| abstract | - Slaven Bilić (born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian former footballer and current manager of English club West Ham United. His career began in 1988 with his hometown club Hajduk Split and he later had successful spells with Karlsruher SC in Germany, and West Ham United and Everton in England before retiring from active football in 2001. At national level, Bilić served as one of Croatia's most consistent defenders during the tenure of coach Miroslav Blažević, earning 44 caps between 1992 and 1999 and playing in UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup, helping the team to third place at the latter tournament. Following his playing retirement in 2001 at Hajduk Split, Bilić coached the team in the second half of the 2001–02 season. Between 2004 and 2006 he managed Croatia under-21 football team, before taking over the senior national side from Zlatko Kranjčar in August 2006. He led the team to the quarter-finals of 2008 European championship and left after the next edition four years later. He was praised for his long-standing service to the national side, and credited with successfully overseeing the introduction of a series of young players from the under-21 squad to the senior side. He left for the Russian club FC Lokomotiv Moscow, and then went to Turkey to manage Beşiktaş for two seasons before becoming West Ham manager in June 2015.
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