Slaven Bilic named as West Ham Manager (09.06.15)

Hammerex

The supporters that didn't want Bilic as manager.

Lukerz

hammerex ;hmm

I agree there are some who were cautious about letting Sam go for fear of relegation, but as Bilic has proven, Sam is not the only man capable of taking us to top six at Xmas and survival.

I can't think of anybody who didn't want Bilic but now love him. ;hmm

I wanted Sam gone, Bilic (anybody) in and still feel justified in my view.

Lukerz

MrsGrey said:

It's a choice nobody has to make, Luke. That was sort of my point ;ok

But it was a hypothetical one. Would you prefer to win the FA Cup or finish top four. Bilic's preference was to win the cup, even though you could achieve both or neither.

I'm sure, if given one of two options, he'd rather stay up if it meant sacrificing the cup, as there's always another season to win a cup.

It is a stupid question, I agree. It was thrown about on here and other forums a lot a couple of years ago. Survival or pretty football?

baracks_a_hammer

Let's be honest the number one brief for ANY West Ham manager has been to keep us in the top flight - that certainly has been the case for as long as I've been alive

baracks_a_hammer

hammerex said:

Don't agree Suz, first they want to keep Sam,and don't want Bilic, but now the Hammers are playing much better football under Bilic and they love him.

Huh?? Not sure I get the point

Sam's brief when appointed was to quickly stabilise and improve a relegated club which was in freefall, then get and consolidate prem status. At the end of his contract the new managerial brief would have been different and perhaps one that wasn't as closely aligned to Sam's attributes as when he first started? Do you really think the Dave's pumped in all that money(buying the club then investing in it) to see us potentially play tika taka as a League 1 club?? I for one don't.

Lukerz

I think the only thing was there were a lot of people who felt we were doomed to relegation because we let Sam go and brought in a PL inexperienced manager. What I would say, is that I haven't actually seen many of them post positively so far this season, so I doubt they now 'love' Bilic.

I checked out the Bournemouth defeat thread from earlier this season, and some of the comments on there are incredible (as in, we're down etc).

SuzanneClaret

hammerex said:

The supporters that didn't want Bilic as manager.

I didn't want him.

I didn't want Raffa.

And I was worried about letting Sam go.

I liked Rednapp when he was our manager, I don't like him now.

Non of that is relavent to how I feel about Billic now.

SuzanneClaret

It's okay to be worried about the unknown, reticent about change, then once you have actual knowledge form an alternative opinion.

baracks_a_hammer

Luke

The Dave's themselves deemed it to be a reasonably high risk taking him on - hence the "been there and done it in the major leagues" comment. So if the owners deem it to be a risk there's no reason why some supporters shouldn't be feeling twitchy too

Anything can happen in the second half of this season (except one would have thought, relegation). Let's see what happens. In fact let's see where we are this time next year, as plenty of prem managerial newbies start off well and then it unravels for them (Zola, Clarke at West Brom to name two). However the big thing in Slav's favour is that at least he has significant managerial experience elsewhere so I for one am confident he will prosper and not fall away after a bright start ;ok

SuzanneClaret

hammerex said:

Don't agree Suz, first they want to keep Sam,and don't want Bilic, but now the Hammers are playing much better football under Bilic and they love him.

It ok to change our minds.

Just because I was worried what would happen if Sam left does not mean I can not comment on things I like about our current manager.

SuzanneClaret

I teach first aid.

I didn't sleep the night before my first teaching session. I was terrified.

Now 8 months on I'm a happy confident - in my skills - trainer.

Because I know have knowledge to base my opinion on.

grey_til_I_dye

Lukerz

there were a lot of people who felt we were doomed to relegation because we let Sam go and brought in a PL inexperienced manager

No, there really, really weren't, and I'd be amazed if you could find any serious post that suggested that getting rid of Sam would mean inevitable relegation.

(Ham's posts don't count ;wink)

I don't see what the point is of completely mis-stating opinions, it doesn't advance any kind of discussion.

Personally, I felt Sam was a safe pair of hands, and gave us a very high chance of staying in the PL in what is a crucial season to do so.

I felt that changing him out for a manager with no PL experience involved taking a chance, and that wasn't simply related to the possibility of getting Bilic.

I don't see how Bilic's most welcome success is meant to invalidate either of those points.

Personally, I'm tired of some people insisting on binary, either/or states - the world, and people's attitudes are a lot more complex than that.

I liked Sam, and I liked what he did for our club.

I like Bilic as a manager (so far) and what he is doing for our club.

Dodger58

grey_til_I_dye said:

(Ham's posts don't count ;wink)

Is that a sense of humour by-pass?

