New Hammers manager Slaven Bilic was full of emotion as he spoke to West Ham TV on his return to the Boleyn Ground
Slaven Bilic has expressed his pride and delight at returning to the Boleyn Ground as West Ham United’s new manager.
The Croatian flew into London on Friday and made straight for the stadium he called home as a Hammers player in the late 1990s.
This time around, Bilic arrived as the Club’s 15th full-time manager – a role he told West Ham TV he is hugely honoured to take on as West Ham enter their historic final season at their home of 110 years.
“It feels great to be back,” said the new boss. “I was expected this kind of feeling but when I entered the pitch, all the emotions started to come back. The Chairman asked me if it looked the same, but it has been nearly 20 years and it has changed a bit and is definitely bigger!
“The atmosphere around the whole stadium came flooding back to me and it felt like it did 17 or 18 years back. I can still remember the roar and the atmosphere and the good feeling to be in this stadium.
“Why have I come back to east London? Because it’s a great club and is my club and it has never gone from me. It’s one of the best, if not the best league in the world and it was always my ambition to one day come back and manage this club, my club, West Ham.”
Bilic told how he always felt destined to return to the Club he played for 54 times between January 1996 and May 1997, explaining how he could have been back sooner had he not done such a fantastic job during six years in charge of his own Croatian national team.
“Why now? Because I was free and also West Ham were looking for a new manager!” he explained. “I have been linked a couple of times in the past, but while it was never the case that I didn’t want to come to West Ham, but in 2008 and 2010 I was national team manager.
“That was more than a job and was totally personal, so it was impossible because I had committed myself to Croatia. West Ham was always good enough for me, but at that time I was not free and was in a special kind of job, as national team manager of my country.”
The Croatian flew into London on Friday and made straight for the stadium he called home as a Hammers player in the late 1990s.
This time around, Bilic arrived as the Club’s 15th full-time manager – a role he told West Ham TV he is hugely honoured to take on as West Ham enter their historic final season at their home of 110 years.
“It feels great to be back,” said the new boss. “I was expected this kind of feeling but when I entered the pitch, all the emotions started to come back. The Chairman asked me if it looked the same, but it has been nearly 20 years and it has changed a bit and is definitely bigger!
“The atmosphere around the whole stadium came flooding back to me and it felt like it did 17 or 18 years back. I can still remember the roar and the atmosphere and the good feeling to be in this stadium.
“Why have I come back to east London? Because it’s a great club and is my club and it has never gone from me. It’s one of the best, if not the best league in the world and it was always my ambition to one day come back and manage this club, my club, West Ham.”
Bilic told how he always felt destined to return to the Club he played for 54 times between January 1996 and May 1997, explaining how he could have been back sooner had he not done such a fantastic job during six years in charge of his own Croatian national team.
“Why now? Because I was free and also West Ham were looking for a new manager!” he explained. “I have been linked a couple of times in the past, but while it was never the case that I didn’t want to come to West Ham, but in 2008 and 2010 I was national team manager.
“That was more than a job and was totally personal, so it was impossible because I had committed myself to Croatia. West Ham was always good enough for me, but at that time I was not free and was in a special kind of job, as national team manager of my country.”
Why have I come back to east London? Because it’s a great club and is my club and it has never gone from me
So, ten days before his squad return for pre-season training ahead of a campaign that will include the welcome distraction of UEFA Europa League football, what can fans expect from Bilic’s West Ham in 2015/16?
Young Spanish midfielder Pedro Obiang and Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph have already signed up, with a number of other high-profile players being strongly linked with moves to E13.
“The Board has been here for five years and they are very ambitious and they are doing a good job,” the 46-year-old continued. “They are moving in the right way and the team is good, so we can expect to be better.
“To be fair, we should not forget that only four years ago we were relegated, so we should get stability. I can’t set the standard or the goals now that we want to finish fifth, seventh, eighth or whatever.
“The fact is that we are going to work hard and I’m sure we are going to improve. Me and my players will try to get the best out of the players and the team individually, of course, so I’m expecting us, week by week, month by month to play better, to improve.
“That will get us in a position to create more chances in each game and get more points. With then, the position comes by itself. That’s the aim.
“Where it will take us in the first season, I don’t know, but my personal ambition and that of the Board is very, very high. We’re going to be good – that’s my aim and that’s why they brought me here and appointed me as a manager, to go a step up.”
Young Spanish midfielder Pedro Obiang and Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph have already signed up, with a number of other high-profile players being strongly linked with moves to E13.
“The Board has been here for five years and they are very ambitious and they are doing a good job,” the 46-year-old continued. “They are moving in the right way and the team is good, so we can expect to be better.
“To be fair, we should not forget that only four years ago we were relegated, so we should get stability. I can’t set the standard or the goals now that we want to finish fifth, seventh, eighth or whatever.
“The fact is that we are going to work hard and I’m sure we are going to improve. Me and my players will try to get the best out of the players and the team individually, of course, so I’m expecting us, week by week, month by month to play better, to improve.
“That will get us in a position to create more chances in each game and get more points. With then, the position comes by itself. That’s the aim.
“Where it will take us in the first season, I don’t know, but my personal ambition and that of the Board is very, very high. We’re going to be good – that’s my aim and that’s why they brought me here and appointed me as a manager, to go a step up.”