Slaven Bilic in firing line again with West Ham job under threat after Spurs defeat

Slaven Bilic knows the script. After every defeat comes a must-win game, a game which he will be told he cannot afford to lose if he wants to continue as West Ham United manager.

He has already got through one such encounter by beating Huddersfield Town, but just two weeks later Bilic is back in the same position after a London derby defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Bilic simply cannot afford anything but a victory against Swansea City in West Ham’s final game before the international break to be sure of keeping his job.

But he also knows that, even if he secures a valuable victory, it will only be a matter of time until he is faced with another do-or-die situation.

As Bilic admits himself, the genie is out of the bottle in terms of his job security and it is virtually impossible for him to permanently plug it back in.

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“Once that’s opened, then it basically doesn’t stop,” said Bilic. “Game by game, or two games by two games, it’s the way it is in modern football. Once you open that page…”

He did not need to complete his sentence. Everybody standing in front of Bilic knew exactly what he meant. The question is increasingly when the Croat will leave his post, rather than if he will, which is due in part to the fact he is only contracted to West Ham until the end of the season.

“I don’t really think about that, I’m preparing for a game,” said Bilic. “I don’t think about that.”

What Bilic might think about is whether or not he made the correct change, when Michail Antonio was forced off with a groin injury against Tottenham after only 28 minutes.

West Ham had been on top until Andy Carroll was sent on and Javier Hernandez was pushed out to the right-hand side, but the change prompted a first-half collapse.

Carroll was twice at fault. First, he played a blind pass into the middle of the pitch straight to Christian Eriksen and Tottenham’s ‘big three’ did the rest. The Dane picked out Dele Alli and he crossed for Harry Kane to head the ball into the net.

Four minutes later, Carroll was caught out again. He failed to hold the ball up, Jan Vertonghen took it off him and strode forwards before playing in Alli. Joe Hart saved from Alli, but Kane followed up and then West Ham had a mountain to climb.

When Eriksen made it 3-0 with half-an-hour remaining, Bilic would have feared that he might not even get the Swansea game to try to save himself.

But Tottenham made life difficult for themselves. Hernandez pulled a goal back for the home side and Serge Aurier lost his head to earn two yellow cards, both for fouls on Carroll, in seven minutes and get sent-off.

With a man advantage, the Hammers finally came alive again and set up a grandstand finish when another one of Bilic’s substitutes, Arthur Masuaku, crossed from the left and Cheikhou Kouyate scored with a thumping header.

But Tottenham hung on and it now remains to be seen how much longer Bilic can.

Fortunately for Aurier, he has a manager in Mauricio Pochettino who was not adverse to the odd rush of blood to the head as a player and will certainly not hold a sending off against the right-back.

“I cannot blame anyone when this type of situation happens because I was a player and you can find on Google many, many mistakes from me,” said Pochettino. “When you play football sometimes that happens, it's not easy to keep calm. Me on the touchline, it was the same. Sometimes you make a mistake, but that is football. No problem.

“It's true that he needs to learn about that situation and improve, but when it's a player that has just arrived at the club and he is given the responsibility to play this type of game, sometimes it happens.

“But, for me, it's not a big issue. I am happy with him. He made a mistake because he had a yellow card,­­­ but I think the first yellow card, he didn't deserve but I agree with you. And I'm sure that he'd agree with you that in this type of action, maybe he needs to be careful.”

Aurier arrived at Tottenham with a bad boy reputation, but Pochettino insists the Ivory Coast international has been a positive addition to his squad.

“His reputation is not about getting sent off many times,” said Pochettino. “His behaviour is fantastic with the team since he arrived. His team-mates love him. He is a very good team-mate and he is very good friends with Kieran Trippier, who he competes with for the same position. I think, to be honest, he is doing very well. We are so happy with him.”