;wink

grey_til_I_dye

Dodger

Yes! ;biggrin

Lukerz

Cuz - I just think he deserves more credit than he's got.

When he was appointed, there were a few digs about him running off to Everton and a few said he'd have to at least match what Sam did in the first half of last season before they considered him the right man.

Tell you the truth I think some are surprised he has matched what Sam achieved last season (32 points in 20 games) and are now reluctant to give him much credit.

Hammerwombat

I just watched Arsene Wenger interviewed after the gooners beat Sunderland. He spoke for 2 minutes and said absolutely nothing. Slavens interviews have been honest informative and to the point. I'm so glad Wenger is not our manager.

OldCastleSwift

I love him



This much

Hamstew

grey_til_I_dye

Lukerz

a few digs about him running off to Everton

You weren't around at the time, fair enough, but please don't doubt or trivialise the amount of hostility and anger he generated in a lot of fans by his actions then.

I thought it was shabby then, and I still think it was shabby.

It has no impact, however, on how I view his management of us.

Dodger58

Grey, I don't think of it as 'shabby', it would have been had he left in the January window, but he knew we needed him and he stayed to the end of the season. At the time Everton were a genuine top 4 club, so, in fairness it was a 'step up' offer a professional almost couldn't ignore - whether we liked it or not. After all, West Ham had not discovered him, or brought him through the Academy.

SuzanneClaret

All I can say is it was a good job there wasn't a social media network when he nicked off to Everton

We were mad at him and for a long time.

grey_til_I_dye

Dodger

It split fans then, and apparently continues to do so now.

I accept that you don't share my view, but I don't think I'm wrong to have felt, and to feel what I do about it, and I was far from the only one feeling like that.

Dodger58

Suzanne, I agree there and I wasn't happy either.

Texashammer

What I find "funny" and not in the "funny haha" sense, is that Bilic left after 18 months yet is forgiven for leaving and seen as almost a demi-god and a super hero, yet others, namely Paul Ince, will never be forgiven, even though he has never bad-mouthed West Ham, has apologised for "that picture" and was sold down the river by that Scottish tragedy of a manager after our manager and his father-figure was shafted by the ownership. So much so that his son is booed by fans when he plays against us.

Trust is earned, and while Bilic is doing a good job at the moment, I still have a slightly nervous feeling, qualms if you will, that if he does well, he could be tempted away from us and leave us in the lurch.

With Allardyce we always knew what we were getting.

At the time I said I would support the manager, and he did what he was asked to do. I thought he had just about earned the opportunity to lead the team into the new stadium. I am not the owners and the latter part of last season was dire. They chose not to renew his contract but go in a different direction.

Bilic was not my first choice, I still feel slightly betrayed and consequently, slightly distrustful.

I feel that he has done well so far, but he did inherit much of that squad, and the addition of Cresswell, bringing Collins back, Reid's growth are not down to him.

That said, I have enjoyed doing the double over Liverpool.

Put it this way, I like the way things are going, but am still a little wary.

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard

Lukerz

grey - fair enough. That's a personal choice. I don't get overly bothered by it, personally. It was a bit before my time as a fan but I never cared when Defoe left, never cared when Parker left, didn't care when Green left etc. I don't ever harbour grudges regardless of the circumstances they left under.

I may have exaggerated that people felt he was doomed to fail, but there was a lot of "I'll give him a chance but don't see him as an improvement on Sam and don't think he'll have us top six at the end of the year". Yet he has 1) done that 2) arguably, done it in a better style and 3) done it negotiating a tricky pre-season fixture list and then a horrendous injury situation.

Whether you wanted him before or not, no issue. But credit is due and my view is that Sam would be getting a lot more credit if he was still in charge, and I include from people like myself and Twist, than Bilic is getting from those ;hmm when he replaced Sam.

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard

"Sam would be getting a lot more credit if he was still in charge"

lol

Barely anything was good enough

Oh and I love Bilic

grey_til_I_dye

Lukerz

my view is that Sam would be getting a lot more credit if he was still in charge,

Well, that would be a first then.

You still seem determined to keep up a 'them and us' split.

I don't get it.

Why does everything have to be about the last manager?

Why not deal with Bilic on his own terms, without making pointless comparisons?

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard

For the record I gave SA 2 years

Then based on that work gave him another 2

Only in the last 4 months did I feel he was done and that wasn't all his fault by a long shot.

As soon as Bilic was appointed everything was reset as it was/is/has been for every manager I've backed.

And he's doing a great job. The only peeve I had was Europe......