Slaven Bilic sacked by West Ham after board meeting as David Moyes gets set to take charge on six-month deal
Read Time:2 Minute, 43 Second
Slaven Bilic has been sacked by West Ham.
The Croatian was summoned to showdown talks with co-owners David Sullivan, David Gold and vice chairman Karren Brady at the club’s Rush Green training ground.
The board were reluctant to make a change with Bilic’s contract up at the end of the season.
But after the manner of their humiliating 4-1 home defeat by Liverpool on Saturday – their sixth Premier League loss of the season – they called time on his two-and-a-half-year tenure.
David Moyes is now set to take charge on a six-month deal until the end of the season, despite some concern over supporter backlash.
The former Manchester United, Everton and Sunderland boss will be tasked with keeping the Hammers in the top-flight after they slipped into the relegation zone at the weekend.
It is understood Moyes will be in charge for West Ham’s next game after the international break, when they travel to Watford on November 19.
Speaking to beIN Sports at the weekend, Moyes admitted he would like to return to management with West Ham.
“I’m sad and disappointed but not in the club,” Bilic said.
“I expected it to be fair. It is a move that clubs are usually doing. There are no hard feelings. As time goes by I’m sure I will be proud of my work here.”
He continued: “We didn’t start this crucial season well. We had a really good, or great, or very good first season, then the second season we knew was going to be a difficult one in a transition to move to the new stadium and all the difficulties we had.
“We coped with that at the end really good, finished middle of the table, but then this season we hoped we could make that step from the start and we just didn’t make it – as in many clubs in the Premier League and across Europe the manager is the one who pays the price.
“The fans were brilliant with me from the start until the very end, and I really felt it.
“It’s not just words. For me, this was more than a job, it was personal because of my relationship with the club, one I played for.
“They came here for my first game, a team from Andorra, and made a full house. You have to respect that and nothing will change that memory for me.”
Moyes, meanwhile, is likely to stick with goalkeeper coach Chris Woods before naming a new No.2 and first-team coach.
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.
The Club’s search for a new manager to take West Ham United forward is underway and an announcement regarding Bilic’s successor is expected to be made over the coming days.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0