If you don’t count the Intertoto Cup – UEFA’s attempt to keep the football pools going over the summer – Slaven Bilic led West Ham United to their very first European qualification based on their league position, rather than through cup competitions.
And yet, this season has hardly built on the success of last time. Indeed, Bilic could well be shown the exit door, with Sky Sports reporting that Bilic’s position will be reviewed at the end of the season.
And tonight’s play-off semi-final between Fulham and Reading may well have implications for the Croatian boss.
Having already been linked with Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic this season, West Ham might well be watching with interest to see if the Serbian manager can mastermind a victory and get his side to a play-off final.
It might be unlikely that the Hammers could poach Fulham’s boss if they do get promoted – though it wouldn’t be the first time that Jokanovic has left a club he led to promotion to the Premier League, after leaving Watford in 2015 – but if the Cottagers don’t manage to reach the top tier this summer, perhaps the Hammers’ hierarchy might still be sufficiently impressed to swap him for their own boss.
A thoughtful manager who plays a passing brand of football, Jokanovic is clearly the kind of boss West Ham fans could get behind, certainly in terms of playing style. The fact that his only English management experience is in the lower tier, however, might put the fans off that little bit more. Whether or not it would be a good appointment may be beside the point if the board make a underwhelming one.
And yet, arguably the Hammers’ best signing over the last few years is Michail Antonio – a player who came from Nottingham Forest in the EFL.
This season, however, Fulham have by far and away the best goal difference outside the top two, and having scored as many goals as champions Newcastle – no one has scored more.
Clearly, then, his style of play would suit the club’s self-perception as a team who like to play football the ‘West Ham way’, and he’s having success playing it.
But perhaps the most telling reason to invest in Jokanovic is his ability to make canny substitutions to change a game.
This season, Slaven Bilic has seen his squad depleted badly by injuries, but the way they’ve dealt with it hasn’t always been great. Maybe a manager like Jokanovic – who has an eye for detail and the ability to see how a player’s specific skill-set can change a game – is exactly what’s needed next season at the London Stadium.
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