Soccer

Bilic rules himself out of Hammers job

Slaven Bilic appears to have ruled himself out of the running for the West Ham vacancy after committing his future to Croatia…

Fri Sept 05 2008 - 01:00

Slaven Bilic appears to have ruled himself out of the running for the West Ham vacancy after committing his future to Croatia until 2010 at least.

Former Hammers defender Bilic has had great success as coach of his national team and is understood to be on a list of candidates to succeed Alan Curbishley who resigned on Wednesday.

However, it looks as though Bilic intends to lead Croatia through to the end of qualification for the 2010 World Cup at least.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: I won't go.

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It's not a problem for the players because I've told them I'm not going. I haven't changed my mind about this. I want to stay with Croatia," The Guardianquotes Bilic as saying.

Furthermore, he told Croatian sports daily Sportske Novosti: "I always said West Ham will be my choice when I return to England.

"However, my contract with the Croatian FA expires in 2010 and I am intending to lead Croatia in this period."

Croatian FA president Vlatko Markovic had earlier warned the Hammers they would face "mission impossible" if they pursued Bilic.

Markovic has warned the Premier League club that an approach would be futile after saying Bilic's departure would create a "big political problem".

"It will be mission impossible," said Markovic in the Daily Express. "Bilic can't go because there will be a big political problem with Croatia. This is the usual speculation.

"Bilic can't go and, even if he loses against England, he is not going to leave as we are very happy with him.

"They might have money, but so do we and the Croatian FA has enough money to buy West Ham."

Several names have been linked with the post including Slaven Bilic, Gerard Houllier, Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Donadoni and Roberto Mancini.

"I have asked for a comprehensive list, in terms of nationality, experience and qualifications," West Ham vice-chairman Asgeir Fridgeirsson told BBC Sport. "The parameters go along with what we are trying to achieve at the club. The key element is that we want this to be a sustainable club.

"It is totally inaccurate to say we have anyone lined up for the job already - we want a strong English club with English players, with its roots in the academy."