West Ham manger Slaven Bilic and club captain Mark Noble have opened up about what life has been like at West Ham this season.
In a remarkably open and candid interview with theDaily Mail, the men discussed Bilic's new 'handshake policy', the issues around moving stadium and deliberately stirring up fights to keep the players sharp.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing to come out of the interview was the revelation from Bilic that he makes everyone at the club shake hands before a ball is kicked. "The day before, the players can have an argument then go home,"said Bilic.
"The next morning, when they shake hands, the argument is over. All gone. It doesn't cost them anything. It takes time but it's good. That's what I ask from the players".
"It's a way of showing respect. Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes because I'm shaking the kitchen staff's hands".
Team-mates, tea ladies, coaches, chefs ” the West Ham rule applies to all at West Ham's training complex known as Rush Green. It is time well spent as far as the club's charismatic Croat is concerned.
Skipper Mark Noble then waded in, discussing what he sees as his role at the club on a day-to-day basis. "I've always seen myself as the buffer between the boss and the players," Noble says.
"The gaffer doesn't have to look after every single small problem that goes on. I'll try to nip it in the bud before it gets to him".
"Sometimes, if training is not quite right, I will purposely make a point of saying something or having an argument with someone who I know will have one back with me. It lets the lads know it's not good enough and it's better coming from me than it would be from the boss".
"The last thing he wants to do is interrupt every two minutes. For a player that becomes, 'Oh he's off again¦'".
Bilic appreciates this philosophy from his captain, claiming"That's the key. If I have to interfere on an hourly basis, then you lose things. Firstly, you don't want to do it. Secondly, you lose your authority".
"If it's something like that it cannot be every day. It cannot be every hour. That's it".
Bilic knows that this season has been like ying and yang compared to the magic that was last year. "Last season was easy.We were like a big jumbo jet that went up 12,000 metres and never went down. We never felt turbulence. This season we were fighting, and when you fight for something it makes you stronger".
"It can be very hard to go through it, the turbulence. But once you are, it can be worth it, because the experience we had this season is unbelievable".
"This can turn out to be a great season, better than last year. Not in terms of results but in terms of what us, individually, as a team, as a club has been through".
The 48-year-old manager knows that the move to the London Stadiumwas a major factor in the Hammers early season struggles, but refuses to blame it exclusively.
"It takes time when you move house," Bilic said. "When you move from a tiny house to a big mansion, OK, it's a better house but you need to find out things".
"First, family inside, suddenly you are not close. Your daughter is watching television in her bedroom. Not to mention you have to learn the ropes: school, friends, everything. It makes no sense to try to compare with the Boleyn Ground because it is incomparable".
#TheWestHamWay pic.twitter.com/soCQcRJ4ya
Noble weighed in. "It was never going to be Upton Park,"the 29-year-old says. "We knew this season was going to be tough".
"Look at Leicester's situation. Manchester United, one of the richest clubs in the world, are not guaranteed top four... when you sit down, look at the facts and stats, we haven't done too bad".
The two spoke to the Mail ahead of their clash against Chelsea on Monday night at the London stadium. West Ham are looking to avenge a 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge in the opening weekend back in August 2016.