Football
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Slaven Bilic: West Ham stadium move not behind poor form

West Ham's stadium move is not behind their poor start to the Premier League season, Slaven Bilic has said.

Just one win in seven matches has left the Hammers in the bottom three and their move to the former Olympic Stadium has been blighted by crowd trouble and complaints from unhappy fans, but Bilic doesn't want to use that as an excuse.

"Make no mistake, we would rather play at home because there we feel the 60,000 people," Bilic said when asked if he was happy at the prospect of a game away from home. "Of course it is not a relief, we would like to play Palace at home on Saturday.

"The stadium is not a reason, the stadium is great. Many clubs changed stadiums and needed time to settle in, to get used to the stadium.

"It is great stadium but we have to win a few games to feel more at home."

Bilic is yet to get to the bottom of West Ham's squad night out after the recent 3-0 defeat by Southampton.

Bilic told his players to go on a bonding session on the Monday night after the game but pictures surfaced on social media the following day of striker Andy Carroll and goalkeeper Darren Randolph allegedly still out, with users suggesting the pair appeared drunk.

The Hammers manager promised to launch a probe into the incident after the following weekend's clash with Middlesbrough.

But almost a fortnight after that 1-1 draw at the London Stadium, Bilic would only reveal that the internal investigation is ongoing.

"It's still not over. It is an old story and it is not very important now," he said. "It is not done yet.

"It is not easy, I can't do the investigation because it didn't happen on the pitch. I'm going to react but it isn't done and I don't think about that at the moment, I am thinking about our next game.

"I can only repeat what I said before, it was my decision. If they stepped out of the line of the rules of our club, they will be punished."

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