LONDON: Al-Ittihad have sacked Slaven Bilic after just five months in charge after the former West Ham United boss was unable to left the Saudi giants out of the Pro League relegation zone. The Croatian was brought in to steer the Jeddah club to safety after they sacked Ramon Diaz just weeks into the new season. Bilic, however, was unable to have the desired impact on The Tigers as he won just three of the 15 matches he was in charge of. The 50-year-old was dished out with his marching orders after the side’s 2-0 home defeat to arch-rivals Al-Hilal. Former boss Luis Sierra has already been confirmed as Al-Ittihad’s new manager. the Chilean faces a huge task of trying to avoid the drop with just nine games left until the end of the season and Al-Ittihad second from bottom. Al-Ittihad — who have eight Saudi Pro League titles to their name — released a statement thanking Bilic for his time at the helm. “After reviewing the modest results of Ittihad Club in the past period, which did not rise to expectations despite the efforts exerted by the board to provide the coaching staff with everything they needed to put Ittihad back on the right track,” the statement read. “The Board has decided to terminate the contract of Croatian coach Slaven Bilic and the assistant coaching staff. “The Board thanks them for everything they did.” That the Jeddah giants are in the relegation zone comes as a shock. They spent a lot of money before the season in a bid to challenge defending champions Al-Hilal. Sierra is the club’s fourth coach in less than a year.