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Report: Slaven Bilic given at least 2 matches to save West Ham job

REUTERS/David Klein

The London Stadium boardroom has reportedly given Slaven Bilic at least two more matches to prove he's still the right man to manage West Ham United.

The Croatian gaffer will be in the Irons' technical area for Wednesday's League Cup wrangle at Tottenham Hotspur and the Premier League trip to Crystal Palace three days later, according to BBC Sport's David Ornstein. Bilic could be handed more matches if there are signs of improvement in those capital clashes.

Sky Sports' Kaveh Solhekol corroborates Ornstein's account that Bilic's job is on the line after Friday's 3-0 home defeat to recently promoted Brighton & Hove Albion. The game supplemented accusations of there being no tactical blueprint at West Ham, and condemned the club to 16th place after this season's ninth round of league fixtures.

"I don't want to hide or run away," Bilic told the Guardian's Jacob Steinberg after that harrowing loss. "It is my responsibility. Of course I can't be happy with our performance. With the greatest respect it is one of those games where you are expecting to win."

Bilic then clarified that remark, adding: "It is not expecting the win will come if you only show up on the pitch. I didn't see that we didn't try."

Plenty of criticism has been levelled at the board for Bilic's failings - namely co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold - but after a disastrous 2016 summer transfer window, the manager was sufficiently supported in the build-up to the current campaign. Javier Hernandez, Marko Arnautovic, Joe Hart, and Pablo Zabaleta were standout arrivals in east London, but a significant spend and bloating of the wage bill has yielded just two wins - over Huddersfield Town and Swansea City - in nine matches.

If Bilic outlasts the upcoming tests against Spurs and Crystal Palace, he will then face the daunting task of thwarting visiting Liverpool's stacked attack Nov. 11.

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