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Slaven Bilic wants his West Ham future kept out of papers and social media

Slaven Bilic says he would prefer to talk face-to-face with West Ham chairs David Gold and David Sullivan rather than through the newspapers or social media.

Gold regularly uses Twitter to discuss club matters while Sullivan issued an apology to fans on the Hammers' official website following the defeat to Leicester a fortnight ago.

Meanwhile, newspaper reports claim the West Ham board are weighing up potential replacements for under-pressure boss Bilic, with the likes of Roberto Mancini, Rafael Benitez and Jaap Stam recently linked with the role.

Bilic would no doubt prefer that, like the majority of club owners, Gold and Sullivan kept a lower profile, but the former has come out and said the West Ham board has no issues with their manager.

For his part, Bilic insists he is strong enough to deal with working for the duo and says it comes with the territory of managing West Ham.

"I have a good relationship with both of them,'' he said. "I talk to the chairmen, not on a daily basis, but after every game. Then I talk about some issues during the week.

"But I don't talk to the chairmen through the papers. You know what I mean? We have a direct line and we talk.

"They are locals, they are West Ham, they talk to the papers, Twitter, Instagram, this one, that one.

"I am okay with that. I am a really strong person and I have no problem with that.

"Don't get me wrong, it would be ideal -- I wouldn't love that to be in the papers. But there is something in between not liking it and being worried about it, and I am not worried.

"I am 48, I've been in football a long time and the position was always very demanding, and that makes you strong. Nothing has changed in the last few days.

"I just concentrate on my job. I am totally focused on the next game. That [speculation] does not worry me. I am not reading it or making phone calls or whatever."

West Ham have dropped to 12th place after losing their last three games, adding to uncertainty about Bilic's future during a troubled first season for the club since leaving Upton Park for London's Olympic Stadium.

But co-owner Gold said: "There is no issue between me and the board and Slaven ... and in the board [meetings] there have been no discussions over Slaven's future.

"He's our manager, we all like him, he's a great guy. I like him very much. He's very passionate and I love the passion.

"Would I like to be two or three places higher than we currently are? Of course I would. Tell me a club apart from Chelsea who wouldn't. There are no issues. There never has been a new contract on the table. He still has the rest of this season and next season."

Bilic raised expectations by steering West Ham to seventh place in his first season in charge, securing European qualification. But after losing only eight of their 38 games in the 2015-16 campaign, the east London club have already been beaten 14 times this season with nine games to go. West Ham also exited the Europa League before the group stage.

The team have also grappled with the disruption caused by fan trouble at the Olympic Stadium and star player Dimitri Payet forcing his way out in January to return to Marseille.

"He's had a tough season, we accept that," Gold said of Bilic. "He's had stadium issues outside of his control. He's had Payet issues which he dealt with to the best of his ability. He's had injury issues. At one time we were second in the league for days lost and it wouldn't surprise me if we were still in top three or four for clubs affected.

"We had a fantastic season last year where players over-performed. Payet was much better than we assumed he would be, [Manuel] Lanzini turned out to be a better player than we thought."

And Gold insists the club will continue to make cash available to strengthen the squad.

"This business about West Ham being cheapskates because all we are doing is buying loans and so-called freebies is not right," he said. "Taking a player on loan with a view to buy is more expensive. You pay more but you are taking out insurance against the down side."

Gold pointed to the signing of Simone Zaza. The striker joined on a season-long loan from Juventus but failed to score in 11 games. West Ham sent Zaza back to the Italian champions in January and they, in turn, sent him to Valencia.

"Everyone was saying this is a player you have got to get," Gold said. "We have been very wise -- and brought him in on a loan with a view to buy which saved us a lot of embarrassment."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.

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