Acun Ilicali manager search twist emerges at Hull City after shock Ruben Selles sack | OneFootball

The Tigers confirmed on Thursday evening that Selles had left the club.

Hull City are swaying towards appointing another foreign manager after sacking Spaniard Ruben Selles, according to reports.

The man who helped Hull to achieve survival, albeit it got quite tight and nervous towards the end, has been sacked by the club. The Tigers announced their decision to part ways with Selles, as well as assistant head coach James Oliver-Pearce and first-team coach Tobias Loveland, late on Thursday, following heavy reporting stating that the move was indeed imminent.

A statement on the club's website about why the 41-year-old was dismissed said: "Following a thorough review of football operations after a challenging campaign, the club feels a change in leadership is necessary to move the team forward in line with our ambitions."

Hull were reportedly considering a change right after their final game of the season - a 1-1 draw with Portsmouth which confirmed their safety.

Hull City manager search twist emerges

BBC Humberside's Mike White has stated that the Tigers may be leaning towards getting another manager of an abroad background. Their last two bosses - Selles and Tim Walter - have been non-British. Liam Rosenior, who preceded Walter, was the last manager Hull had from this country.

White also said, prior to Selles' official sacking, that City don't have a replacement for the Spaniard in waiting. It was a similar story when owner Acun Ilicali pulled the plug on Rosenior, who has since gone on to coach a successful season with Ligue 1 side RC Strasbourg.

They had been linked with Tony Mowbray, who was sacked by West Bromwich Albion not long before the end of this campaign, but there have also been conflicting reports which stated that the 61-year-old wasn't on their radar.

They may not have any succession plan in place, but, according to Mike McGrath of The Telegraph, there will be a number of the Tigers' Championship rivals who are considering appointing Hull's now former boss. Before Selles was binned, clubs had already "registered concrete interest" in the ex-Reading manager, as per the journalist.

Hull must now start to learn from their past mistakes

The sacking of Selles showed the club hierachy's unwillingness to heed the advice of the past and not get rid of a promising, young manager, even if their lofty expectations were not met.

Who knows, they could be proven right about Selles in the long run, or maybe they will look foolish again this time next year. What's done is done now, though, and they still have the chance to learn from one of their previous errors.

Last summer was a very chaotic one for the Tigers, with the departure of Rosenior and their two best players, Jacob Greaves and Jaden Philogene. This instability had a massive impact on the campaign, and was part of the reason for their slide down the table.