BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog

Bilic wears heart on his sleeve

Phil Gordos
18 Jun 08, 10:10 AM

Vienna

This was going to be a blog all about Croatia coach Slaven Bilic, a man who oozes passion. We've seen him on the touchline, gesticulating, remonstrating and bellowing instructions to his players. He's an inspirational figure - BBC Sport pundit Gavin Peacock has compared him to Kevin Keegan - and the kind of manager I like. Much as I admire the achievements of, say, Sven-Goran Eriksson, give me Bilic any day of the week.

But then Raymond Domenech got in on the act, proposing to his girlfriend live on telly just moments after his side's 2-0 defeat to Italy, a loss which knocked the French out of Euro 2008.

"It was just a thought. Everyone was so sad and I thought to myself, 'Life has its beautiful moments'," he said. "You have to tell people you love them. In such difficult moments, you have to go to what's important. I wanted to show some emotion."

How can you top that?

Anyway, I didn't want to abandon my euology to Bilic entirely - and I thought they best to capture his passion for the game was to post a few photos of him "in action".

He loves his players:

Bilic congratulates Darijo Srna

He loves his backroom team:

Bilic celebrates with his backroom team

He loves remonstrating with officials

Bilic remonstrating with the fourth official

He loves winning:

Bilic celebrates with his players

And he loves the odd cigarette:

Bilic lights a cigarette

Is it any surprise Croatia are doing so well when they have a leader like him?

Phil Gordos is a senior broadcast journalist at BBC Sport Interactive. Please check our FAQs if you have any questions.

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Comments

1. At 10:47am on 18 Jun 2008, rockamaccarungdung wrote:
haha excellent.
he is quite the character

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2. At 11:00am on 18 Jun 2008, DaveWalnut wrote:
Bilic has the perfect character for national management. All of his pride, enthusiasm and love for his country can be seen; and, as stated, he has complete respect for and from those around him.

It would be interesting to see how he fairs in club management. Dealing with the more day to day running, going through bad patches etc.

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3. At 11:03am on 18 Jun 2008, chicabona wrote:
Yes, this is it. I think he's a Croatia fan BEFORE a coach. That's why the Eriksson-England combination wasn't as effective. And I might dare say, the Capello- England combination :P
Hope they prove me wrong

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4. At 2:55pm on 18 Jun 2008, Bobanov wrote:
I continue to be surprised by the reaction of the media to victories by our national team.
Whether it's England, Germany or any other team on earth, we always believe we can win.
For those young men to wear the Croatian jersey, put their hand over the heart and sing the anthem before a match, means everything.
From watching a lot of football over many years I don't see the passion, patriotism and desire from other countries. This extends beyond the national team to bankers to carpenters to soldiers.
Plus we know how to play this game right. Hold the ball, control the ball and build opportunities.
We simply aren't like anyone else. A Croatian quote says it "I know for what I have done and for what I will do, that I will burn in hell forever, but I will burn for Croatia".

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5. At 3:11pm on 18 Jun 2008, shoogledoogle wrote:
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
6. At 3:23pm on 18 Jun 2008, leeleese wrote:
I honestly believe that genuine enthusiasm is infectious and Bilic's is undeniable.

Croatia ouze self confidence at the moment and are a joy to watch. In many ways I'm glad they beat us in the group stage because I doubt very much that we would have provided such a positive advert for playing international football.

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7. At 3:26pm on 18 Jun 2008, Phil G - BBC Sport wrote:
Bilic is clearly more than just a great man manager. Keegan showed that being a bubbly, infectious character only gets you so far. Bilic, as he proved against Germany and given that he's had to do without Eduardo, knows a fair bit about tactics, too.

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8. At 5:31pm on 18 Jun 2008, psychotic_baklava wrote:
@ shoogledoogle:

as you said, those are allegations, and nothing more than that.. Bilic is actually politically left oriented (as in liberal), his patriotism is born and left on the football field as should be for anyone that represents a country in any given sport..there is nothing to clear up there, persistant allegations doesnt read ''persistant proof'', and till it is shown otherwise, which i doubt it will, i think such comments are uncalled for..

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9. At 5:52pm on 18 Jun 2008, shoogledoogle wrote:
Regarding my 'moderated' post.
As I said, these are allegations, yes. I do not, and did not, allege anything of the sort myself, though I do question quite why these allegations continue.
The Guardian presently has an article on its website detailing these allegations: given this, I do not believe that it constitutes defamation to say that such allegations persist - however I can understand caution in a litigous climate.
And incidentally, I absolutely agree with Baklava about leaving patriotism on the football field: if only Government were to pay heed!
Anyway, enough politics, back to football, and yes, regardless, Bilic certainly seems to be a good coach, and a notable character.

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10. At 6:00pm on 18 Jun 2008, psychotic_baklava wrote:
Aye, he really is. I was actually pleasantly surprised when he got selected for the position, as he, fortunately, isn't the usual type of coach that my country tends to have for that position.

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11. At 1:48pm on 20 Jun 2008, yannthefrog wrote:
Since everyone agrees he's great and all, I thought I'd mention a story that not everyone will remember.

1998, world cup semi-final. France play Croatia. Bilic is standing behind Laurent Blanc. Blanc's hand touches bilic's chest, who then collapses on the ground, holding his face as if he had been hit with a baseball bat. Blanc gets a yellow card for, well, whatever the referee imagined had happened, and denies the great man of playing in the world cup final.

This is simply to show that he might not be the 100% genuine guy everyone seems to imagine.

Still, I agree he's a great coach too, and I like his attitude as a coach.

He is in all respects Domenech's anti-Christ.

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