Slaven Bilic has ‘been there, seen it, done it’ as a player and manager, says Luton boss Graeme Jones, who knows he has his work cut out for him when he goes head-to-head with the West Brom chief on Saturday.
The Baggies boss has managed Croatian national team, West Ham, Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia, Besiktas in Turkey among his CV.
Speaking of Bilic, Jones said: “He is an experienced manager he’s worked at the top level for a long, long time now.
“I can see him now as manager of Croatia when they beat England in 2007 for the 2008 Euros, but they were a really, really good Croatian team and Slav has got experience.
“It will be a difficult game for everybody that one we are capable of winning. We have to know that going into every game.
“He was a player in the semi-final of the World Cup in France 98 with Croatia. We’re talking about a player who is been there, seen it, done it. His pedigree is outstanding and when I’ve come across him, he’s been a really likeable fella.”
Jones also has an impressive history at club and national level, but will hope that one of his last encounters with Bilic doesn’t end the same way for Luton when they host Albion on Saturday.
The Hatters boss said: “I came across him and his West Ham team in the Premier League. We were 2-0 up with 10 men at Everton and Aaron Lennon got a bit of an injury. We had to take him out and it really affected us and we ended up losing the game 32. Dimitri Payet was very influential that day.”
