Liam Rosenior has been sacked by Hull City after his team narrowly missed out on a Championship playoff place.
Hull finished seventh, three points behind sixth-placed Norwich, who are preparing to face Leeds in a playoff semi-final. Despite that disappointment Rosenior had impressed many onlookers during an 18-month stint.
Having steered Hull clear of relegation and finished 15th during his first season, the former Hull and Brighton full-back kept his side in or around the top six this season.
Although the possession-based style Rosenior introduced at all levels of the club won him plenty of admirers, Acun Ilicali, Hull’s Turkish owner, demanded promotion and is believed to be close to a new appointment.
Ilicali said the decision had been his “most difficult” at the club. “No matter how trying the circumstance, I have to remove personal sentiment from these moments and ensure the long-term vision of the club is at the centre of my thinking,” he said.
“Since Liam’s arrival, we have enjoyed an open working relationship and progress has undoubtedly been made over the course of his tenure. He will always be a part of this family and I thank him for all his work. However, it has become evident that our visions for the future are not aligned and I feel that now is the time to make a change.”
It all looked very different in December when Rosenior signed a new three-year contract but Ilicali is believed to have become alarmed when Hull went six games without a win from late February. They have recorded only two home wins in 2024. Accordingly the owner was not swayed when Rosenior finished third in the division’s manager-of-the-season awards behind Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna and Leeds’s Daniel Farke.
Hull’s ambitions were dented by the lengthy absence of Liam Delap, a key forward signed on loan from Manchester City, after a knee injury in early January. Significantly, Rosenior emphasised his squad’s inexperience in his final interview in charge last weekend. “It’s been a positive season but we couldn’t quite get over the line,’ he said. “Part of me not quite expected it [missing out on the playoffs] but I knew we would be a team that would have to learn on the job. Sometimes you can watch us play and we make so many young decisions. We are so fearless in the way we play. It’s our biggest strength but sometimes our biggest weakness.”
