A LOTTI MORE PRESSURE
Bilic fears after Ancelotti axe
WEST HAM boss Slaven Bilic has admitted the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti has put him under even more pressure.
Ancelotti was axed as Bayern Munich manager after a humiliating 3-0 Champions League defeat by Paris SaintGermain.
That came after Bayern blew a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against Wolfsburg on Friday and went down 2-0 to Hoffenheim at the start of this month.
Ancelotti was immediately linked with the West Ham job – although Bilic is still in charge despite weeks of speculation that he is about to be replaced.
Bilic is under pressure himself, as the Hammers have just four points on the board and are in the drop zone.
With bookies installing the Italian at just 10-1 to be the next West Ham boss, Bilic admitted the speculation affected him.
He said: “Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you are angry, sometimes you are down and other times it makes you more motivated. It affects you, of course it does, you are human.
“I can’t moan about my job. I am only fed up talking about it.
“It is part of the job and, of course, I want to get out of this situation. The only way to do it is to have more good days than bad days.”
The Munich hierarchy are split over how best to replace the former Chelsea boss.
President Uli Hoeness wants Ancelotti’s former No.2 Willy Sagnol to stay on until the end of the season before making a move for rising managerial star, Hoffenheim’s Julian Nagelsmann, 30, next summer.
But Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (below with Hoeness) wants to appoint former Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel now.
He is out of work after leaving Bayern’s big rivals Dortmund at the end of last season.
Tuchel recently rejected interest from West Ham after being sounded out about the possibility of replacing Bilic at the London Stadium.
For now, Sagnol has been handed the reigns at the Allianz Arena on an interim basis. There were murmurs of discontent at Bayern last season – despite Ancelotti leading them to a fifth straight German league title. Ancelotti’s laid-back approach and preference for giving his stars freedom and trust did not go down too well with a group who felt they improved as a result of hard taskmaster Pep Guardiola’s more demanding style and clear philosophy.
The writing was on the wall for Ancelotti after fallouts with key players such as Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery and
Thomas Muller.