The two West Ham legends Slaven Bilic wants to join his staff if Graham Potter sacked
West Ham could move to re-appoint former boss Slaven Bilic if Graham Potter is sacked with two club heroes also potentially set to join his coaching staff.
Graham Potter is currently walking a tightrope at the London Stadium after a poor start to the new Premier League season for West Ham.
They suffered damaging defeats to Sunderland, Chelsea and Wolves in the first three games of the campaign, but a surprise win at Nottingham Forest looked to have bought him some valuable time before Tottenham trounced Potter’s side last week.
Crystal Palace worsened West Ham’s situation with a 2-1 win at the London Stadium on Saturday (20 September), following Tyrick Mitchell’s late winner, as Football Insider revealed prior to the Eagles clash that Potter had four games to save his job.
Hammers co-owner David Sullivan wants former boss Slaven Bilic to replace Potter if a decision is made, and a new update has revealed other board members views on the Croat’s potential return, as well as his plans for the club if he does make the move back to East London.
Slaven Bilic planning James Collins and Mark Noble returns
West Ham fans fumed at Potter during their loss to Palace for his decision to take summer signing Mateus Fernandes off the pitch, and they now sit 19th in the Premier League with only three points from five outings.
According to a new report from The Guardian (22 September), some figures around Sullivan are pushing for him to turn to Bilic and ask him to step in until the end of the season, and there is a feeling that he could be a galvanising force as they aim to avoid a shock relegation.
The 57-year-old is open to returning to the Irons, and has assessed West Ham’s squad so is now thinking about his potential backroom team.
According to talkSPORT (23 September), should Bilic succeed Potter, the Croatian will look to bring ex-club-captain Mark Noble and former defender James Collins with him as part of his backroom staff.
Graham Potter living on borrowed West Ham time
It looks as if the end of Potter’s ill-fated reign at the London Stadium is nigh, and rightly so, as the fans have very clearly turned on him past the point of no return.
There were clear warning signs last season that his side were set to struggle this time around as they won just two of their final 11 league games of the campaign, and things have unsurprisingly continued in a similar vein.
| Games managed | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points-per-game |
| 25 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 0.92 |
Nuno Espirito Santo has also reportedly held talks with West Ham bosses about becoming their new head coach, and the fact that him, Bilic and ex-Wolves boss Gary O’Neil have all been sounded out shows that Potter is facing a certain sacking very soon.
The Croat would be a shrewd choice, despite his recent lack of experience in the top-flight, as he has played and managed West Ham, so understands the club back to front, while he will not allow their failing squad to continue to down tools.
Nuno would arguably still be the wiser hire, given his exploits at Nottingham Forest last term, but The Guardian’s report states that the Hammers’ bosses are concerned that he may price them out with his hefty financial demands, so Bilic could well be back in the London Stadium hotseat.