Former West Ham United midfielder Don Hutchison has revealed what Slaven Bilic told him amid the club’s struggles this season.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
West Ham United won on their travels to London rivals Crystal Palace for the third consecutive season when Manuel Lanzini‘s strike secured a 1-0 victory at the weekend.
It was only West Ham’s second win of the season and a vital one too as it lifted Slaven Bilic’s side out of the relegation zone and eased the pressure on him and his team after their worst start to a Premier League season.
Bilic has been a man under pressure but the morale-boosting victory has breathed new life and renewed hope into the club’s faltering season.
Bilic celebrates last season
The club’s struggles are in sharp contrast to last season when they bid farewell to their beloved Boleyn with their best ever Premier League points total and a first positive goal difference since 1986.
This season, though, Bilic has seen his decisions, tactics, selections and philosophy questioned for the first time since his return to East London, where he made his name as a player under Harry Redknapp.
West Ham United were much improved in the win over Palace
Accusations that Bilic had lost the dressing room, was tactically inept, had allowed complacency to creep in and was no longer brave enough to impose the fabled West Ham way on teams have been made by pundits and fans alike.
Former Hammer Trevor Sinclair even suggested Bilic spent too much time concentrating on his summer job with ITV at the Euros and neglected to focus on sound player recruitment.
Don Hutchison in his second spell at West Ham
But Hutchison, an old teammate of Bilic from their time at Everton, has defended the Croatian in his blog on the club’s official site and lifted the lid on what Bilic had maintained privately to him all along.
“I have spoken to Slaven and he has always maintained that wanted to get his best players fully fit again and then you will see a difference,” Hutchison told whufc.com.
“It was totally unfair on Slaven and the players that people have been jumping on the bandwagon and criticising the bad start to the season.”
West Ham will be looking to build on their win at Palace with another victory at home to another of Hutchison’s former clubs, rock bottom Sunderland on Saturday.
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