Slaven Bilic wants a united West Ham ahead of relegation scrap with Swansea

The Hammers fell to within five points of the drop zone

Andy Sims
Thursday 06 April 2017 11:43 EDT
Comments
Bilic is under pressure with West Ham losing their last five games
Bilic is under pressure with West Ham losing their last five games (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Slaven Bilic has called for West Ham to unite as a club and secure the victory they desperately need against Swansea on Saturday.

The Hammers have lost their last five Premier League matches and will be sucked into the relegation battle, and leave a huge question mark over Bilic's future as manager, should they lose a sixth.

Bilic, given a vote of confidence by the club's owners after last week's loss to Hull, insists the responsibility for West Ham's poor run lies solely with him.

But he has called for the players, staff and fans to come together for a match that looks crucial to keeping them in the Premier League.

"We have to do the job," he said. "We wanted to do it before now. I didn't smell this, I didn't think we would lose five games.

"I will never stop believing in myself but to get, or to keep, other people believing, people who are not involved in training or the amount of work I do here, you have to deliver the results and now it is about time. You have to do it for the club.

"It's not can we do it, we have to do it and we've got to do it on Saturday. It's going to be extremely difficult but also a great challenge to be a part of, also for me as a manager.

"It is my responsibility. Now we have to think only about the team. Not a team of 11, a team of 60,000, plus 18 other players, plus staff, and many more people.

"The one and only aim is to win the game. The game is going to be extremely difficult, I rate Swansea and Paul Clement, but they are below us.

Carroll should be available for the Swansea game
Carroll should be available for the Swansea game (Getty)

"It is our job to keep the fans behind us the whole game because they are also going to be nervous and they want their team to win, especially these type of games.

"But it is in our hands and that is the best you can ask for. Your destiny is in your hands. We are playing a team we have beaten, a team that is five points below us. We have big belief."

Bilic hopes to have striker Andy Carroll available despite the injury-hit striker going off with a groin problem during Wednesday night's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal.

Winger Michail Antonio, who had to be replaced at half-time at the Emirates due to a sickness bug, should also be fit.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in