West Ham Sack Slaven Bilic Two and a Half Years Into Job After Poor Start to 2017/18

• Posted on November 6, 2017
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

West Ham United have officially parted company with manager Slaven Bilic after two-and-a-half years in charge of the club. It follows a disappointing start to the 2017/18 season.

With Bilic seemingly teetering on the brink earlier in the campaign, a slightly improved run of form appeared to have given the Croatian a brief stay of execution.

But a 1-4 home thrashing at the hands of Liverpool on Saturday saw the Hammers drop into the Premier League relegation zone once more, with the board opting to make the crunch decision ahead of the November international break.

A club statement released on Monday morning read: “West Ham United can confirm that Slaven Bilic has today left his position with the club.

The Chairmen and board of West Ham United would like to place on record their thanks and gratitude to Slaven Bilic and his team.https://t.co/rg0Jvoh9Tf

— West Ham United (@WestHam) November 6, 2017

“The chairmen and board of West Ham United would like to place on record their thanks and gratitude to Slaven and his team for their services over the past two-and-a-half years, but believe a change is now necessary in order for the Club to move forward positively and in line with their ambition.

“West Ham United can confirm that Bilic’s coaching assistants Nikola Jurcevic, Edin Terzic, Julian Dicks and Miljenko Rak have also left the Club with immediate effect.”

Former centre-back Bilic, who spent 18 months as a West Ham player between 1996 and 1997, made his name in management during an impressive six-year spell in charge of the Croatian national team, famously denying England a place at Euro 2008.

He later took charge of Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas, before being welcomed to east London as a former hero in the summer of 2015 to take over from the unpopular Sam Allardyce.

Bilic guided West Ham to a 7th place Premier League finish in his first season in charge, but ultimtely failed to replicate that kind of result thereafter. The Hammers dropped into the bottom half last season and now face a relegation fight if there isn’t an upturn soon.