City owner faces critical decision ahead of summer

VITAL THAT RIGHT COACH APPOINTED TO OVERSEE STRENGTHENING OF SQUAD FOR NEXT SEASON

- By BARRY COOPER

Just a few days after the Championship finished, Hull City are once again looking for a new manager as a feeling of deja vu sweeps around East Yorkshire.

A year on from Liam Rosenior’s departure, barely 72 hours after the campaign finished at Plymouth Argyle, owner Acun Ilicali has opted to remove Ruben Selles from his post after less than six months, and is now searching for a fifth permanent manager since his tenure began in January 2022.

Selles took charge with City bottom of the Championship in December and guided the club to safety on the final day of the season, but will now leave the club.

City’s 1-1 draw at Portsmouth was enough to keep them in the league because Luton Town were thrashed 5-3 at West Brom, so the Tigers survived on goal difference. It’s hard to argue with the suggestion that their own survival was as much down to the help of others, rather than them taking control of their own destiny.

Either way, the Tigers stayed in the Championship and that was the most important thing, however it came, and that was the job Selles was brought in to do.

While Ilicali had some doubts about his decision to remove Rosenior 12 months ago, it's understood that the Turkish businessman has no such concerns about his decision to allow Selles to leave. He held discussions with members of his hierarchy, including Jared Dublin and new head of recruitment, Martin Hodge in Istanbul earlier this week.

Those members of his management team are believed to have been in full agreement that Selles was not the right man to oversee a crucial summer, and the process to appoint a new head coach is well underway.

While Rosenior’s exit was a gut-feeling decision from the owner, Selles’ departure has been more of a collective decision with Dublin and Hodge also airing their concerns about the Spaniard’s decision-making in recent months, and suitability to move City on next season.