West Ham look set to announce Slaven Bilic as their next manager following the departure of Sam Allardyce as manager. With an increased football schedule due to our involvement in next seasons Europa League, Bilic will be tasked with keeping the club afloat domestically, while also mounting a challenge to compete to a respectable level on the continental stage. Can he do it? We use Football Manager 2015 to help us answer that question.
Changes
Firstly, we removed the members of the coaching staff that departed this summer: Sam Allardyce as manager, his assistant Neil McDonald, and first-team coaches Teddy Sheringham and Ian Hendon. We moved Slaven Bilic to the club as manager on a long-term deal.
To spice things up, we also moved Sampdoria midfielder Pedro Obiang and free agent winger Andre Ayew to the club, with both reportedly set to sign for the Hammers. Also, in-line with current reports, we changed West Ham’s transfer budget to £25m, as the Co-Owners claim we have a large transfer kitty available to the next manager.
We moved West Ham into the first qualifying round of the Europa League as the highest seeded team in that round, as we are in real life. First-team squad members Jussi Jaaskelainen, Carlton Cole, Guy Demel and Nene were all released, and Alex Song & Carl Jenkinson had their loans cancelled. Also, we recalled Mauro Zarate and Modibo Maiga, who will both be in the first-team fold this season, and well as Stephen Hendrie as he comes in from Hamilton.
Finally, Birmingham ‘keeper Darren Randolph, who has signed for the club on a free transfer, was moved into the squad.
Summer Transfer Window & Europa League Qualifiers
Let’s see who Bilic can attract to the club! His first move was to sign Hull City right-sided player Ahmed Elmohamady for £5.75m. The versatile Egyptian can play along the right-hand side in all positions. They doubled-down on right-backs with the £3.1m signing of Sparta Prague defender Pavel Kaderabek, who is a reported target for the club in real life. Still surfing the fullback wave, Bilic coughed up another £5.5m to sign Welsh international left-back Neil Taylor from Swansea. Their biggest outlay however came in the form of a £9m deal for Stoke and England centre-back Ryan Shawcross. Evidently, Bilic doesn’t rate our (thin) defensive options. Preston’s Josh Brownhill and Bournemouth’s Josh McQuoid were also signed, while Leo Chambers and Kieran Bywater were loaned out.
In terms of the Europa League, Bilic managed to successfully guide the Hammers into the group stage of the competition in relatively comfortable fashion. The group stage draw would see the club pitted against Serie A side Torino, La Liga outfit Villarreal, and ironically, Bilic’s former side Besiktas. Tough draw.
Winter Transfer Window & Europa League Update
Bilic does it again! His 11 points from 18 available, with only one defeat was enough to see the Hammers top their group and make it into the first knockout round of the Europa League. Diafra Sakho (9 goals) is the second top scorer at this stage in the competition. Aaron Cresswell and Pedro Obiang are the first and second highest rated players in the competition respectively, whereas Cresswell (7) again and Noble (6) are first and tied-second in assists for far. The draw wasn’t terribly kind to us this time, as strong Russian side Dinamo Moscow await us. No new players signed in January, no outgoings either.
Cup Reviews
Europa League
West Ham’s Europa League venture was an exciting one, topping their group was a great achievement for the team, but the knockout rounds proved to be a step to far for Bilic’s boys, as Dinamo Moscow comfortably handled the team over two legs. Still, foundations to build upon.
FA Cup
Bilic’s maiden venture in the FA Cup was a forgetful one. Having seen off Leeds in the 3rd round, they were unable to get past a strong Swansea side over two games, culminating in a penalty defeat.
Capital One Cup
Man oh man, he’s done it! Our first silverware for 35 years as Bilic leads West Ham to Capital One Cup glory over West Brom. Having been dealt arguably the two hardest fixtures in the competition in the opening two rounds in Manchester United and Manchester City (both away), his side not only beat them, they trounced them! This gives the Hammers and automatic place in next seasons Europa League, just in time for the Olympic Stadium move. Perhaps West Ham are emerging as a Top 6 club in England?
Premier League
The main aim of this experiment was to see if a Europa League venture would cause our Premier League form to dip even more than it did under Allardyce. Bilic put those claims to shame as he guided West Ham to a remarkable 7th placed finish, just shy of Arsenal and Tottenham, and 8 points off 4th placed Liverpool.
Players
Just a quick look at how some players performed this season. Newbies Andre Ayew and Pedro Obiang enjoyed great debut seasons in the Premier League.
In 46 appearances in all competitions, Ayew scored 12 goals, assisted in 10 more and earned 3 MOTM awards, with an average rating of 7.16.
Obiang on the other hand was more of a creator from midfield. In 54 appearances in all competitions, Obiang scored 9 goals, but assisted 16 (best at the club) and was awarded 7 MOTM awards and had a season rating of 7.29.
Diafra Sakho was the club’s top goalscorer in all comps with 24 (11 in the League), two ahead of Enner Valencia with 22 (15 in the League).
Outcome
Slaven Bilic’s debut season as West Ham manager was a historical one. Guiding the club into the knockout stages of the Europa League, while booking their place in next year’s competition having won their first silverware in 35 years is a massive, massive achievement. A 7th place league finish is also hugely impressive. If he rewarded us with that next season, there would be so many tribute DVD sales.
