West Brom Albion has on Thursday announced the appointment of former West Ham coach Slaven Bilic as their new head coach, as they prepare for the 2019/2020 at the Championship.
Slaven Bilic who is 50-year-old and a former Premier League agreed to a two-year contract with West Brom and will be looking to help them gain promotion back to the English Premier League next season.
Slaven takes up The Hawthorns post having led his nation, Croatia, to two European Championships and delivered a record-breaking Premier League performance for West Ham United, who achieved a highest-placed finish and goals scored during his two-year stay.
In top-level European football, which has taken in spells at Hajduk Split, Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas, Slaven has built up an impressive 46 per cent win ratio and he now turns his attention to leading a new promotion challenge with the Baggies.
Speaking on his appointment as the new head coach of West Brom, 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 has 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.”
Technical Director Luke Dowling said: “We had the opportunity to ensure we conducted a wide range of interviews and were determined to take it.
“We have spoken to some outstanding candidates and I would like to thank them for their interest in the post.
“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.
“We believe he is a great ‘fit’ for us – his presence, experience and management qualities are just what we need.”