West Ham could start season WITHOUT manager after earning July Europa League spot
Posted Wednesday, May 27, 2015 by Express.co.uk
WEST HAM face the embarrassment of starting their season without a manager after the Premier League confirmed they would be England's Fair Play representative in the Europa League.
Upton Park will play host to European football next season
The first qualifying round starts on July 2 but club insiders blithely admit the search for a new manager could stretch "into July" in a bid to make sure they get the right man.
Rafa Benitez had always been the preferred candidate but interest from Real Madrid has killed that move, with another potential candidate Carlo Ancelotti announcing a break from football.
David Moyes is happy in Spain and although former England manager Steve McClaren is available, it is hard to see, with the club needing to attract fans to fill the Olympic Stadium, how he is more "box office" than Sam Allardyce.
Michael Laudrup, under contract in Qatar until the end of June, remains a strong outside bet, however.
Although the club have embraced the chance to go into Europe, it is an extra burden to deal with at the start of a season in which the overwhelming priority is to remain in the Premier League for the start of their new life in the Olympic Stadium in 2016-17.
It is that mandate which means Slaven Bilic will have his work cut out to convince the board he is the right man for the job, despite being odds-on with the bookies.
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