It’s been quite a month for Hull City’s new owner Acun Ilicali and his team of staff that have been working around the clock as they get to grips with life in English football at a Championship club.
After months and months of negotiations, the deal was finally completed on January 19, and with just days left of the transfer window, there was little time for resting on any laurels.
Since that historic day in January, the club have signed four players, turned down big interest in their star player and played no fewer than 10 Championship games having changed their manager.
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Ilicali is not a man who does things by halves, nor is he one for letting the grass grow beneath his feet as he looks to make his mark at the east Yorkshire club.
A month on from completing a deal which has reinvigorated a club which had been dominated by apathy from a disillusioned fan base, crowds are up, the atmosphere is becoming more and more vibrant and on the pitch, the team are slowly but surely moving themselves further clear of relegation trouble, point by point.
It hasn’t been plain sailing, either, desperate defeats at rivals Derby County and at home to Barnsley in front of the club’s biggest league crowd in five years were a particular low point for the new manager and his players, but faith was somewhat restored when City romped to a convincing 3-0 win at Peterborough United on Saturday, beating Grant McCann, the manager the new owner dispensed with just five weeks earlier.
“It’s been exciting,” says vice-chairman Tan Kesler as he relaxes into his chair inside the chairman’s office at the MKM Stadium, previously occupied by Ehab Allam before his departure.
“The chairman and I are very excited to finally complete the deal and get our hands onto the football side of it, we’re very excited, obviously, and we have some up and down scores with such a young team, ambitious staff and a new coach.
“Certain things are going as we like, to, and certain things are going as we expected, in a way, but there have been no surprises, but we are here from day one, like we promised, and we’re trying to deliver.”
If Kesler and Ilicali were hoping for a steady introduction into Championship life, they were always going to be disappointed, particularly taking over at such a critical juncture of the season, and fresh from long days and nights at the stadium trying to thrash out the final terms of a complex deal, there was to be no time to relax.
In came Marcus Forss, Liam Walsh, Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Regan Slater and Ryan Longman’s loan move was made permanent, all bar one happening on a frantic deadline day.
“Once we completed, the transfer window was closing so we had just a few days left so my role was based around trying to complete some of the transfers that we were targeting.
“Some happened, some didn’t happen and that was due to the time limitations and the timing of our arrival in the club.
“The first thing we had to deal with was the transfers, to get them done. We got Marcus Forss and then we decided with the technical board and the chairman that we would go for Liam Walsh from Swansea on loan, to strengthen our midfield.
“Regan signed through the process, overall I’m happy with the transfers that we did in three days and I’m sure the fans are appreciative of our efforts in the time we had available.
“Moving forward, we will scout more internationally. Allahyar joining us – unfortunately he had some minor injuries – we’re looking forward to having him back – we created a decent squad within the time we had.”
Once the transfer window was taken care of, City’s new custodians have been in discussions with Hull City Council, Hull FC chief Adam Pearson and various other locals, while fresh sponsorship conversations have been ongoing.
The state of the MKM Stadium is often raised as an issue by supporters, and that’s a topic of conversation ongoing with the council, and one the club are keen to work on with the local authority,
“We’ve had amazing conversations with local MPs, the city council and they’ve been very supportive and I look forward to working with them,” Kesler continued. “The stadium is aging and we have to work on that.
“I’m on the training ground every day trying to solve day-to-day issues, player issues and contracts, extensions.
“For one month, we’ve been doing an awful lot. I’ve been impressed, there’s nothing that caught me off guard.”
Results have been mixed, certainly during February with four defeats, a win and two draws coming on the back of three straight wins at the start of the new era, and Kesler says it’s important that City’s players get used to a new way of working under Arveladze, a manager Ilicali has ultimate faith in as he looks to steer the Tigers away from trouble.
“There have been ups and downs, amazing team play and the style we like to play against Swansea. The fixture list has been difficult, Sheffield United, QPR, Derby away – these are defining games.
“Results are important, I can never say they are not important, it would be hypocrisy to fans and people who follow us, but at the same time, focusing on results so much will take you away from the main picture.
“Our goal is to remain in the league and finish it somewhere in the middle and I trust our coach, and so does the chairman that he’s more than capable of doing that, he’s started very well.
“Our players are young, they’ve put up a tremendous fight. We are trying to introduce something they’re not used to. We’re asking a group of guys, who are extremely talented, young and inexperienced – I appreciate our more experienced guys who are helping like George Honeyman, Richie Smallwood, Tom Huddlestone – the average age is young, we make mistakes.”
Replacing a league-title-winning manager midway through a campaign was always going to take time to adjust to, and Kesler admits replacing Grant McCann with Arveladze was a risk, albeit a calculated one.
“There’s a philosophy that we’re trying to put together with our coach and the boys are learning this in the middle of the season, this is a risk,” he admitted.
“We were ready to take this risk and the boys will take their risk. With so many games, it has been impossible to change the team philosophy but you can implement small details which the coach is trying, he’s a very smart guy and that’s why we believe in him.
“He’s genuine and honest, and he can take lessons from his mistakes and I’m sure he’s assessing himself very well, for the future, if we can remain with our philosophy I’m sure we will win more and have more fans coming.
“Doing something different every week will damage us and we will lose our identity, the city will lose its identity and the fans will be confused.
“One week they’ll see a defending team and the next they’ll try to be offensive – every week they’ll have ups and downs, so too the players, this is not good, we need consistency.
“Once Shota has started something, we fully believe in him to continue it and the boys have been amazing, they’re open to learning, transitions can be painful but once you’ve completed it, it can be more rewarding, the boys are happy with the progression.”
Change has been very much in the air at Hull City in recent weeks, but the determination of those bringing about that change have only grown more and more determined to grasp what they consider to be a wonderful opportunity to reinvigorate the club.
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