da marjack bet： One of the big debates amongst football fans right now is whether West Ham should part ways with Slaven Bilic or not.
da casino： The Croat enjoyed a successful debut campaign as manager of the club last term, leading them to seventh in the table after a surprise bid for a top four spot, as well as an FA Cup quarter-final.
The Hammers broke numerous club records along the way, including their best ever Premier League points tally, while also remaining unbeaten both home and away against any of the Premier League’s so-called big clubs.
This season, though, is already looking like a complete disaster. Struggles to adapt to life in a new stadium, numerous injuries to key players and some seriously poor transfer business in the summer have all played a part in the Hammers’ rather sharp decline.
Now Slaven Bilic’s ability to turn things around is being questioned. Should West Ham sack him now before it’s too late, or do they need to stick by the man who gave them so many happy memories only a few short months ago? Here’s what our writers have to say…
Josh Challies – Not Yet
At this stage, West Ham need stability more than anything else. Their form this season has been atrocious and relegation is a genuine threat but the Hammers cannot afford to be changing something else within the club when they haven’t even settled into their new stadium yet.
A few months ago, Bilic was a hero and the fickle nature of football fans can shift again. Whilst West Ham’s new home is paid for a lot by the taxpayer, there is still a lot of finances that Bilic’s side need to balance and losing their manager would knock them back a few steps.
Make no mistake, though, if this form continues the board will have no option but to let him go – such is the way of football.
Christy Malyan – Yes (if they can find someone better)
It’s easy to turn managers into scapegoats these days and I’m certainly not an advocate of the Premier League’s ever-growing hire-and-fire culture. But there’s no doubt Slaven Bilic must take responsibility, not only for matters on the pitch but the whole mentality surrounding West Ham since the end of last season.
Perhaps a victim of his own success, the Hammers entered the current campaign complacent – a combination of the move to the London Stadium, the vast transfer budget during the summer and the strong Premier League finish last season. Everybody thought the new term would be plain sailing.
Whilst some of that is beyond Bilic’s control (the owners, particularly, escalated expectations frequently during the summer) he’s clearly not kept the players grounded – something he’s already alluded to himself by admitting last weekend that players aren’t performing with intensity in training. The fact he spent the summer frolicking around TV studios, sharing fist-bumps with Ian Wright, doesn’t help his cause either.
But the real question for West Ham is whether they can actually find somebody better. The January transfer window is just around the corner and in the long-run, West Ham could benefit more from backing Bilic in the market rather than making an appointment simply to kickstart this season.
Plenty of clubs have fallen into the trap of making one short-term appointment after another based on results, but Bilic still seems like the right man for the long-term project in east London.
Alex Hams – Not Yet
The next two games are pivotal for Bilic. Sunday’s trip to Liverpool has to be treated as a freebie by the London club and their shot-callers given the form of Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, but the following three matches are against teams expected to be in the relegation scrap – Burnley, Hull and Swansea.
A loss to the Clarets should tickle trigger fingers in the boardroom, with time on the clock to get a new manager in ahead of two vital matches and the transfer window.
The next issue is who could replace Bilic? Although there are no hugely obvious candidates out there, good coaches such as Marcelo Bielsa are available, while even Garry Monk in the Championship could be considered.
Shane Burns – Yes
It’s an awkward talking point, but sacking Slaven Bilic seems the only way forward for West Ham at the moment.
The Croatian manager is somewhat of a cult hero at the London Stadium, and West Ham now face the unenviable task of sacking a member of the family. Remember the difficulty Liverpool faced when wanting to sack Kenny Dalglish?
Bilic has definitely lost the dressing room at the London Stadium and while excuses can be made for injuries, teams of lesser quality, such as Watford, Bournemouth and even West Brom, sit more comfortably in the table than the Hammers.
It’s difficult to remember a manager whose won the dressing room back, and with the players seemingly uninterested, Karren Brady must be contemplating a phone call to Roberto Mancini.
The former Manchester City manager faced a similar task at the Etihad Stadium when players weren’t playing for the badge. Mancini dropped key players, sold some more and eventually guided City to success.
With Crystal Palace likely to sack Alan Pardew soon, West Ham should soon approach Mancini before Palace do. It could ultimately save the Irons’ season and see them challenge for the top 10.
Chris McMullan – Depends
The answer rests on two questions:
Do I think that sacking Bilic would yield better results for West Ham? And do I think they’ll sack him later in the season anyway?
The answer to the first one is that it depends on the manager they bring in. If they’re going to replace Bilic with a manager who can get the best out of a squad we know is underperforming massively then sure, go for it. You’d need to find a passionate, man manager who’s also clever enough to fiddle with the system in order to get the most out of the technical players available, though. Someone like, you know, Slaven Bilic.
The answer to the second one makes the problem more immediate. If West Ham are still in a relegation battle come February, they’ll probably have no choice but to sack him. But to pull the trigger in February is to give a new manager less time and a fatigued squad to work with, not to mention missing a transfer window and the opportunity to freshen up the squad.
If they’re going to do it, they should do it now to give the new man a chance to assess the squad and make his changes next month. But if they’re going to do it now, you really have to wonder if they can get a better manager than Slaven Bilic.
Sam Cox – Not Yet
Three more games. Slaven Bilic’s comments after West Ham’s defeat to Arsenal were concerning, sure, but the Irons are not completely doomed just yet.
The upcoming two games against Hull and Burnley are pivotal, however. Bilic deserves to at least see out those two matches, but anything less than four points and it must be time for a change.
If the Hammers were a few points worse off, it would be time to go already, mind. The fact that West Ham will still be in a salvageable position even if they lost both of those games means that Bilic should be given the opportunity to turn it around.
Barnaby Lane – No
Absolutely not. The problems at West Ham run deeper than their management, though Bilic can be partly blamed for the Hammers’ poor form this season.
Recruitment in the summer was poor, especially considering The Hammers made the Europa League and hence needed to add strength in depth to their squad. They missed out on signing a centre half and striker both of decent stature and instead sold James Tomkins and could still pay £20m+ for Simone Zaza due to a clause in his loan deal from Juventus, a player who has proven absolutely nothing during both his club and international careers.
West Ham will stay up, but the right deals need to be done in January.
Now have your say…