Slaven Bilic is a man under pressure and he needs to act if he is to save his job and West Ham United’s season.
West Ham United’s Adrian, Dimitri Payet and team mates look dejected
Infighting amongst fans, resentment towards owners and concerns over safety at the club’s new 60,000 seater Olympic Stadium home have soured the Hammers’campaign so far.
Slaven Bilic‘s side have lost five of their opening seven Premier League matches, picking up just four points from 21 so far.
The Hammers were also embarrassingly dumped out of the Europa League by Romanian minnows Astra Giurgiu for the second season running.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic led the club to a record breaking season last term
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.
A grand total of 13 players were added to Bilic’s ranks over the summer to bolster the squad. But that it seems is part of the problem.
And in order to save the Hammers‘ season – and possibly his job – the former Croatia boss must stop playing the club’s throng of loan signings with immediate effect.
Woeful: Gokhan Tore looks dejected
Gokhan Tore, Simone Zaza and Jonathan Calleri have all been nothing short of woeful since signing for the club.
Aside from the fact that the trio have shown little to suggest they would be good investments for the Hammers, they too have no investment in the club’s future.
That is not to say those players don’t care the club is struggling and could be threatened with relegation, they probably do care.
But knowing they would just go back to their parent clubs is hardly an incentive.
Bilic speaks with Simone Zaza
In Zaza’s case things are complicated by the fact he has a 14-game obligation to buy clause in his contract for £25million.
He looks very unlikely to be allowed to get close to that figure with the likes of Diafra Sakho, Andy Carroll and Andre Ayew due back soon.
Tore has been so bad he even has his own parody chant in his honour to the tune of We’ve Got Payet, but with less complimentary wording.
He too – barring a miraculous turnaround – knows his future is not in East London with a £13million option looking more unappealing by the game.
West Ham United’s Jonathan Calleri shoots wide
Then there is Calleri. There is no option to buy the striker – despite West Ham initially wanting one inserted into the deal – because the player’s representatives felt he would have better offers from bigger clubs after showing what he could do this season.
As laughable as that is based on his initial form, it also lends weight to the suggestion that West Ham’s long or even medium-term future is not that high up on the list of priorities.
In many ways the fate of the club is at stake and it should not rest at the feet of three loan players who know their futures will be elsewhere come what May… or even January.
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