Walter will either be another dud like Shota or Slutsky or he’ll turn us into the rip-roaring goal-scoring Tigers who are top two by Christmas. I don’t think there’ll be an in-between lol.
Agreed. Though I’ve seen screenshots of text messages that are supposedly between Steve Cooper and someone ‘ITK’ saying he was offered the job for a lot of money and he turned it down as he’s waiting for a Prem job. Even if Acun says he is, I don’t think Walter was necessarily first-choice. I think Acun did make an ambitious offer to Steve Cooper. Whether Acun believed this was realistic or not is another thing. Walter may have been second-choice but more likely in his shortlist.
But this is the rub, isn't it? It'll either make Acun look like an incredibly astute operator or a wide eyed fanboy amateur. Even a similar finish to this season would have to be seen as a failure. It's playoffs or better otherwise Walter's gone after a maximum of one season. And the die is cast for rinse and repeat. The ship's sailed, but sacking Liam in the position we finished either necessitates instant success (by that I mean a maximum time span of one season) or we're in a merry-go-round of managerial change until someone hits lucky. Or we implode, get relegated, Acun gets bored, ****s off and we end up in **** creek.
Surely he's a businessman who will protect his investment...Turning his back on it will result in loss of value and face...Got a feeling it won't happen in the short term, though longer term who knows...Perhaps the realisation that getting into the premier league is a lot more difficult than he may have anticipated. Especially when clubs like us are at a permanent disadvantage to those with parachute payments..
If we don’t make the play offs next season it’ll have to be seen as a failure. Truthfully, we’ll never fully know what Rosenior would have done next season - but I think even the people at the opposite ends of the Rosenior fan/not a fan club would agree that if he hadn’t have got us in the top 6 at a minimum he wouldn’t still be manager at the start of the 2025/26 season (probably sooner in all honesty). So next season and the decision to part with Rosenior has to be based on that surely? I know all the talk has been about Walter playing more attacking football but if we do look like we’ve taken a step backwards and the ultimate aim is the PL anything lower than 6th will look a failure all round.
Good point well made old bean. I must admit I prefer the championship. The thought of playing the likes of Man City and conceding a shed load is not good. At least in the championship all teams have a realistic chance of getting a result no matter who the opponent may be. I will be more than content with a more attacking and entertaining brand of football.
"Fenerbahçe's elections scheduled for May 30-31, or June 8-9 if a quorum is not met" Hopefully those guys get enough people there on May 31 so that we can see some focus back on Hull and may be a manager.
And that's why i pay my money. Just entertain me. I've not come to watch 5 blokes pass it around at the back with no direction.
Getting impatient are you. Obviously you don’t know who you’re going to be supporting next season until LR signs on the dotted line. ****.
I don't think Acun is a great owner at all but as he's followed Ehab he does look significantly better. He's a great PR and media man, but his footballing decisions have been poor and he's said a few things which give cause for concern. The lack of investment into the infrastructure and facilities will always annoy me too.
He's good at the fluffy things that make people like him - free trips to Turkey, biscuits on coach trips, free away travel last season, etc. But as you say, the core decisions and investment in infrastructure is lacking somewhat (pitch improvements a welcome exception).
The training ground really does bug me. When you look at the money we've wasted on transfer fees, agents fees and wages in his 2.5 years here, we could've had a £15-20m complex almost paid off.
I don't think you can lay any blame on Acun, they are obviously planning on doing something with the training facilities, the lack of investment lies at the Allam's door IMO. I just watched on Netflix the Man City treble season documentary, what Delap must think coming from their setup God only knows.
What exactly do you think he should have invested in by now in terms of the infrastructure? I'm curious. Bear in mind they're re-doing the pitch 'properly' at the moment, which is years overdue. He's also been trying to get plans through for an entirely new complex which we're all aware of. Should he have done that by now? Or would you prefer he lumped a few million into Cott, despite likely wanting the team to come away from there? I imagine a fair bit has already been spent on the club as a whole. Off the top of my head there's a new lounge at the MKM, the new pitch, new merch ranges to increase revenue, new sponsors, free travel to away games (for a time), new digital platforms, new club shop(s)... All of this stuff costs money, with a view to bringing more in in the grand scheme - and then not to mention the money invested in the team. Surely you can see its all a step in a much better direction? I don't think it's as simple as him getting his wallet out and us quickly having training facilities of a much higher standard.
The plans he's trying to get through isn't for a new complex, it's for pitches near the ground for the Academy. As far as I'm aware there's no plans currently in the works for the first team training facilities. The concern I think which is well founded is there's always short term things to spend money on. We've had it under successive owners where it feels like it's always "Oh well we have to do this first before we can think about the infrastructure" then fast forward five years and that owner is either broke or bored or spiteful and things never improve. Sometimes we just have to say, "No let's sort it now".
I don't disagree with you, I just don't think it's that simple, certainly not to the point where the fact we don't have a new training ground in little over 2 seasons should be a red flag against the owner just yet. I think he's trying to improve many aspects of and around the club, but you can't just do everything all at once. I think the 'quick wins' are at least showing progress and with regards the training facilities I don't think it's a simple fix. I've no idea if the club owns that land, has permission to make big changes, or if there are plans in motion to move, and to where etc... Too many unknowns surrounding it to judge the owner on it at this juncture. I can't imagine it's as simple as Acun just not thinking it needs improving and opting for 'fluff because he's a media man' instead. Just comes across to me as people trying to take pot shots because they're unhappy with his decision to replace LR.