Daily WHUFC News - 5th December 2016

Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com

West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic says the solution to West Ham United's
problems will lie in hard work. The Hammers find themselves a point above
the Premier League's bottom three following Saturday's 5-1 defeat to Arsenal
with the manager admitting a swift improvement in necessary. He believes
that upturn is in reach - and has vowed to leave no stone unturned to ensure
it happens. Bilic said: "We have to work hard. There is no secret. You can
ask me to say words and a secret formula but you have to work hard. "We
changed the system, we changed the personnel, we turned things around at the
club, we used a lot of players. Some of the players are back from injury,
some of the players are new. {You have} to try to provoke and force
something new. "I am positive that we aren't going to be in this situation
in one month, two months, three months. Especially not in May. But we are
talking about now and now we are. "The situation is like this. I'm positive,
I'm brave, I'm optimistic but it is time to say what it is really is openly
without pointing fingers and all that. [I have] no problem that the
responsibility is all mine. We can't continue like this. We can't."

Bilic admits that this season's troubles are hurting him and the players,
and he wants a better feeling sooner rather than later.
He added: "Of course it affects me big time. It affects every manager and it
affects players. That's why I don't like this feeling.
"I don't want to feel like this, I want to go home and enjoy my evening with
my family. You know what I mean. I feel bad. Of course it affects my private
life and I believe that it definitely affects the players' private life. Of
course it does. We are not happy."

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Carroll - We will stick together
WHUFC.com

Andy Carroll has no doubts the players will stick together and get their
season back on track following a disappointing home defeat against Arsenal.
Despite another major setback at London Stadium, Carroll is convinced the
team will come together when it is needed most and show they have the
quality to move away from the bottom three. Carroll was pleased to be back
out on the pitch again after making his first appearance since August
following a knee injury and got his name on the scoresheet after Dimitri
Payet's free-kick hit the bar and he reacted the quickest to knock the
rebound home. But the Hammers striker insists he was more focused on helping
his team-mates put things right on the pitch and says everyone will unite as
they look to move clear of the danger zone. Carroll said: "We just need to
keep working hard in training and there is a great bunch of lads in the
team. "Everyone has stood by the manager and he is a great manager. We are
in this as a team together and all the lads are disappointed with the result
and the way things are going. "I am very confident that we are going to pull
ourselves out of this. "We have just got to stay positive and it shows what
a good team Arsenal are and the work that we need to do. It has been a tough
run for the lads over the last few weeks and we just need to pull out of it.
"If you have a starting eleven and someone has to go off injured in the
first five or ten minutes, it is a bit of a panic and that is what happened
to the players. "We went one goal behind and though we could have something
from the game at that point but we conceded another goal and then kind of
crumbled. "It was good to get another goal and be back out on the pitch, but
at the moment all the lads just need to focus on the next game and hopefully
get a win."

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Slaven Bilic set for West Ham crisis talks after humiliating Arsenal defeat
The Croatian's job is understood to be hanging by a thread with the Hammers
board furious at the team's surrender
BY DARREN LEWIS
22:30, 4 DEC 2016UPDATED21:22, 4 DEC 2016
The Mirror

West Ham will hold crisis talks with Slaven Bilic on Monday following their
humiliating defeat at home to Arsenal on Saturday. The 48-year-old
Croatian's job is understood to be hanging by a thread with the Hammers
board furious at the manner of the team's surrender. West Ham - who face
high-flying Liverpool next - are a point off the relegation zone and winless
in their last six, losing four. The club will decide today whether to
persist with Bilic or to give him the two games after next week's Liverpool
fixture - both at home to Burnley and Hull - to save his job. A superb
hat-trick from Alexis Sanchez was the highlight of Arsenal's 5-1 win. But
Bilic slammed his players' commitment and claimed afterwards they were
"lacking intensity - even in training".
West Ham are concerned that the club could struggle to attract quality
reinforcements if their form does not take a significant upturn during the
next month. Mirrorfootball exclusively revealed last season that the board
had held back on a new deal for Bilic, despite his impressive first
campaign, because they were concerned that he could have been a "one-season
wonder". He still has 18 months left to run on his current contract. It is
believed the Hammers will now propose changes to Bilic's backroom staff in a
bid to shake up their underachieving stars.

