West Ham defender Winston Reid hails the Slaven Bilic effect
West Ham defender Winston Reid has praised the effect Slaven Bilic has had at the club since taking over as manager this summer.
Formerly a fans' favourite during an 18-month spell as a player at Upton Park, Bilic returned to replace Sam Allardyce and is already enjoying a positive relationship with a supporter base who never fully warmed to his predecessor.
Successive away league wins at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City have done Bilic's popularity no harm, despite an early exit from Europa League qualification and home defeats to Leicester and Bournemouth.
A maiden home league victory against struggling Newcastle followed up by a hard-fought 2-1 win at City has left West Ham third in the Premier League ahead of Saturday's visit of Norwich.
"A huge amount of credit, deservedly, has gone to the manager. He has been first-class ever since he started," the New Zealand international said.
"Slaven is a very relaxed guy and he's good to the players. He clearly hasn't forgotten what it's like to be a footballer himself, which is a crucial characteristic.
"We had a slightly unusual pre-season where we were getting used to his new ideas but also trying to qualify for the Europa League. Unfortunately we didn't quite manage that, but afterwards we had a team meeting and we said we need to focus on the Premier League.
"Most importantly, the new manager came in with new ideas that are easily understood. He's a great communicator. He likes to get hands on in training which is good. He's very engaging and the players like working for him."
Bilic has no fresh injury concerns as he plots to take down the Canaries but there could be first starts to deadline day arrivals Nikica Jelavic and Michail Antonio.
Andy Carroll is likely to be on the bench with Diafra Sakho recalled in attack, while Angelo Ogbonna (hamstring) is a major doubt.
Norwich boss Alex Neil is confident Norwich now have plenty of attacking options to help them compete in the top tier.
The Canaries head to London following a 3-0 Capital One Cup win over West Brom, during which Northern Ireland frontman Kyle Lafferty scored his first goal for the club since January.
On-loan Dinamo Kiev forward Dieumerci Mbokani also got some minutes under his belt and with Lewis Grabban now back in the fold following a club suspension and Gary Hooper close to fitness, Neil expects healthy rivalry up front.
"I have a few difficult decisions and that competition is exactly what you want," he said.
"I want it to become difficult because whatever way you look at it you are going to be leaving out one or two very good players.
"I was delighted for Kyle that he got his goal and Dieumerci had a great chance just before he came off, but for the two of them to score would have probably been asking too much."
Neil added: "Lewis is desperate to do well. They all are. It shows the spirit we have in the group.
"What you tend to find is the lads playing regularly are all pleased and the other lads are less so, but I felt those not featuring regularly showed what it meant to play for Norwich."
Neil has midfielder Alex Tettey back from a one-match suspension but on-loan Hammers winger Matt Jarvis is not eligible to face his parent club.
Midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu continues his recovery from a fractured metatarsal.
Source: PAR
