West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has admitted that the turbulence surrounding his side this year, has made it one of his toughest as a manager, reports the Mirror.
Things certainlydon't get any easier for the Hammers' bossas they face runaway league leaders Chelsea on Monday night.
The secret to beating @ChelseaFC... pic.twitter.com/kkyX3RwVPq
Despite all the problems and a dreadful first half of the season, Bilic remains confident his side can finish in the top-ten.
Speaking about the season so far the 46-year-old commented: "You pretend at home that you are OK because you don't want it to affect your family. But inside of course you are hurting. This is not the kind of job that you can leave in your office and go home."
In a nightmare start to the season, West Ham were dumped out of the Europa League during qualifying and then went on to lose five out of their first opening six fixtures in the league.
Violent clashes with Chelsea during the EFL Cup tie did not help the atmosphere around the London Stadium.
This is not to mention the drawn out saga of Dimitri Payet's refusal to play for the club, before his transfer to Marseille. Since the French international's departure West Ham have only lost once in their last six games.
Billic thinks that it is these testing moments which have strengthened him as a manager: "Of course I wasn't enjoying the defeats but sometimes you have to sacrifice something to get something. The experience is priceless. They say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
The former Besiktas coach also added: "It's great because now I can see it as a great experience. For me personally, for the players and for the club. When you go home a part of you is affected by what happened during the day, with your bosses or colleagues or some fans who said something on social media."
The Hammers manager concluded his reflective thoughts by saying: "In football it is not only the players or the manager who are getting the criticism, now the media gets it as well." Hopefully a more genial Bilic will mean less microphones thrown about the touchline