If Graham Potter’s West Ham United had even an ounce of the fighting spirit demonstrated during happier times under Slaven Bilic, well, Saturday’s latest collapse – this time at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur – might not have been quite so brutal.
Brutal? Yes. Unexpected? Most certainly not.
Sunderland scored three times in 32 minutes against West Ham United on the opening weekend. Chelsea netted five times in 43 just six days later. Jorgen Strand Larsen hit a two-minute brace to knock the Hammers out of the Carabao Cup.
And after a rare clean sheet away at Nottingham Forest, Pape Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven all breached Mads Hermansen during a 17-minute shellacking which also included a Tomas Soucek red card.
While West Ham publicly reiterated their support for Graham Potter this week – albeit in a statement which had a real ‘dreaded vote of confidence’ feel about it – another crumbling against another London rival would make his position, if not quite untenable, then certainly precarious.
The Hammers host Crystal Palace on Saturday at 3pm with the spectre of Slaven Bilic dangling over Potter like the sword of Damocles.
While Hammers News can confirm that owner David Sullivan retains a good relationship with Bilic, sporting director Mark Noble had some very kind words to say about the charming Croatian during his days wearing the captain’s armband in claret and blue.
Mark Noble loved playing under Slaven Bilic at West Ham United
Though the likes of Simon Jordan cannot understand the logic of re-appointing a manager they sacked back in 2017 with the club 18th in the Premier League, nostalgia is a seductive drug indeed.
Bilic’s win rate without the talismanic presence of Dimitri Payet stands at just 22 per cent. Worse than Potter’s record, even.
But, to give him his dues, the 57-year-old also guided West Ham to a record points tally [65], a record number of goals [62], and their lowest number of defeats [eight] all during a terrific 2015/16 campaign, while beating Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City all away from home.
Bilic frequently referenced his team’s ‘fight’ and their ‘spirit’, something then-skipper Mark Noble also referenced during one particularly eye-catching comeback victory.
While West Ham brought the curtains down on their beloved Upton Park with two late goals to see off Manchester United, while Southampton suffered the same fate in that 2015/16 season, the Hammers going 2-0 down at Everton before scoring three times from the 78th minute onwards summed up the ferocity and the never-say-die attitude instilled by Bilic.
“We’ve had some amazing results lately but, for team spirit, that was fantastic,” Noble beamed after Michail Antonio, Diafra Sakho and the aforementioned Payet stunned the Toffees with three goals in 12 minutes.
“We are delighted, as you can imagine. It just shows you what we have got this year. This team spirit, desire and never-give-up attitude we have got is amazing.
“We know we are a good team, we have proved it over the last eight or nine months, but that was a little bit special.”
West Ham, in contrast, have not recorded a single comeback win during Potter’s miserable eight-month tenure. In fact, the Hammers have picked up a very unhelpful habit of turning leads into losses. See that 5-1 Chelsea battering last month, that EFL Cup loss at Wolves, plus further matches against Aston Villa, Brighton and Chelsea.
Noble defended Bilic right till the end at the London Stadium
The softly-spoken Potter, even his greatest supporters would have to admit, is hardly the sort of character to inspire much bloodlust from the dugout.
“[Bilic] is so passionate and he really, really wants to do well for the club and the fans,” Noble would tell talkSPORT in December 2016, throwing his weight behind Bilic even as results started to turn and just before Payet’s departure would spell the beginning of the end.
“Obviously, he played here [in 1996/97], so he knows what it’s like. Sometimes when you get the results we have had he takes it personally, as I do. I go home and can’t just switch off and relax because I care so much for the football club and I think Slav is like that as well. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he knows what the club is about.
“I wholly believe that he is the man to lead this football club. I am 100 per cent behind him as his captain and I am pretty sure all the boys are.
“I have had managers in the past where you have the players hammering the manager and it’s not good, but that doesn’t happen here because he is such a good character, he is so good with the lads.”
The out-of-work Nuno Espirito Santo and Gary O’Neil continue to be mentioned with increasing regularity. Hammers News have also been told that Frank Lampard may be tempted to leave Coventry if an East London homecoming is offered.
But with Noble now a major decision-maker alongside Sullivan at the London Stadium, this Slaven Bilic story certainly has legs.
