West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady said the sacking of Slaven Bilic was among the hardest decisions the club's board has made in the last 25 years.
Bilic's near two-and-a-half-year spell at the helm of West Ham was ended on Monday after last weekend's 4-1 defeat at home to Liverpool left them languishing in the Premier League relegation zone.
Bilic told Sky Sports News he "suspected'' he would be axed and his honest appraisal of the Hammers' position in the top-flight earned him admirers among the club's hierarchy, according to Brady, but that was not enough to spare him.