Hull City sack Liam Rosenior after Championship playoffs near-miss

Hull City has decided to dismiss Liam Rosenior from his duties as the team's coach. This decision came after his squad unfortunately fell short of qualifying for the Championship playoffs by a narrow margin.

Hull came in seventh place, which was three points less than Norwich who took the sixth place and are now getting ready to play against Leeds in a playoff semi-final. Although this was a letdown, Rosenior did a good job and caught the attention of many observers throughout a year and a half.

After leading Hull to safety and securing a 15th place finish in his debut season, the ex-Hull and Brighton defender managed to keep his team in or near the top six this year.

Despite Rosenior's successful implementation of a possession-based playing style throughout all levels of the club, Acun Ilicali, the Turkish owner of Hull, has expressed his desire for the team to be promoted to a higher league. As a result, it is rumored that a new coach may be brought on board soon.

According to Ilicali, the choice he made at the club was the most arduous one. He stated that in situations like this, he had to take his own feelings out of the equation and prioritize the club's future vision when making decisions.

"Ever since Liam joined us, we've had a great working relationship and he has definitely done some impressive work during his time with us. He will always have a place in our team, and I really appreciate everything that he has done. But, we have realized that we have different ideas for where we want to go next, and therefore, I think that it's time for us to make a change."

Things changed significantly back in December when Rosenior locked in a fresh three-year deal. However, Ilicali grew worried when Hull City failed to win six consecutive games in late February, and their home game victory record for 2024 only amounts to two. As a result, the owner was not convinced even though Rosenior placed third in the manager-of-the-season rankings for the division, following Kieran McKenna of Ipswich and Daniel Farke of Leeds.

Hull City Football Club had high hopes for their season, but their plans were impacted when Liam Delap, an important striker who was on loan from Manchester City, was out for a long period of time due to a knee injury he suffered in early January. In his final interview as coach, Rosenior acknowledged the lack of experience among his team's players, which had a significant impact on their performance throughout the season. He stated that their team's youth and inexperience sometimes led to mistakes that cost them games. Despite this, their fearlessness on the field was their biggest strength, even if it also led to some weaknesses. Overall, it was a positive season, but unfortunately, they were unable to achieve their ultimate goal of making it to the playoffs.