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Noble believes Bilic faces uphill struggle to keep West Ham job

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West Ham captain Mark Noble says manager Slaven Bilic will find it tough to keep his job at the London Stadium.

The 30 year old believes that once the suggestion is raised that a manager should be sacked, it is very hard to stop the momentum and prevent the axe from coming.

Speaking on a wide range of issues to the Evening Standard, Noble said that the pressure would have been lifted if the Hammers had won against Brighton on Friday, and the atmosphere around the club would have changed.

“Once there is the momentum of suggesting managers could get the sack, it’s not normally long before it happens. You’ve just seen that with Ronald Koeman. Five or six years ago, would he have had more time? Definitely — but football is much more of a business now.

“The first year was a dream for Slaven because everyone was playing well but the past two years have been really tough for him. You are going to lose games but it’s how you lose them. If we had won on Friday night, nothing gets said, we’ve lifted off and Slaven gets a break for a couple of weeks.”

“If we lose after that, though, it comes back again and I think that, once that box is open, then it’s very hard to close it again.”

Noble has been benched for the last two Premier League games after starting his last match before the international break in the 1-0 win over Swansea. He is however expected to start at Wembley tonight in the Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham. Reports suggest that Bilic will need some sort of result this evening if he is going to stay in the hot seat at the Hammers.

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