We could do worse than go for Bilic
I was sorry to see Slaven Bilic lose his job as manager of West Ham this week. He’s a down to earth guy who always comes across well.
Initially he got the Hammers playing some of the best football they’ve seen in the East end of London for years. Sadly the loss of Dmitri Payet after one dizzying season took its toll on the entire club.
The Premier League is unforgiving though and it was no great surprise to see Bilic sacked earlier this week. It did get me thinking.
I have used this space before to criticise the Scottish tendency to limit ourselves. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard talk that we have a very limited pool of potential Scottish managers.
Now, I don’t know if Slaven Bilic has any interest in the Scotland vacancy and it would be right to give the man time to breathe after a traumatic few weeks.
But here is an example of someone who surely would tick all the right boxes. Considerable national team coaching experience, indeed his six years in charge of Croatia are still celebrated in his homeland.
A club CV that includes Lokomotiv Moscow, Beskitas and the aforementioned West Ham.
Surely, Slaven Bilic is someone the SFA should be sounding out.
At the very least, he’s someone I would want to get advice from, given his work with the Croatian national team and as a student of the world game.
That he’s not Scottish? Who cares. This is about the search to find the best person for the job.
And we could do worse than give him a call.