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Bilic: “I would rather win the FA Cup”

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West Ham's Slaven BilicWest Ham Manager Slaven Bilic says he would rather win the FA Cup then qualify for the Champions league.

“I would rather win the FA Cup than get a place in the Champions League – all day long. Ideally finishing fifth or sixth as well would be nice. I want to win silverware. I remember the FA Cup about 20 years ago and still now the final can’t be bigger. It’s a celebration.

“We’re doing well in the Premier League and we’re not looking for anything to make up for it. We’re not in a position to worry about league position so we want to progress in the cup.

small_320_David_Sullivan“We went out of the Capital One Cup earlier in the season against Leicester City in extra time but we gave out best in that game. We see the FA Cup as an opportunity to progress. The FA Cup has never lost its value and it’s special to the fans.”

In the past two seasons the Hammers have crashed out of the FA Cup in embarrassing fashion under the former manager. They were hammered 5-0 by Nottingham Forest two seasons ago when Allardyce famously put the kids to the sword and then endured a 4-0 thrashing inflicted on them by West Bromwich Albion last season.

Creepy AllardyceAllardyce was accused of disrespecting the FA Cup when West Ham’s smattering of first-team regulars, six players under 21 and three debutants were put to the sword in the 5-0 humiliation against Forest.

Last season West Ham co-owner David Sullivan was confronted by angry fans outside The Hawthorns after the Hammers’ 4-0 FA Cup defeat. Shocking video footage shows Sullivan responding to abuse from a group of supporters after he left the ground before full-time after what he described as West Ham’s ‘worst performance of the season’. The fans were heard abusing and swearing at the club’s co-owner and urging him to sack manager Sam Allardyce at the time.

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I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball,

I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh.

Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons!

Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

4 comments

  • kevin says:

    Me Too , Slaven . But we must remain wary of our dodgy injury history . If we can go all the way in the Cup and maintain a Top Six league position , then I’m all for it .
    Haven’t been inside the New Wembly yet and would love to get the chance .
    Mind you I would also love to see West Ham play at ” the Nou camp ” .. ,, I’m a fan and allowed my dreams

  • johnboy says:

    Fa cups a lottery !
    It would be great as its the farewell this year buy as in every other year no body can predict
    The winner ? Its the FA cup !
    You normally get a feeling in the belly around the quarters that you have a good chance of
    Getting to Wembley , through my experiences anyway ,
    Win the first 3 cup games then its game on .
    But you have to play a very strong side to show we mean the buisness !!
    Starting v wolves ,

  • essexclarets says:

    Top six finish & FA Cup win would be dream land for me. To qualify for CL this season would be too early for us, we would struggle in each game & come out of it gaining nothing. Build on what we have this season & aim for CL in a couple of years. By then we will hopefully have a squad big enough & strong enough to be able to compete.

  • bubs says:

    Would like the world but for the future to attract better players bring in more money to make the club stronger I would like us to push for a top 4 place and I think we can do that,
    But it would be great to win the cup beating the spuds in the final knocking out
    Sunderland,Chelsea and Man U on the way
    That’s what dreams are made of,
    But I would settle for a top 6 spot and entertaining football

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