Slaven could soon be in soapy bubble
THE bubbles could be bursting at West Ham over the next 14 days as their season of dreams threatens to turn into a nightmare.
This afternoon they are at Manchester United, next Saturday at home to Arsenal and the following Sunday they visit Liverpool.
If they don’t pick up some points from three of the hardest fixtures in the calendar, the Hammers will be entrenched in the relegation zone ahead of the busy festive period.
They’re still in the EFL Cup but, given that they return to Old Trafford for their quarter-final on Wednesday, that spark of consolation could soon be extinguished.
No one imagined this could happen. This is supposed to be a new era of prosperity and success for the East Londoners.
Everything was in place for them to become one of the capital’s powerhouse clubs.
They had negotiated the use of a 60,000-capacity stadium at a peppercorn rent – giving them the same crowd potential as Arsenal, 20,000 more than Chelsea and almost 30,000 more than Tottenham have this season with White Hart Lane under reconstruction.
They’d qualified for the Europa League. Slaven Bilic was reckoned to be among the brightest coaches around. Dimitri Payet was one of the players of last season. Everyone agreed. The only way was up. Yet they currently have 11 points from 12 matches and Bilic is under pressure.
The move to the London Stadium has been fraught with unanticipated difficulties – crowd violence, stewarding problems, seating issues – resulting in dissatisfaction among the support and a sharp downturn in their backing for the team.
Should the Hammers be in the bottom three at Christmas co- owners David Sullivan and David Gold, plus vicechairman Karren Brady, would have a difficult decision.
Despite their combined reputations as ruthless business people, they traditionally don’t like to sack their managers.
Yet they can’t risk relegation just a year after their stadium move. They wouldn’t come close to filling it in the Championship.
Bilic’s stock is not only undermined by results. Virtually all the players he added in the summer – Simone Zaza, Sofiane Feghouli, Havard Nordtveit, Arthur Masuaku, Edimilson Fernandes and Gokhan Tore – have flopped.
Last season’s stars, Payet and Manuel Lanzini, have failed to reproduce their shine and Andy Carroll is back on the treatment table.
When the Hammers appointed Bilic on a three-year contract in 2015 they’d missed out on top targets Rafa Benitez and Unai Emery.
Emery, now at PSG, is no longer an option and it’s extremely unlikely that Benitez could be prised from Newcastle.
Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe – a traditional West Ham-style manager – would be a front-runner if Bilic goes, as would the out-of-work Roberto Mancini, who’s keen to return to the Premier league.
And, of course, the club already know the phone number of relegation-fighting specialist Sam Allardyce!