And unlike so many he is never afraid to speak out and put all his emotions on the table – it may be a fault as a manager. I’ve always seen it as strength of character.
Now – within days of getting the bullet from West Brom – he has typically spoken out on when and how he realised he was going to be sacked from the hawthorns.
You have to feel for a bloke who always tries to play the game the right way and to be fired within what is effectively a handful of games since taking the Baggies back to the Premier League is pretty brutal.
And I’ll show my personal prejudice too. Being replaced by a certain Sam Allardyce isn’t the best either!
Speaking at https://www.teleing the graph.co.uk/football/2020/12/18/slaven-bilic-exclusive-interview-realised-coach-back-manchester/ – and it’s a very good read indeed – he says: “Some people felt that I smelt it. But I felt in a good position.
By the time the team coach was heading down the M6 after a top result at Manchester City one of Bilic’s assistants had checked the headlines on his phone, and all that had changed. “Then I knew something was happening,” he says.
At training the next morning when there was a knock on his door. Technical director Luke Dowling and chief executive Xu Ke wanted to speak to him, and the news was not good.
Bilic’s services were no longer required and, less than 24 hours later, Sam Allardyce had been confirmed as his replacement.
“I can’t say I was shocked when they told me,” Bilic says. “But I also can’t say that I saw it coming. I knew there was always a possibility because I know how it works.
There are always two, three managers who are in that red zone – you are in the papers, the bookmakers – but this season is different. The biggest signal a manager can get, for or against, is the reaction of the crowd. Nowadays you don’t have it.
Click on the link for a very good read.