Slaven Bilic has thanked the ‘unbelievable’ Claret and Blue Army for their support at the end of his second season as West Ham United manager.
The boss, who is currently recovering after undergoing surgery on his hip, has enjoyed a close relationship with Hammers fans since joining the Club as a player back in January 1996.
Hailed as a returning hero on his appointment as manager in summer 2015, Bilic led West Ham to seventh in the Premier League in his first season in charge, before enduring a more challenging campaign in 2016/17.
Through it all, the Croatian has enjoyed the unequivocal support of the Club’s fans, who have burst into a refrain of ‘Super Slav’ on countless occasions over the past ten months.
“They’ve been unbelievable and I would love to say a big ‘Thank you’ to them,” the 48-year-old exclaimed. “It’s amazing how they treated me and I could feel they were really behind me and the whole team.
“They are tremendous fans and I can only promise them that I’m going to give my best and the team is going to do its best to do better next season and to give them more enjoyable games and moments because they definitely deserve it.”
While his current priorities are to rest and recover from his operation, while also enjoying valuable time at home with his family in Croatia, Bilic will not allow his attention to slip too far from his day job.
Indeed, he has maintained an open line of communication to Joint-Chairman David Sullivan and Director of Player Recruitment, helping the Club to complete the signing of Argentina full-back Pablo Zabaleta from Manchester City already.
With the new Premier League season just ten weeks away, Bilic is looking forward to tackling the 2017/18 season.
“I have two heads because I need to rest but the other part of me can’t wait for the season to start because I really feel we will benefit from this [2016/17] season large,” he confirmed.
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