BILIC: SACK ME IF YOU DARE
SLAVEN BILIC effectively dared David Sullivan to sack him last night by openly criticising the West Ham chairman. The Hammers boss (left) believes he has been left high and dry by Sullivan’s failure to sign £40m-rated William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon. And he questioned Sullivan’s version of events over not just that transfer, which ended in a war of words between the clubs, but West Ham’s whole strategy in the market.
Bilic, whose job is under review after three straight defeats, said: “I was so sure we would do it. I was hoping until midnight on deadline day.
“This was not promised, but very, very likely to happen. It was like ‘deal done’.
“This was a crucial position we’ve been trying to get since I came here. It didn’t happen.” Bilic claims he was forced to sell Ashley Fletcher to Middlesbrough and Sofiane Feghouli to Galatasaray to raise funds for Portuguese midfielder Carvalho.
He added: “We offloaded many players just to raise funds for Carvalho. Everybody is talking about how much money we spent on Marko
Arnautovic and Chicharito. But in terms of last season, we sold 11 players. Players like Feghouli, Fletcher would be here.
“There are many things I am not happy about. But if I want to say something to the chairman, I’m not going to talk through my lawyers or the media.
“I’m expecting if he says something about me to call me.”
Sullivan claims Bilic turned down the chance to sign Renato Sanches, who went to Swansea, and Grzegorz Krychowiak, who joined West Brom.
Bilic added: “David Sullivan likes to talk, it’s his right. That is not exactly what happened with those two you mention.
“It’s very common when it looks like a player is going to happen, someone throws in two or three other names and that distracts you from the main target.”
Bilic says he still expects the club to sign Carvalho in January. But that looks impossible after Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho mocked Sullivan and Hammers co-owner David Gold as the ‘D***o Brothers’ this week.
Bilic responded to that comment by saying: “It’s funny! It made me laugh.”