An emphatic 4-1 defeat at home to Liverpool on Saturday appears to be the final nail in Slaven Bilić’s coffin. The Croatian who was hired back in 2015, managed 109 games in East London, has now been sacked by the club. However, after 11 games this season, West Ham sit in 18th place with only 9 points to their name. Such form wasn’t going be tolerated much longer, and Saturday proved to be the last straw.
In a statement released by the club, they believed the change was imperative for the club “to move forward positively and in line with their ambition.” Clearly sitting in the relegation zone was not in their plans and the board have swiftly acted to alter their fortunes.
Here are three replacements for Slaven Bilić.
3Sam Allardyce
There are not many more experienced managers in English football than Sam Allardyce. In a career spanning just under 20 years, the 63-year-old has managed 8 clubs. In his previous tenure at West Ham, Allardyce won 69 out of 181 matches, averaging 1.39 points per game. His record speaks itself, and as a man that’s never been relegated from the Premier League, the Hammers need him more than he needs them.
His long ball, tough-tackling, defensively resolute and organised style is the perfect recipe for Premier League survival. West Ham needs such organisation as they’ve already conceded 23 goals this season. Allardyce would firstly focus on this leaking defence and then deploy a lethal counter-attacking strategy.
