da fezbet： It may have taken the best part of three months but Hull City have finally got a permanent manager, and it should come as no great surprise that the man in question is none other than Mike Phelan.
da poker： The former Manchester United assistant has been in temporary charge since the hasty departure of Steve Bruce back in July and many will ask the question as to why Phelan’s role at the club wasn’t made permanent a lot sooner.
The main sticking point was the contract offer, or lack of one, after an impressive start to the season, which saw them record back-to-back wins over champions Leicester and Swansea; Phelan had reached September and there was still nothing in the way of a full time job offer.
Galvanising a thread bare squad to two victories was impressive, especially as no-one gave Hull a hope of getting any points on the board, such was the crisis within the club.
With only 14 fit senior players and no manager, pundits couldn’t write Hull off quick enough, but Phelan has restored credibility to the club with some impressive performances.
Let’s not forget, they were a minutes away from holding out Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United at home, only for Marcus Rashford to snatch a late winner and break Tigers fans’ hearts.
Seven points from four matches is a good enough start for any promoted side, let alone Hull in their current plight but, as of late, they have been brought back down to earth with an almighty bump.
That said, the fixture computer has been incredibly cruel to them as they have had to face Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea back-to-back, and have shipped 11 goals in the process.
On the face of it, three defeats is not good in anyone’s eyes but in a perverse way, perhaps it was that trio of losses which meant a decision on Mike Phelan had to finally be made once and for all.
If you were Hull owner Assem Allam, you could look at the start in one of two ways. You could either thank Mike Phelan for his efforts and get someone else in ,or you could give him the full backing so that he has a clear remit for the rest of the season, which is obviously survival.
Thankfully for Phelan, though, Allam has chosen what many feel is the right decision and made him Head Coach of the club on a permanent basis.
After three losses it needed this news to once again get the squad focused on the job in hand as after a good start, it’s fair to say they have lost their way slightly and, although they have come up against some top opposition, the ongoing manager saga will certainly not have helped.
With that all wrapped up and four of the top six already faced, it means Hull have a run of what they will consider winnable matches to come and now that their manager’s situation has finally been resolved, there’s no reason why they can’t add to the seven points that they have already picked.
There are teams in current worse plights as the Premier League table, which definitely doesn’t lie, but you just had the feeling that the longer they went on without a permanent man at the helm, then it can only have been to the detriment of the club.
That said, there are no excuses for this side and the performances but, more importantly, results have to come straight away, these next months will tell us whether Phelan was the right man for the job all along.