Slaven Bilic appointed as West Ham manager

Former defender Slaven Bilic has been appointed as the new manager of West Ham FC.

Bilic would be replacing Sam Allardyce, who left after a 12th-place finish in the last season.

Bilic managed Croatia for six years, beating England twice in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, and had unspectacular spells in charge of Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas, whom he left in May.

Excited with the news, Bilic said that he was really glad to be back with West Ham United, the Mirror reported.

He also said that West Ham club was a special club for him and he loves these kinds of special clubs, adding that it was not about the size - West Ham was big Club - there was something special about them - they are a cult clubs.

He also added that his first priority when choosing a club was to look at its ambitions and when he spoke to the chairmen and Karren Brady, they made clear that it was not only the fantastic new stadium they were moving into, but they showed their determination and ambition to make what was already a big club even bigger.