Bilic wouldn’t change Hammers’ rollercoaster season

West Ham’s season has been turbulent to say the least, but manager Slaven Bilic claims he wouldn’t change it for the world.

The Hammers controversially left their historic home at Upton Park for the London Stadium at the start of the campaign and early results weren’t promising.

Despite finishing seventh in the Premier League last term, relegation this time around appeared a distinct possibility, with the club in the bottom three as recently as early December.

But West Ham have been on the up ever since and now lie nicely in the top half of the table, ahead of the visit of Chelsea on Monday.

Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images

And Bilic insists the adversity has only made his troops stronger.

“I consider this season as a great one – for me individually, for the team, and for the club,” said the Croatian.

“This season we experienced some negative things, some positive things, but mainly a lot of new things.

“I am 48 now. I was manager of my country and I was manager of Besiktas in Turkey where the pressure is basically bigger than here.

“So I got used to the job a little bit. But was it hard? Yes. It’s still hard. Of course I wasn’t enjoying the defeats but sometimes you have to sacrifice something to get something.

“They say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

“It’s great because now I can see it as a great experience. I wouldn’t change it – when you’ve made it and you get out of that, the experience is priceless and you benefit from it in the future.

“I wouldn’t swap when I was under pressure or the team was under pressure. I wouldn’t swap it for a steady season.”