The Baggies unveiled their new manager on Monday and he waxed lyrical about the Championship club.
West Bromwich Albion manager Slaven Bilic has shared a conversation he had with his friends in which, prior to his appointment as manager, he spoke of being thoroughly impressed by the atmosphere in the Championship playoff semi-final second leg between the Baggies and West Midlands rivals Aston Villa.
At his official unveiling on Monday, the Croatia legend spoke to reporters about a number of topics including his reasons for accepting the job at The Hawthorns and his hopes for the season ahead, as reported by the official Albion website.
Bilic certainly appeared excited to have taken the reins, waxing lyrical about everything West Brom-related, from the intensity coming from the home stands during matchdays when he was West Ham manager to pledging to do his best in the club’s quest for promotion back to the Premier League.
The 50-year-old also spoke of his ambition to manage a team in the Championship and, even before the gears began turning towards his appointment, he admitted he was in awe of what he had seen in the playoff second leg at The Hawthorns back in May.
“When I didn’t know that I was coming here I watched both the games against Villa,” Bilic told the West Brom website.
“That atmosphere in the second game, you could feel it back home where I was watching it. You could feel it on the telly. It was bouncing, it was buzzing, and then I spoke about that game in a coffee shop afterwards and my friends were telling me the same – that it was proper football.”
Bilic has penned a two-year contract at West Brom, taking the reins from caretaker James Shan, who had managed the first team following the departure of Darren Moore.
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