Former West Brom and West Ham boss makes admission amid Cardiff City links

Former West Brom manager Slaven Bilic has admitted that he is ready to return to work following his latest managerial stint. 

The 56-year-old has been out of work since leaving Saudi Pro League club Al Fateh in August. He spent one season with his previous club and guided them to a seventh-placed finish.

Since leaving, he has been strongly linked with the vacancy at Championship rivals Cardiff City, with WalesOnline claiming that talks had taken place. Cardiff have yet to make a decision on their manager situation and have had interim boss Omer Riza in charge for a month. 

"At the moment I like it at home, but of course, I'm ready to work," Bilic said to BirminghamLive.

"I'm at a good age and part of me would work, but I'm waiting for a good opportunity. For the meantime, I am enjoying this.”

The former West Ham boss was a firm favourite for the Cardiff job, but there was a belief that he wouldn’t be available for work until January. In the meantime, Cardiff have moved off bottom spot under Riza, and played to a goalless draw against the Baggies at the Hawthorns on Saturday. 

Bilic is currently back in Croatia with his family and is enjoying his downtime. He's had spells in China, England, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey so he is open to any opportunity, should it be the right one for him. 

He hasn’t managed in England since his axing by Watford in the 2022/23 season. He had them just four points off of the play-offs but wasn’t afforded the chance to see out the campaign, with the Hornets sacking him after just five months. 

The 44-time Croatian international had a successful spell at West Brom guiding them to promotion in 2020. He oversaw 65 games during his near 18-month spell in charge, picking up 26 wins, 22 draws, and 17 defeats.