SLAVEN BILIC won his first FA Cup tie at the London Stadium but curbed his celebrations out of respect.
Bilic marked his return to West Ham since being sacked two years ago by not only knocking out but also humiliating his former club.
West Ham were dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship leaders West BromCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The Baggies finished the game with 10-men but went through thanks to a strike from Conor TownsendCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Although it is now as much a part of Cup tradition as Wembley itself that the feeble Hammers go out to lower league opposition.
Championship West Brom join Wimbledon and Wigan to have sent the feeble Irons packing in successive seasons.
What makes this latest collapse even more embarrassing is that it was not even West Brom’s first team that piled on the misery for West Ham boss David Moyes.
Only three players from last Monday’s home defeat to Stoke survived manager Slaven Bilic’s rotation to run their lifeless Premier League hosts ragged.
One of those was defender Conor Townsend, who was gifted time and space to score his first goal in almost two years and claim revenge of sorts for former West Ham boss Bilic on his return to his old club.
With promotion uppermost in his mind an FA Cup run is probably the last thing that Bilic needs as he strives to keep his team in pole position to reclaim their place in the Premier League next season.
And it could well be at the expense of a West Ham team that is hovering above the drop zone on goal difference with a hellish run of games to come.
Despite something of a revival in the second half after irate Moyes triggered a triple substitution, there is no way that this result will do anything but pour more misery onto a club in tailspin.
The number of wasted chances to score, the amount of misplaced paces and the large scale absence of any energy are the hallmarks of a club that is dying on its backside.
Ironically, the last time West Ham pieced together a decent FA Cup run to reach the last eight, was when West Brom boss Bilic was in charge of them and the team played at its spiritual home at Upton Park back in 2016.
Bilic was allowed only one full season at the club’s soulless new rented ground in Stratford at the Olympic Stadium. He watched West Ham get smashed 5-0 by Manchester City in the third round and was axed the following November.
Yesterday, with 4,800 Albion fans making all the noise, West Ham stumbled further down their gloomy path amid apathy – with the exception of loud booing at half and full time.
Other than that the fans were as disconnected as the players who conceded a soft goal after just nine minutes when space opened up on the edge of the area for Townsend to pick his spot.
The fact he had picked up the ball from a rebound off the legs of defender Issa Diop merely summed up West Ham’s terrible day.
Albion were not great either by the way. But then they can be forgiven the tactic of grabbing their chance when it came and then building a wall in front of their goal area.
Bilic is managing a squad through the relentless rigours of the Championship’s 46 game league campaign that can drain the soul as well as the legs.
He takes West Brom to Cardiff on Tuesday night trying to stay top of his table.
Moyes has the ominous task of trying to pick his team up for the visit of Premier League champions-elect Liverpool on Wednesday.
West Ham surrendered at Leicester on Wednesday, going down 4-1. The only players who looked like they wanted to bounce back were two of the three subs: Cockney captain Mark Noble and ever-reliable forward Michail Antonio.
Bizarrely it was Noble who missed arguably the best chance of all for West Ham to scrape an underserved equaliser when he faced only keeper Jon Bond in injury time, only to put his shot over the bar then fall to the ground and bury his face in the turf in heartbreak.
Jamie Vardy injury blow for Leicester as he hobbles off during West Ham win
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
