Despite picking up a creditable 2-2 draw away at Liverpool followed by back-to-back wins over Burnley and Hull to move his side five points clear of the relegation zone, West Ham boss Slaven Bilic is still under pressure.Indeed, The Sun have claimed that scheduled contract talks between the club and the Croation tactician have been shelved amid fears that, despite an upturn in results, the football being played is not good enough.Naturally, this has led to fears that he may be axed before too long, especially if those wins turn to draws and draws to losses again anytime soon.
The Irons have struggled to acclimatise to life at their new home – the London Stadium – while summer signings such as Gokhan Tore and Simone Zaza have failed to adapt to the English game, which has left the Hammers at the wrong end of the table.
The Croatian boss has been given a vote of confidence by the club’s owners fairly recently, but patience may run out if a win is not secured during the upcoming trip to joint-bottom Swansea.
So, where could West Ham go of Bilic is given the boot? Here are FIVE managers who could replace him in east London…
Eddie Howe
The Bournemouth boss is one of the brightest young managers in the game and he has worked wonders with the Cherries – firstly keeping them in the Premier League in their debut season before guiding them to their current midtable slot this term.
The 39-year-old plays a brand of football that would fit in with the ‘West Ham way’ and the Irons' owners certainly will have been impressed with the south coast outfit’s incredible turnaround against Liverpool recently.
Rafa Benitez
This time last year, the Spaniard was the manager of Real Madrid and despite suffering relegation to the Championship with Newcastle at the end of the 2015/16 season, the Magpies look set to make an instant return to the Premier League.
Despite losing their opening two league fixtures this term, the Toon are in the automatic promotion spots and West Ham’s owners will surely be impressed by the job Benitez is doing in the Championship, as well as the wealth of experience and ability to sign big names that he would bring.
Roberto Mancini
The former Manchester City boss is currently out of work after being sacked by Inter Milan at the start of August, and the experienced Italian would surely love a return to manage in England.
Having won the Premier League title during his time with the Citizens, the 52-year-old would be an attractive proposition for West Ham’s owners as they look to progress as a club at the London Stadium, although they would have to act quickly as Paris Saint-Germain are also reported to be interested.
Frank de Boer
Another manager who was sacked by Inter Milan earlier in the campaign, De Boer will still be a boss who is in demand when jobs become available in the coming weeks and months.
The position at the San Siro seems something of a poisoned chalice at the moment and after his success at Ajax, the Dutchman will still be high up on the list to be Bilic’s replacement should the Croatian get the boot.
Lucien Favre
A bit of a left field choice, perhaps, but after leading Borussia Monchengladbach to the group stages of the Champions League in the 2014/15 campaign by finishing third in the Bundesliga, Favre resigned after losing his first five matches the following season.
Nice appointed the Swiss manager in the summer after Claude Puel left to join Southampton and he has incredibly led the Ligue 1 outfit to the top of the table, where they are currently four points ahead of the champions, PSG.