West Brom appoint Slaven Bilic on a two-year deal

Slaven Bilic has been confirmed as the new West Brom head coach becoming the permanent successor to Darren Moore, who was sacked in March. 

Despite the sacking of Moore, James Shan took over as caretaker manager and narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League, being knocked out in the semi-finals of the play-offs. They lost on penalties to their Midlands rivals and eventual play-off winners, Aston Villa.

The former Croatia and West Ham boss returns to management after being sacked Saudi club Al-Ittihad in February.

In a statement on the club’s website, Slaven Bilic said:

“I’m delighted with this opportunity of course.

We want to improve, we want to improve on the pitch and Albion have convinced me they want to return to the Premier League. Albion have a short-term project and a long project and they do not clash.

They wanted me to lead them, to help improve them. They made it clear they wanted me to be the one to lead them in this and I didn’t think twice once they had spoken to me.”

It is understood that the 50 year-old was interviewed for the Baggies job last week and impressed the Albion hierarchy with his vision for the club.

It is the Croatian’s first job in England since being sacked by West Ham in November 2017. Technical director Luke Dowling believes Bilic has all the tools to guide West Brom back to the Premier League:

“We had the opportunity to ensure we conducted a wide range of interviews and were determined to take it.

But from the moment we spoke to Slaven, we were struck by his enthusiasm and excitement about this challenge. He is determined to get back to the Premier League and believes passionately that he can do that with Albion.”