"No disrespect to Hull City" - Acun Ilicali factor cited as pundit raises Mark Robins doubt | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer spoke exclusively to FLW about Mark Robins, who is a potential candidate to replace Tim Walter at Hull City

Pundit and former England international Carlton Palmer has downplayed the prospect of Mark Robins succeeding Tim Walter at Hull City, with the name of the ex-Coventry City boss having been thrown into the mix on Wednesday evening.

Hull City are on the search for the fourth permanent manager of the Acun Ilicali era after parting ways with Walter less than 24 hours ago.

From the outside looking in, it very much appears as though the controversial Tigers chairman is looking to get a new permanent hire in through the door as soon as possible. According to recent reports, ex-Fulham and Sheffield United boss Slavisa Jokanovic is currently the "leading contender" to be appointed, having been out of work for more than a year following his departure from Dinamo Moscow in May 2023.

Meanwhile, as per a report from Alan Nixon - via Patreon - Hull want to enter talks with Robins, who is also available after being controversially dismissed by Championship rivals Coventry at the start of this month and is likely to be a considered candidate at the very least for almost any second-tier side looking for a change in the dugout.

Carlton Palmer's honest Mark Robins, Hull City verdict amid Acun Ilicali factor

While Palmer believes that Robins would represent a real coup if Hull could successfully broker the appointment, he sees little chance of it happening as the manner of Rosenior's sacking, which was widely scrutinised, could deter the 54-year-old from making the move to the MKM Stadium.

According to Palmer, better opportunities may crop up for Robins further down the line and, given Hull's lowly league position at present, that claim is difficult to dispute.

"Hull City have sacked their manager Tim Walter," Palmer exclusively told Football League World.

"Again, isn't it a case of 'be careful what you wish for?' Liam Rosenior was doing a fantastic job and they sacked him, now they've sacked Tim Walter who was struggling in the league.

"Now, it's reported that Acun Ilicali is interested in Mark Robins. Of course Hull will be interested, Robins has just been sacked by Coventry which is another contentious sacking after the job he did in difficult circumstances.

"In my opinion, any Championship club who manage to get Mark Robins would land a coup. I think the way Ilicali has gone with the treatment of his managers [sacking Rosenior], people would be wary about taking the job.

"I don't know whether it might be a bit early for Robins. I wonder if he'll take Christmas off and have a bit of time with his family, he's been in the game a long time and we know what it's like, there are going to be other opportunities that come up and maybe better opportunities too, no disrespect to Hull City.

"The chairman is desperate for Hull to do well but when they were doing well and he had a manager in place who was playing the style of football that you would like to see as supporters, he sacked him. So I don't know whether Mark Robins will just sit back at the moment and say 'right, maybe I'll have a little break and wait and see what comes up'.

"As I say, no direspect to Hull but I think there will be better opportunities that will come up for Mark Robins as time goes on."

Tim Walter sacked by Hull City

Unpopular boss Walter was relieved of his duties on Wednesday evening, following a meeting earlier on in the day which had been held by the Tigers board to assess the increasingly dire situation.

The former Hamburg manager, who was described as a "number one target" for Ilicali after the contentious decision was made to sack Rosenior just days after finishing the 2023/24 Championship campaign in seventh place and just three points off the play-offs, failed to get going at Hull and there was little shock when he finally left his post, bringing a brief and largely-miserable spell in charge to a close.

Whereas Hull fell narrowly short of a top-six finish with Rosenior, who was adjudged to have underachieved from some quarters after having the likes of Jaden Philogene, Tyler Morton, Fabio Carvalho and Liam Delap at his disposal at the time, they've been competing at the wrong end of the table this term.

Walter won just three of his 17 league games in charge of the Tigers and all of those wins came successively as Hull briefly appeared to be turning a corner after seeing off Stoke City, Cardiff and QPR but failed to kick on and sustain their form.

He left Hull on Wednesday with the club placed 22nd in the Championship after Tuesday night's 2-0 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday, which ultimately convinced Ilicali that a change was needed.