Former West Ham defender Danny Gabbidon says current manager Slaven Bilic has “thrown in the towel”.
Slaven Bilic, manager of West Ham United.
Danny Gabbidon thinks that Slaven Bilic has “thrown in the towel” after what has been a disappointing start to the new season for the West Ham United manager.
The Hammers sit rock bottom of the Premier League table after three defeats from their first three matches in which they have also conceded 10 goals.
James Collins of West Ham United looks dejected after Newcastle United’s first goal.
It is a worrying state of affairs and with rumours of Bilic being sacked, former West Ham defender Gabbidon has had his say on proceedings.
“I look at Slaven at the moment and he looks a shadow of his former self. His body language is that of man who looks tired, who doesn’t have the answers anymore, which is sad to see. His personality is his biggest strength but in football management that can also be your biggest weakness,” the 38-year-old wrote on The West Ham Way.
“From what I hear Slaven had pretty much thrown the towel in with the words he spoke in the dressing room to the players after the Newcastle defeat and this might possibly be just a stay of execution but if I was in his shoes right now I would be thinking, ‘I need to get back to basics meaning laying down the law in the dressing room and getting things right tactically on the pitch’.
“I hope that Slaven Bilic is given a bit more time to turn things around and I hope he’s used this international break to take a good look at himself and say, ‘what am I doing wrong? And how can I make things better before it’s too late?’ He really is on borrowed time now.”
Cardiff caretaker managers Scott Young and Danny Gabbidon.
Pretty strong stuff from Gabbidon but probably not far from what lots of the fans are thinking, with concerns over Bilic having crept in last season – many of which were suppressed by a good late run of form that saw the East Londoners finish 11th and in a position that maybe covered up some of the cracks.
Some of that was blamed on the move to the London Stadium, but the team are yet to play at home yet due to time being taken to get the ground ready after the World Athletics Championships were hosted there. In truth it was their away results that dug them out of much of the trouble in 2016/17, but that has yet to be repeated this time around.
Next up for West Ham is newly promoted Huddersfield Town in their first home fixture of the new campaign. Anything but a victory from that and it is difficult to see Bilic remaining.
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