Hull City

Hull City to name new manager before weekend

By Barney Corkhill, EditorPublished: 04 January 2017 8:07 PM

Hull City vice-chairman Ehab Allam reveals that the club hope to appoint a new manager before their FA Cup clash with Swansea City at the weekend.

Hull City vice-chairman Ehab Allam has revealed that the club hope to have a new manager in place before the weekend.

The Tigers sacked former boss Mike Phelan on Tuesday with the club sitting bottom of the Premier League table following a run of just one win in 18 games.

Former Olympiacos manager Marco Silva has emerged as the favourite to replace Phelan at the KCOM Stadium, and Allam is hopeful that there will be a new man in charge before Saturday's FA Cup third-round clash with fellow top-flight strugglers Swansea City.

"Mike initially took on the role at a difficult time last summer, inheriting a small squad that had lost a number of players to injury, and with the transfer window already in full swing. He would also go on to lose a number of key backroom team members through no fault of his own," Allam said in a statement.

"Despite the difficult circumstances, the team made a positive start to the season and money was made available to strengthen the squad ahead of the transfer deadline with a significant investment made in the signing of six new players. However, results have been on the decline since that time and although there have been some positive performances in recent weeks, we sit bottom of the Premier League and I felt now was the right time to take a fresh approach and give this club and squad of players the best possible chance of retaining Premier League status.

"I expect to have a new management team in place ahead of the weekend. I maintain the belief that the current squad, with two or three key additions during the current transfer window, is good enough to survive in this division. I acknowledge that our position in the table will make recruitment more challenging, however all of our efforts are now focussed on enhancing the existing squad with Premier League survival our priority."

After Saturday's FA Cup match, Hull will face Manchester United in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup before hosting Bournemouth in their next Premier League game.