Anyone else think it was strange to see Slaven Bilic sitting amongst the dignitaries in the Cottage balcony against Arsenal?
Especially more so when it transpires that Bilic turned down the chance to take over the managerial hot-seat at Craven Cottage.
After disposing of England in Euro 2008 qualification, the Croatian has been in demand in recent weeks. Bilic was supposedly at Craven Cottage as a guest of Sky Sports for the Arsenal clash as a prelude to meeting up with three of his current squad ahead of the clash with Holland.
With regard to the Fulham job, Bilic had this to say during a recent interview with a leading media channel,
‘If I was after the money, I would have accepted the first offers that came my way from Mohamed Al Fayed (Fulham’s chairman) and others.”
‘If I have to explain my position every time I cross the border, no problem. I’ve been to London privately a few times before.’
Interestingly, Bilic, despite turning down a lucrative sum from Fulham hasn`t finalized his future after 2008 but remains a man of his principles stating,
‘The British media praised my position as patriotic after I told them money isn’t everything and that I took up the Croatia job for a different reason.”
‘I do believe I am underpaid but that’s not an issue at the moment and I knew exactly how much I would be paid when I took the job. It’s also not true that I have turned down an improved offer from the Croatian FA.”
‘I’ve had a terrific relationship with the HNS all this time and I won’t let anything spoil it. This speculation doesn’t bother me at all but it could affect the team spirit.’
Kind of a shame we didn`t get him isn`t it?
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