Joey Barton believes that the “writing was on the wall” for Slaven Bilic after he was sacked by West Ham on Monday morning.
The Hammers confirmed on their official website that 49-year-old has been dismissed after a poor run of recent results.
Coaching assistants Nikola Jurcevic, Edin Terzic, Julian Dicks and Miljenko Rak have also followed the manager out of the London Stadium exit doors.
Bilic was in charge of West Ham for two-and-a-half years and finished seventh in the Premier League during his first campaign.
They slumped to 11th in the table in the 2016/17 season and have made a disappointing start to the new year.
Bilic departs the Londoners 18th in the Premier League table after 11 games and a new man will arrive to try steer them away from the relegation places.
Barton has admitted that he feels sorry for the Croatian boss after his dismissal, but had a hunch that his departure was inevitable.
“Feel sorry for Slaven Bilic but the writing has been on the wall for a while at West Ham,” Barton wrote on his personal Twitter account.
Feel sorry for Slaven Bilic but the writing has been on the wall for a while at West Ham.
— ? Joey Barton ? (@Joey7Barton) November 6, 2017
West Ham now have a two-week break for the internationals to appoint a new man and David Moyes is widely linked with the vacant position.
OPINION
Bilic is well supported by the West Ham fans after being a former player and manager, but it feels like now was the right time for his departure. The Hammers have struggled since their move to the London Stadium in 2016 and they should not be down the bottom end of the table given the quality of their summer arrivals in the transfer window. Bilic had taken the team as far as they can go and it seems unlikely he could get them back towards the European spots like his first season in charge. However, the potential arrival of Moyes at the London Stadium has not gone down well with fans and they want a new high-profile arrival.