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West Ham owners have a massive decision to make over Slaven Bilic - the club
is in crisis
The Hammers are winless in their last six, losing four, and sit just a point
above the bottom three
Darren Lewis
The Mirror
22:30, 4 DEC 2016UPDATED18:01, 4 DEC 2016

Angry, humiliated and hurting. West Ham 's owners, Davids Gold and Sullivan,
are in just as much despair at a demolition that has left the club in
crisis. Any Hammers fan that reckons they are simply sitting back, counting
their money, is deluding themselves.
They are two men that usually back their managers, just as they did with Sam
Allardyce until they realised he'd taken them as far as he could. Now they
have a massive decision to make with Slaven Bilic .

West Ham are winless in their last six, losing four. They sit a point above
the bottom three. They will be sucked into that drop zone if Hull can win at
Middlesbrough on Monday night. Of course that 14-minute hat-trick from
Alexis Sanchez was a thing of beauty. With the Chilean up front - instead of
Olivier Giroud - Arsenal do indeed have a fantastic chance of winning the
league. The manner in which West Ham fell apart, however, was alarming. The
comments made by Bilic afterwards even more so. The Croatian spoke of
players lacking a commitment to the cause. Of his squad lacking desire even
in training. Some are dining out on last season's heroics, others have been
up to it only fleetingly since last season. Dimitri Payet has been singled
out but without him they'd be in even worse trouble. Bilic too must take
some of the flak. He will know this. Handed the chance to build on a
campaign which saw the club challenge for the top four last season, his
summer signings were poor.

Andre Ayew looks horrendously overpriced at £20million. Winger Sofiane
Feghouli and defensive midfielder Havard Nordveit both look to have been
allowed to leave by their former clubs for a reason. And Turkey winger
Gokhan Tore has not at any stage looked convincing in a West Ham shirt. To
be fair to West Ham, they prioritised and fought hard to bring in a
high-class striker but Chelsea gazumped them for £33million Michy Batshuayi.
A £40million fee was agreed Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette but the player wasn't
interested. Then there's AC Milan's Carlos Bacca, another who believed he
was too big for the Irons. A £26million fee was agreed but the player -
having been offered a huge contract - kept West Ham waiting for weeks before
deciding to stay in Italy. The fact that Bilic didn't fancy Christian
Benteke, even though the Irons owners did, doesn't cast him in a great
light. Especially given the fact that his £25million move for Italy striker
Simone Zaza has been an utter disaster. Bilic knows that he has been backed
by his owners. His decision-making during the summer just does not stand up
well to scrutiny. It is the reason why, with just three Premier League wins
this season, he is in big trouble.

Mesut Ozil tapped in West Ham's first, Sanchez hit a stunning second and
third. Andy Carroll - on his return to the side - nodded in a consolation.
But Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain smashed in a scorching fourth before Sanchez
completed his hat-trick in cheeky fashion.
Fair play to defender Angelo Ogbonna, whose dithering cost his side the
opening goal. The Italy defender was the one man with the courage to front
up afterwards. He said: "I believe we will turn it around. The expectations
have been so high. There has been a lot of change, new stadium, training
ground, new players. "Maybe we have relaxed a bit. But this is now December
and we need to get back."

Fair play too to Bilic for calling for an end to the nonsense suggesting the
club should have stayed at Upton Park. No fan should be against a move into
the 21st century with a stadium and an increased revenue that will help
their club to compete with the big guns.
Bilic said: "I am a little bit fed up trying to justify the move. This
stadium will never be Upton Park like Emirates will never be Highbury, like
Wembley will never be White Hart Lane for Spurs, or St Marys the same as the
Dell. "The main problem is the one I've mentioned (the intensity). I know
it's not great because it's not something flashy or whatever but that's the
truth." Now it is time for the owners and Bilic to sit down and deal in some
home truths.

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