Slaven Bilic: I’m looking forward to facing Steve McClaren for the first time since that night at Wembley

Brolly brilliant: Hammers boss targeting a long-overdue win at Upton Park
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Slaven Bilic11 September 2015

I’m looking forward to our match against Newcastle on Monday at Upton Park. The lads are buoyant after that great win at Liverpool, we did some terrific business on transfer deadline day and we’re desperate to sort out our home form after two defeats.

I’m also looking forward to seeing Steve McClaren again. It will be the first time we’ve stood in opposite technical areas since that evening at Wembley back in November 2007, when we were coaches of our respective countries [Croatia beat England to prevent them qualifying for Euro 2008, a result that cost McClaren his job].

We will both remember that night with contrasting emotions but that was then and has no relevance to our jobs now.

I have had the opportunity to meet Steve since. When I was Croatia coach I made sure I watched our players for their clubs, no matter where they were — and I paid a visit to Wolfsburg, then managed by Steve, to check on our striker Mario Mandzukic.

We had a chat for a couple of hours and I thoroughly enjoyed his company. Steve is a very good coach, as he has proved in Holland, where he guided FC Twente to their first league title, but just as important he is a real gentleman and I like him a lot.

I look forward to meeting him again on Monday and, of course, I hope I will be happy again. But it will be a tough game, Newcastle have good players and need some points, as we all do.

On the subject of international football, I watched England’s win over Switzerland on TV and was impressed by them. The Swiss have some good players in their team but England have done the double over them.

I was particularly pleased for Wayne Rooney, who has become England’s most successful goalscorer. I love Wayne as a player but he seems to provoke very different opinions in this country. I have to say, as a neutral, I don’t understand this at all. When I look at Wayne Rooney I see a player who, despite all the money and fame, just wants to play football and be the best.

I can see it in his eyes, the way he loves the game. I saw it the other night when I watched clips of him scoring his first and most recent goals for his country.

He is a player who is never afraid of hard work, it’s never hard for him to do his share of defending. He fights for every ball, he is a warrior and an example to the players around him.

I don’t understand the criticism of some people. England are lucky to have such a player.

Time for some home comfort after historic win

The 3-0 win over Liverpool was one of the results that changed the history of this club. We had not won there in the League since 1963 but now we have ended that long wait.

It wasn’t a normal win — it was much more than that and has brought everyone confidence for the future — but it is only three points. Now we have to win in front of our home fans. It has been a strange start to our season, winning two really difficult games at Arsenal and Liverpool but losing at home to Leicester and Bournemouth.

Now, though, with the squad we have, I believe we will be better when we have to play differently.

We have width now and we will be able to keep our composure while still attacking with numbers.

Before, we could be fragile in some situations. What makes me positive despite those two home defeats is the way we reacted after trailing 2-0 at half-time in both of them. Our reaction was better than both Arsenal’s and Liverpool’s when they were trailing us. Of course, I was the first one to be unhappy at losing both those games but the way we reacted was positive.

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Fantastic four crucial for our small squad

Our squad is looking much stronger. Not only did we do some good business on transfer deadline day but the injured players are recovering well.

Yes, we were busy on deadline day and we got what we wanted. They weren’t panic buys — we had been in contact with their clubs for some time — but it was impossible for the deals to be completed before that final day.

All four, Victor Moses, Michail Antonio, Nikica Jelavic and Alex Song, were targets of ours, they are the players we need and playing in the positions where we were really short.

You only needed to look at the average age of our bench at Anfield to see how much we needed players. The others said that Matt Jarvis, who was another substitute and who I wish every good fortune on his loan at Norwich, was baby-sitting!

When I came here, everyone told me the squad was one of the smallest in the League but when we played Liverpool two weeks ago, it was even smaller than last year.

We needed more quality players — and now we have them. We wanted some wide players and now we have Victor and Michail. Victor is a proven international, he’s quick, direct and can score goals. I talked to Jose Mourinho about him and we are glad he’s joined.

Antonio is not proven in the Premier League but I see something — and not only me. I watched videos of him in six Championship games, I spoke to people and there is an expectation that he can make it really big. It’s a massive chance for him — and us.

With Nikica, I know what we are getting. I put him into the Croatian national team. He can score goals but can keep the ball also. Alex was my first target in his position and it was only because of his injury that the deal wasn’t done earlier. He is ahead of schedule to return.

I would like to thank the two chairmen, Karren Brady and secretary Andrew Pincher for working so hard during the window but especially David Sullivan, who made sure the deals happened.

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