Despite all the public backing from his board via the media, Slaven Bilic’s position at West Ham currently isn’t the most comfortable.
Coming off an impressive season last year, where the Hammers finished 7th in the league, with a very in-form Dimitri Payet at their disposal, things haven’t exactly gone the same for this campaign.
Fifteenth in the Premier League, just six points above the relegation zone, there is a strong chance the Croatian manager could be dismissed come the end of the season, and SportBild believe West Ham have already highlighted a potential replacement.
In fact, the German magazine believe Bilic ‘will go’ regardless of what happens at West Ham between now and May, with the Hammers ready to replace him with former Bayer Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt.
The 50-year-old’s attacking brand of football is appealing to a few clubs, and while things didn’t go to plan this season, Schmidt did take Leverkusen to three Champions League campaigns during his reign there. There’s no doubt that would be appealing for West Ham.
Handed €3.5m by the club when he was kindly told to go away in March, Schmidt could see an extra €3.5m fall into his bank account if he doesn’t find another job before next season, as part of his severance package.
However, Bayer will be hoping, for their sake, he does.
