Slaven Bilic is on course for a worse season than the one that saw Sam Allardyce leave West Ham.
Questionable signings like Simone Zaza haven’t helped Slaven Bilic
Speculation surrounding the future of West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has intensified following a fourth Premier League defeat on the bounce.
The club issued a statement on their website to give the Croatian their public backing but we all know that that can often signal the beginning of the end, just ask Claudio Ranieri.
And perhaps most concerning for Bilic is that unless results improve considerably he’ll deliver a season worse than the one that lead to Sam Allardyce being shown the exit door in 2015.
Allardyce was replaced that summer having guided the Irons to 47 points and a 12th-place finish, hindered by the fact he was a lame duck manager towards the end of the campaign.
With eight matches remaining this season, Bilic’s side have 33 points and are down in 14th, with many of the teams around them having games in hand.
Half of Bilic’s remaining games this season are against top seven sides
However one thing going in Bilic’s favour is that this West Ham are a lot better going forward, with their 41 goals from 30 league games only two short of the tally the Allardyce side recorded all season.
Given that one of the main reasons cited for not renewing the contract of ‘Big Sam’ was the brand of football he played, this is not insignificant.
It’s been a testing season for Bilic, with the disruption caused by a move to a new stadium and the club’s star player asking to leave mid-season certainly not helping, and the way it stacks up against Allardyce’s last at the club must leave him concerned.
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