(2015) 5: First manager to beat Liverpool this year
Brendan Rodgers’ side were the only team in the Premier League to have not lost a game going into their second leg Europa League tie against Besiktas. Not only did Slaven Bilic mastermind his side to a 1-0 victory on the night, but he also beat the Red men on penalties to send the Turkish outfit into the next round. Furthermore, he pulled this off the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, the ground in which Liverpool came back from 3-0 down to lift the Champions League in 2006. Bilic called it ‘a great feeling on a great night for a great club’.
(2008) 4: Beating Germany, Austria and Poland in eight days
Bilic previously managed his national side Croatia, and helped them to qualification for the European Championships in 2008. In between convincing victories over Poland and Austria though, Croatia shocked the continent when they pulled off a stunning 2-1 win over now world champions Germany. In front of a crowd of over 30,000, the German line-up was just as strong. It included the likes of Jens Lehmann, Philipp Lahm and Michael Ballack amongst many others. Luka Modric was promoted to the national side from the U21s, a decision that was seen as controversial back home. He played in all three matches, and the Croatians topped the group with nine points out of a possible nine.
(1996) 3: Breaking West Ham’s record transfer fee
The now 46-year-old signed for West Ham in 1996 for a fee of £1.3million under the reign of Harry Redknapp. Despite being a defender, he got an assist on his Premier League debut in an away win against Tottenham. He scored his first ever goal for the club against Liverpool. It is fair to say that the 46-year-old has a fairly good record against the Merseyside team. Bilic went on to make 41 appearances for the Hammers in the 1996-97 season, and vowed to help the club survive in the top tier before moving club. They finished 14th, and he was runner-up in the Hammer of the Year award.
(1998) 2: 45 minutes from a World Cup final
As a player in the 1998 World Cup, Croatia had crept through the group phase and continued to make rather unnoticed progress throughout the competition. Bilic played every single minute of the group stages at centre-back, and then kept a clean sheet in the round of sixteen in addition to the quarter-finals. Croatia faced France in the semi-finals in front of 75,000 people in Paris, and teammate and former West Ham legend Davor Suker put Bilic’s side one up just after the interval. However, France turned the game around and went on to win the competition. Croatia won the third place play-off, leaving Slaven with a memorable bronze medal.
(2007) 1: Preventing England from qualifying for the Euros
England faced Croatia in the final qualification match for Euro 2008. Bilic’s side had already qualified for Euro 2008, but the Three Lions needed just a point to join them in Austria-Switzerland. Steve McLaren’s men got off to a terrible start, going 2-0 down at Wembley. However, goals from Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch brought England level and both sides were heading for the summer tournament. Bilic threw on Danijel Pranjic and Mladen Petric in the second half. Then, with just thirteen minutes to go though, Pranjic slipped in former Hammer Petric who unleashed an absolute worldie that ensured England did not qualify for their first major tournament since 1994.
