Bilic: “I would rather win the FA Cup”

West 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.

“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.

Allardyce 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.