Slaven Bilic is the right man to steer West Ham away from the threat of relegation, according to Hammers legend Tony Cottee.
Beleaguered Bilic watched his side slump to yet another defeat last night in a 3-0 loss against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
The visitors turned in a solid first-half display and went into the break at 0-0, looking as if they might cause the Gunners some problems with counter-attacks in the second-half.
But goals from Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud left the Hammers floundering and, worryingly for Bilic, they have now gleaned just two points from a possible 21 points on offer and sit in 15th position having played 31 games with 33 points.
With Sunderland and Middlesbrough bottom and second-from-bottom respectively, Swansea currently occupy the last remaining relegation spot and they are five points adrift of the Hammers. Next up West Ham face the Swans on Saturday in a crucial Premier League game.
Yet Cottee, who scored 146 goals for the club in two stints between 1983 and 1996, believes Bilic is still the best coach for the London Stadium position.
He said: “I am glad that the board went public and threw their support behind Slaven this week. I think he has done a good job under a lot of pressure and for me, he is the best man for the job. He has put up with a lot of problems this season and he has coped admirably and deserves to finish the job.”
Former England striker Cottee, who earned seven Three Lions caps, believes hard work is the simple way to get out of trouble and chase away any lingering doubts about Bilic’s outfit’s top flight status.
He added: “When I was a player, I went through some periods where we just couldn’t get a result and it is the most frustrating thing in football. The only way out of it is to work even harder in training and giving everything in a game.
“We need to grind out a draw or sneak a victory somewhere because I do not think we are far off from safety and I think we have the quality to do just that – it is a matter of spluttering over the finish line for the season.”