surprise 1–1 draw against Manchester City, Bilić was sacked by the club after a poor start to the season. His fellow coaching staff were also dismissed. At the time, West Brom were 19th in the league, having taken just seven points from 13 games. Beijing Guoan On 6 January 2021, Bilić was named as head coach of Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan on a two-year contract. On 8 January 2022, Bilić parted ways with Beijing Guoan. Watford On 26 September 2022, Bilić became manager of Watford on an 18-month contract. In his first game in charge, on 2 October, Watford won 4–0 away to Stoke City. Coaching style Bilić has said in a post tournament interview that he and his players compiled and studied many games of their opponents to become very well prepared for tough matches. Known to be a big fan of music, Bilić relates his teams motivation to such, often encouraging them to listen to inspiring music before and after games. Personal life Along with his native Croatian, Bilić is fluent in German, Italian and English, while he also holds a degree in law. As a big fan of rock music, he plays rhythm guitar with his favoured red Gibson Explorer and is a member of Rawbau, a Croatian rock band. In 2008, the band recorded a song for Croatia's performance at Euro 2008 called "Vatreno ludilo" (Fiery Madness). Career statistics Club International Source: Results list Croatia's goal tally first. Managerial Honours Player Hajduk Split Croatian First League: 1992 Yugoslav Cup: 1990–91 Croatian Cup: 1992–93, 1999–2000 Croatian Super Cup: 1992 Croatia FIFA World Cup third-place: 1998 Manager West Bromwich Albion EFL Championship runner-up: 2019–20 Individual Prva HNL Player of the Year: 1992 Best Croatian footballer of 1997 by Novi list Best Croatian footballer of 1997 by Sportske novosti Ivica Jobo Kurtini Award: 1997 Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1998 (as player), 2007 (as manager) Media Servis person of the year: 2007 Vatrena krila heart of the supporters Award: 2014 Saudi Professional League Manager of the Month: January 2019 Orders Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar – 1995 Order of the Croatian Trefoil – 1998 References External links Slaven Bilić at ToffeeWeb.com 1968 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Yugoslav footballers Croatian footballers Association football central defenders NK Primorac 1929 players HNK Šibenik players HNK Hajduk Split players Karlsruher SC players Everton