Slaven Bilic vows to make sure West Ham’s performances remain as good as their new home

Slaven Bilic has guided West Ham to away wins at Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City this season

SLAVEN BILIC has vowed to work hard to make sure West Ham’s performances on the pitch remain as good as the new stadium they are about to inherit.

 

The Hammers are flying high in their final season before moving into the Olympic Stadium.

They could even go top following today’s trip to Sunderland but Bilic knows a lot of hard work on and off the pitch, including extensive and expensive player recruitment will be needed over the coming months. 

 

“We now have a good platform to build,” he said of the new stadium. “But if you are going to a nightclub and you have to pay £100 to walk in, you can’t go out with £100, otherwise you’ll have to go to the toilet and drink water.

“The stadium by itself will not make us into a big club. You need a whole infrastructure. It is like when you are building houses. You build houses and then you need a school if it’s a big area, you need a small hospital, a cinema and a swimming pool for the people.

 

“It’s the same for the club. You need the team that can match that. You can’t expect that the same team will play better just because you are moving the stadium.”

The Croat was too polite to say it of course but his big fear must be seeing West Ham go the same way as Sunderland, who have an enviable home in the Stadium of Light but have been simply awful on the pitch.

Dick Advocaat’s men have managed to put just two points on the board so far and the Dutchman has already been critical of owner Ellis Short over a lack of quality signings.

 

Advocaat is the latest in a line of managers of varying styles and experience to find the challenge of reviving the Black Cats’ fortunes a tall order.

Former West Ham favourite Paolo Di Canio tried and failed, as have Martin O’Neill, Steve Bruce and most recently Gus Poyet, and Bilic argued the real reason for failure seemed to lie elsewhere.

“They are a big club but every year they struggle,” he said. “And people blame the managers, they all do. If it is one or two occasions then OK but three, four or five? It is definitely not the managers’ fault.”