From Croatia: Bilic ‘lights a candle’ and thanks ‘mother of God’ at West Ham fitness boost

 

The Croatian media are of course quite fond of Slaven Bilic and were last season very proud of what the manager achieved with West Ham.

That Bilic had the West Ham fans so clearly behind him was another source of pride in Croatia, because they felt it said something about the character of the man.

A few days ago we covered Croatian newspaper 24Sata explaining ‘euphoria has been replaced by depression’, and the ‘magic that was found in the Boleyn Ground, Slaven Bilic definitely hasn’t brought to the new Olympic Stadium’.

Bilic’s run with West Ham could have got a lot worse had it not been for Dimitri Payet’s injury time goal against Accrington Stanley, which won the EFL Cup match 1-0.

Another Croatian newspaper, Vecernji List, report on Friday that it showed Payet was back and and in full match fitness. They stated Bilic ‘lights a candle’ and thanks the ‘mother of God’ for the good fortune of a firing Payet.

Vecenji List still think it’s a sad situation for Bilic and that a bad result against Southampton this weekend could see pressure build in the English media over the manager’s job.