For those of us who watched the Upton Park party on television, one of the stars was Slaven Bilic. What an astute acquisition he has been by West Ham, whose progress this season would have received more attention but for the exploits of Leicester and, to an inevitably lesser extent, Spurs.
Last night he offered just the blend of passion and respect that the occasion required and, as always with Bilic, whether he’s in charge of his beloved Croatia or a club for whom he played only a few dozen matches, it seemed perfectly natural.
Although Bilic is a little like Jurgen Klopp in that his emotions are never far from the surface, behind the attractive facade lies, clearly, a hard-headed handler of footballers, for it should not be forgotten that he began the season with a challenge, created by the opening-day win at Arsenal.
There followed two defeats at Upton Park — at the hands of Bournemouth and Leicester. And, while the latter may not look so bad in retrospect, there were premature grumblings that West Ham had chosen the wrong man for such a vital, pre-Olympic, season.
Indeed I remember those who had identified Bilic and Claudio Ranieri as especially vulnerable new managers nodding in acknowledgement of their own sagacity. But Bilic then organised a win at Liverpool and it became obvious that only consistency was missing from their make-up.
The job becomes more difficult next season because he will have to manage expectations as well as a bigger squad, especially if there is the Europa League (for which, let’s not forget, Bilic didn’t seem to mind failing to qualify at the start of this campaign). It’s a task that has stretched some decent managers, including Alan Pardew and Brendan Rodgers.
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Recruitment will be a key factor and, while there has been talk of Bilic’s relieving Arsenal of the Theo Walcott conundrum, it will take craftier signings than that to make West Ham a top-four side. Two more like Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini would be nice. Maybe another Cheikhou Kouyate. No pressure, then. But, with the right players, only judgment and character are required and Bilic ticks both boxes.
