PREMIER LEAGUE
Albion’s Bilic: We don’t need to hear the fans clapping, we just want the...
ONLY a few weeks ago West Bromwich Albion boss Slaven Bilic felt his club’s promotion prospects might be settled by committee rather than on the grass.
‘It was only when the situation in Italy improved that I became more optimistic,’ he reflects. ‘Then when football resumed in Germany, it was a big boost.
‘We were vocal from the beginning we would like to resume the season, even though promoting the top two would have suited us. We wanted to finish it on the pitch.’
Now Albion have their chance. The Championship returns on Saturday and Bilic’s men are at home to Birmingham City.
Under the former Croatia and West Ham manager, Albion have been in the Premier League race from the opening day.
Although they surrendered top spot to Leeds United during the last round of pre-lockdown fixtures in March, they remain six points clear of third-placed Fulham.
It is now a case of staying calm and not letting the enforced break halt their momentum.
‘ Nothing i s easy,’ says Bilic. ‘There is big pressure on us and playing in empty stadiums shouldn’t change our attitude.
‘Our goal is not to have somebody clap us. The goal is going to the Premier League. That kind of achievement requires that you cope with pressure.
‘We want to finish the season as we were doing. We were up there. Of course, there is a long way to go but we are in a good position and have a strong belief in ourselves.’
Bilic has seen and done plenty in his career. As a player, he starred in the Bundesliga and Premier League and reached a World Cup semi-final in 1998. He has managed big-city clubs in Moscow, Istanbul and London and took Croatia to the quarter-final of Euro 2008.
Even so, dealing with a pandemic is new territory. Albion have one of the most ethnically diverse squads in the country and striker Charlie Austin overcame suspect e d c o r o navi r us early in the outbreak.
Albion’s medical staff and sports science team have worked around the clock to ensure the players feel safe. Specialist nurses have come into the traini ng ground t wice a week to oversee rigorous testing and emails are sent to players reminding them of social distancing guidance even as lockdown restrictions ease around the country. Albion have had 18 different scorers this season. Austin is second on the list with nine goals and his illness was a reminder of the potential health issues. ‘Charlie had all the symptoms and was in terrible pain for a few days with a high fever,’ says Bilic (left). ‘At that time, there weren’t tests available so we don’t know if he really had the virus or if i t was something else, a different kind of flu bug.
‘Thank God it’s gone. Charlie is training normally for the four weeks since we came back.
‘This has really been a crazy year. I don’t like to talk about the virus because I am not an expert.
‘We have also had the big issue of racism. Of course, racism is awful. It is why sport is the most beautiful thing. It gets people together. Look at our team.’
Bilic, who t ook t he j ob l ast summer after a brief spell in Saudi Arabia, has been too busy to be bored. Four of his five children stayed at the family home during lockdown and he spent valuable hours doing research to help his team on resumption. ‘We don’t think that we are in the Premier League already,’ he says. ‘We are well placed but nobody knows how it’s going
to be. We have nine games in one month, which is an awful lot, and behind closed doors. There are many questions to answer.
‘The players are confident and training hard and our main focus is on the first game at The Hawthorns. As a club, we want our away games to be as normal as possible within the rules. If we can travel the day before a game of course we will, though no sharing rooms.’
Bilic has not got nostalgic and watched vintage football footage on his laptop in recent weeks. Instead, he has done fresh analysis on Albion’s performances this season, studied opponents and looked at potential transfer targets.
Two lists, one if Albion are a Premier League club next season, the other if they stay down.
For relaxation, he has been getting into American crime drama ‘The Sinner’ and taking family walks in his local park. He is cheered that players out of contract on June 30, like Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt, want to extend to the end of the season so they can finish the job of promotion.
Young defender Nathan Ferguson is injured and destined to leave at the end of the month with Crystal Palace tipped to be his next club.
Bilic and Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer agreed to hold back-to-back friendlies at Old Trafford on Friday to help their squads with fitness.
Albion hired two coaches to travel there so that social distancing could be observed. They won the first game 2-1 and lost the second 3-1.
‘I will need a big squad with a lot of games in such a short period without a proper pre-season,’ adds Bilic. ‘There will be rotation and using five substitutes which is why it’s been very important for everyone to play in the build-up.
‘Even if we had after a full preseason it would be a big challenge.’