Slaven Bilic hits back at pundits tipping West Brom for instant relegation
Slaven Bilic has spoken of the ‘bigger motivation’ that comes with many pundits tipping West Brom to be relegated this season.
West Brom will take on Leicester City in their first game back in the Premier League, and will be looking to get off to a winning start in their bid to avoid the drop.
Speaking to The Guardian, Bilic claimed that it’s ‘great’ that many pundits don’t fancy the Baggies chances of Premier League survival, and has stated that he wants the Baggies to compete as a ‘very confident’ side.
He said, “You can’t get a bigger positive than that, that’s great! I don’t mean it’s an excuse or an alibi and things can only get better.
“Not in that sense. I mean: ‘let’s show them that they are all wrong’. We have an even bigger motivation now.
“We want to compete as a very confident team that is going to stay in the league for a long time. I bet that when you talked to Sheffield United before the start of last season, they said their first objective was to stay up. But when they got momentum, they didn’t say ‘no, no, we’re happy now”
As Bilic said, West Brom will be hoping to be able to emulate Sheffield United’s surprising return to top flight football last season, as they finished 9th in their first season back in the Premier League.
West Brom will be looking to start with a win against Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City on Sunday, but that will prove a challenge against the team that finished 5th in the Premier League last term.
Bilic will be hoping that new permanent signings Grady Diangana and Matheus Pereira will be able to provide the Baggies with some attacking threat, while the search goes on for a new striker.
In the absence of a new striker, Kevin Phillips is tipping Hal Robson-Kanu to be given the nod over Charlie Austin. The ex Baggies striker said, “He (Robson-Kanu) might offer that little bit more than Charlie. Charlie’s got that Premier League experience but Robson-Kanu’s got the international experience on top of that.”
In other West Brom news, Baggies player signs new contract ahead of 20/21 season
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.