[ad_1]
Slaven Bilic admitted that his future is out of his hands, as speculation that he could be fired by West Brom continued even after a point was taken from an under-par Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The 1-1 draw seemed to offer the under pressure Bilic a lifeline in his 100th Premier League game as a coach, but post-match reports indicated that West Brom’s hierarchy could still make a move on Wednesday.
“I am very calm. I love my job. I am here and calm,” Bilic said. “To be fair, it doesn’t bother me. I’m doing my job. I enjoy it. I’m working hard for myself, for my staff, for the players, for the club, that’s all.
“Everything else is out of my control. But to be fair, I’m doing the best I can. I don’t think about other things.
“I’m not so bothered by what’s going on behind the scenes and all that, I don’t care.”
When asked if the result showed West Brom was still playing for him, Bilic said: “I don’t like that cliche. Players are playing for themselves but they are listening to our game plan and it’s really good to see their players fight like this. .
“We have this kind of environment, this work environment, throughout the season and it didn’t decline.
“Sometimes you win games, sometimes you lose them, sometimes you play better and sometimes worse, but we never had attitude problems.”
The result ended West Brom’s 13-game losing streak in the league against City, though it took two big saves from Sam Johnstone in injury time to keep Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling out.
Gundogan had overtaken City by 30 minutes, though it was, surprisingly, the hosts’ first clear vision of a goal when West Brom defended well, and earned his reward as an own goal from Ruben Dias that tied the score before the break.
“I asked the guys to believe,” Bilic said. “I told them to enjoy it, to play with a smile on their face but that starts with hard work. It was not a bonus game because every game is an opportunity. I told them to treat it as a privilege because this time last year we were in the championship. ”
Bilic spoke of using the game as a platform to build on, saying, “It’s more than a point. We have to use this to get the technical knowledge of what we have to do in each game.”
But it remains to be seen if he will get that chance in Saturday’s game against Aston Villa.
For City, it was another frustrating night after their flat performance in the goalless Manchester derby on Saturday.
Guardiola’s men have 20 points and have only scored 18 goals in 12 league games this season, a far cry from the fluid performance that has marked time in command of the Catalan to date.
“That is the reality,” Guardiola said of his team’s struggles.
“We were able to control things, we didn’t concede much, his goal was a deflection – we were better in all aspects but struggling to score.
“We control the games but we can’t do it. You have to throw a ball into the net.
“We cannot score goals. It is difficult for managers to find solutions.”
[ad_2]