BRAVE FACE ON TOPLESS PICS
And the boss says the players know he is in charge and that they are just along for the ride.
In an extraordinary outburst over the defection of Dimitri Payet, Bilic said: “You are the manager, you are in the driving seat, you are driving the car and they are just the passengers.
“At the end of the day the players do have the power but it’s me who’s the manager and as long as I am the manager it is my decision.
“You depend on the players but during your reign you the manager have all the power.”
Bilic revealed HE went to his board and demanded they get shut of wantaway Payet to cut off any threat of player power, the kind that cost Claudio Ranieri his job at Leicester.
The boss was furious over the help his England career take off after appearing in just three ODIs since his debut series against New Zealand in the summer of 2015.
“It has been frustrating, yes,” said Billings. “But if you look at the success of the side since that New Zealand series, it was the catalyst and it’s really kicked on from there.
“Of course it’s frustrating, you get one game in Bangladesh – when I got 65 – but if you get a hundred you really press your claim. But again in terms of mentally as a player it’s another experience. You have got to take out of it as much as you can.
“It is professional sport and it’s good for the side that there is so much competition.
“But as an individual I’ve really got to make these chances count. I definitely feel like I’m in a good place to do that.”
Batting conditions will be even tougher today because the second ODI will be played on the same pitch as the first just two days earlier.
“We’re just trying to get the job done,” said Billings. “That’s one ticked off and we’ve got two more to win. On that used pitch, it could be interesting.”
As for that Tatler photoshoot, Billings said: “Terrible, wasn’t it? You get approached about these things. The four of us, believe me, haven’t lived that down in the dressing room.” LIAM LIVINGSTONE’S brilliant form with the bat again proved in vain as Sri Lanka A thrashed England Lions in Dambulla to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match one-day series.