Manager Slaven Bilić admitted that he thought that West Ham United were "going to do better" after they rounded off what had been a patchy 2016/17 campaign with Sunday's 2-1 win over Burnley.

So many obstacles in the way

The finale win at Turf Moor proved to be a relief on two fronts as they returned to winning ways at a ground that has been somewhat a fortress this season, but brought an end to what has been a rollercoaster campaign for the Hammers.

The club have danced with the prospect of relegation for a large part of the season after a five-game losing streak, which brought pressure on the manager from a London Stadium that still didn't feel quite like home having moved from the Boleyn Ground in the summer.

There has been a lot of issues both and off the pitch with the Dimitri Payet fiasco and numerous injuries, and Bilić stated that these kind of factors made him admit post-match that these factors saw them achieve below his expectations.

"We thought that we were going to do better [this season]," Bilić admitted to Sky Sports. "I didn't want to talk about that in the season, I wanted to stay positive."

"We had so many obstacles, so many injuries," the manager stressed. "We had eight surgeries, which is not normal."

"It has been a tough season with ups and downs but we have finished it now," the Croatian added. "I want to praise the guys."

Going to be busy next season

Hammers fans will be expecting bigger and better things next season, as will Bilić as he looks to cement his managerial position and it will start with the summer transfer window.

They have already been linked with a hosts of names with the likes of Michy Batshuayi, Pablo Zabaleta, Kelechi Iheanacho and Jermain Defoe all rumoured, but Bilić stated there will be changes in the summer.

"I think next season every club is going to be busy [in transfer market]," he said. "Today we showed that we have a good squad of players."

"Some players maybe will go [in the summer]," the 48-year-old stated. "And we will replace them."

"I am happy with the squad but we need a few players to improve our first XI," Bilić concluded. "We have our targets."

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.