VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR BILIC

WEST HAM’S owners have again backed Slaven Bilic despite four straight Premier League losses. After votes of confidence from David Gold and Karren Brady in recent days, the club yesterday issued another statement. ‘To end speculation once and for all, the West Ham United board feel it necessary to announce that we have 100 per cent faith in Slaven Bilic’s ability to lead West Ham United. ‘The manager’s position is not under threat. The board know that Slaven and his coaching staff have the full backing of the playing squad and the overwhelming majority of supporters to lead West Ham out of this difficult spell.’ Less than 24 hours earlier, stand-in captain Andy Carroll dismissed suggestions Bilic was losing the players. ‘The lads are all behind him, 100 per cent. He’s a great manager,’ he said emphatically. West Ham have taken just two points from the last 18 and while they did not play poorly at Hull, they were beaten by a team who wanted it more. Perhaps that is their biggest threat, a failure to recognise the peril of their plight. A subdued Bilic could not even muster a smile when it was suggested that his defence could do with him at its heart. ‘It is very tough, but it’s a tough job,’ said the Croat. ‘Of course, I can’t lie and say after the game the atmosphere was brilliant in the dressing room — it wasn’t.’ Hull kept alive their survival hopes with second-half goals from Andy Robertson and Andrea Ranocchia, following Carroll’s first-half opener. Robertson said of his boss Marco Silva: ‘His qualities are endless. His attention to detail is like no other manager I’ve worked under.’