Bilic urges Lanzini to fill his boots
SLAVEN Bilic has urged Manuel Lanzini to fill the void left by Dimitri Payet’s imminent West Ham walkout.
France star Payet this week rocked the Hammers by telling them he wants to leave and is refusing to play against Crystal Palace today.
But Argentinian midfielder Lanzini has a handy knack of finding the net against the Eagles and can step out of Payet’s shadow at the London Stadium.
“Since I’ve been here we played Palace twice at Selhurst Park,” said Bilic. “Last year we won 3-1 and this year 1-0 – both of those were really good performances from us.
“Lanzini has scored three goals against them. He scored in the first game last season, he scored in the 2-2 draw at Upton Park and he scored the winner in the 1-0 game this season. Hopefully he is going to score again.”
Bilic is hoping Payet’s actions will unite the rest of his squad.
The Hammers boss has fought the 29-year-old’s corner all season, despite his dip in form following last term’s heroics and his sparkling displays at Euro 2016.
So the sense of betrayal Bilic feels at Payet’s decision was palpable when the Croatian broke the news to the media on Thursday morning.
Payet will be left in no doubt about the fans’ opinion when the match kicks off– the terrace chant ‘We’ve got Payet’ is expected to begin with a different less favourable two words.
But Bilic knows his players need to forget about their absent team-mate and concentrate on the task in hand, picking up three points to avoid being sucked back towards the relegation zone.
“It’s going to be a demanding game in every sense,” he said. “Also it will be a nervous game from both teams, because of what’s at stake.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to get back on the path in the league that we have shown in the last five or six games.
“We haven’t got a big squad now left, we just have the players for this game. But we have enough players to put a strong team out and have good players on the bench.
“It is the team that I am managing. Many times clubs have lost quality players but gained a team.” opportunity you want them to perform and give you a problems going forward. That’s healthy and that’s competition for places.
“That means the man that didn’t play on Tuesday will be a little bit worried about his place and I think that’s good. Whoever plays on Saturday will have to understand that they have to perform, which is totally what I want.”
Asked about managerless Chester- field, Slade warned that they’ll be no pushovers despite being drop zone bedfellows, sitting just a point and place above the Sky Blues.
“It’s difficult because we won’t know who’s going to be in charge on the day,” he said. “It could be Richie Humphreys or a new man sat in the stands or even taking a slightly bigger part but look, whoever it is, we can’t control external factors, just those on the pitch and that’s our intention.
“Our concentration and focus will be paramount on Saturday. Why? Because they have got threats in their team. “They have not been having the greatest of times recently, like us, but they will take heart from the fact that they have won two and drawn one of their last three games at home, so they have taken seven points and any team that’s got players like Ched Evans in is always going to be a threat.”
He added: “We are in need of three points, there’s no doubt about that, COVENTRY travel to managerless Chesterfield today looking for their first League One win under new boss Russell Slade.
The Spireites parted company with Danny Wilson and his assistant Chris Morgan following Saturday’s League One 2-0 defeat by Bradford City.
Wilson, 57, took charge on Christmas Eve 2015, but after winning only six of their 26 league games this campaign the club are in the relegation zone, just a point and place ahead of the Sky Blues.
Saturday’s loss, their fourth in the last six games, left the Spireites in the drop zone on goal difference while left-back Ritchie Humphreys has been named as caretaker manager.
“Chesterfield have looked like a side bereft of confidence in their past four league games and going that length of time without a win or a goal has ultimately cost Danny Wilson his job,” says Graham Smyth of the Derbyshire Times.
“Some players simply haven’t performed to the best of their ability for him and while the injury problems he’s had to deal with and the club’s financial constraints have also contributed, supporters eventually lost patience with what they perceived as negative football.”
Things went from bad to worse when the club were thumped 4-0 at Luton in the Checkatrade Trophy on Tuesday and it seems there isn’t a better time to travel to the Proact Stadium for the Sky Blues who appear to be showing shoots of recovery under Slade with two league draws and a Trophy win under their belts in the last three games.
As for the players who are likely to pose a threat to City, Ched Evans is the name to jump out – the prolific goal scorer impressed against the Sky Blues at the Ricoh Arena in early November, albeit unable to get on the scoresheet in the 2-0 City win.
He’s managed just three goals since, and Smyth says: “No-one can hold their hand up and say they’ve been consistently excellent lately.
“Sam Hird rarely puts a foot but it’s important that we have to concentrate on the performance that’s going to give us the best possible chance of getting those points. And that’s got to be our focus.
“We can’t afford to take much notice of other external things happening around the place, other results etc. We have to focus completely on ourselves and not give ourselves a limit what we can achieve on Saturday or between now and the end of the season. There is no limit.” wrong but has missed matches through injury and illness this season. He’s a big miss for Town when he doesn’t play.
“Reece Mitchell looks like a bright spark at times out wide, and Jay O’Shea usually has a trick up his sleeve. But none of the attackers have been doing it in recent weeks.”
As with Coventry, the January window is a critical period for the Spireites who are hoping to keep hold of their better players.
“They need to keep hold of their better players, the likes of Ched Evans, O’Shea, Hird and Jon Nolan,” says Smyth.
“If they can add anyone new, a central midfielder and a left-back would be the first two priorities. But there are lots of positions on the field where you’d like to see more experience or quality. Any new manager coming in has a big job on his hands.”