messages First)
Hammer and Pickle
11:27 Tue May 2
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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Game on!
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stoneman
11:34 Tue May 2
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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I can't stop yawning.
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Willtell
11:36 Tue May 2
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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Game on!? It's a piece written by someone reading this forum and KUMB for subject matter. It contains not a single quote from anyone at WH anywhere!
It's a newspaper making mountains out of mole hills to fill space with something that seems contentious but is from his own tiny mind. I suspect he's guessed right though...
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Spandex Sidney
11:54 Tue May 2
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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Propaganda fed out from the club to prepare the way for sacking Bilic in a couple of weeks.
Hopefully.
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Vexed
11:57 Tue May 2
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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I'd sack him regardless of Friday's result.
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Knicker Wetter
12:02 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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Vexed that's because you're a fucking idiot, he's had shed loads to deal with this season and deserves a season to turn it around
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Takashi Miike
12:06 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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David CUNTner
BILIC IN
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stoneman
12:10 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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You are such a bell end Vexed 😂
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13 Brentford Rd
12:17 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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Bar the move what else had he had to deal with then? This season has been a massive failure.
What do those who still want him stay consider a successful season next year then?
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Takashi Miike
12:22 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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errrrr, untold injuries, a disrupting French parasite, three incompetent cunts running the club, constant backstabbing from parasitic ITKs
no, nothing really you massive fucking spastic
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simon.s
12:28 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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This just seems like more shit stirring journalism, with very little substance to it.
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13 Brentford Rd
12:36 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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Er the owners have been there for years and will most likely be there next season too, if he can't handle them then he is not right for the role. The injuries happen to us every season or is your memory that bad? Nothing new there either.
The players have looked unfit all season which is his fault.
So what is a successful season next year if he stays?
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Vexed
12:36 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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Oh yeah, poor old Slav. Has had to deal with the most money at his disposal of any west ham manager, the best squad we've had in years, fucking NIGHTMARE.
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terry-h
12:52 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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If this story is in Media Watch tomorrow,then Sullivan will have decided Bilic is on notice.
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fraser
12:53 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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Best squad we've had in years?
How so I thought he'd bought loads of shit players....
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Vexed
12:58 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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He inherited a good squad, it's now lost its star player and everyone is playing like a cunt. He's also bought terribly. But you know he does a funny interview every so often so let's keep the cunt.
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Alex V
2:06 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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Pretty weird article, though it's very prominent in their coverage so they must be pretty sure of it. Much as I would like to see a change of manager, you shouldn't make decisions like that based on games against two of the toughest opponents in the league.
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Spandex Sidney
2:09 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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The only things Bilic has had to deal with this season is his own incompetence to get a team fit, spot talent, be organised, to have a coherent plan A & B, play players in the positions where they have the biggest impact on the game and not to operate a clear favourites policy to the massive detriment of our glorious football club.
The cunt has to go regardless, utterly clueless and massively underperformed, like EVERY club management job he has held.
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Gazza_AZ
3:47 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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I think one of his biggest failings has been the quality of the staff that he has appointed. I hope the next manager (next season hopefully) appoints a higher profile staff that actually trains the team, gets them fit and teaches them some tactical stuff too. Just Saying...
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irisiris95
6:15 Wed May 3
Re: Slaven Bilic's future hangs in balance - The Guardian
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We might get a result vs Liverpool but I think Spurs are too string at the moment. Anyways we don't even have a striker...the fact that Bilic prefers Calleri kinda seals his fate for me.
(Hope I jinxed that now & Calleri does "a Maiga vs Spurs" on Fri)
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