Besiktas president Fikret Orman lavished praise on West Ham manager Slaven Bilic at the Vodafone Arena stadium pre-inauguration press-conference.

Orman said: “Slaven Bilic is a great manager and a great guy, I am glad he is doing well in England.”

Bilic joined West Ham after spending two-years at Besiktas during a transitionary phase at the club.

The former Croatian national team manager never got to coach the Black Eagles for a single home game due to the stadium reconstruction project.

Besiktas were effectively footballing nomads playing across Istanbul and even as far as Ankara and Konya.

Bilic has hit the ground running at his new club and West Ham currently find themselves in 5th place just one point behind Manchester City who are in 4th.

Orman also revealed that he has invited Bilic to the Vodafone Arena inauguration ceremony which will be held on 10 April in Istanbul.

Besiktas are on the verge of completing construction of the 41,903 seater Vodafone Arena stadium which is situated just a stones throw from the Bosphorus next to the Dolmabahce stadium.

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