"Catastrophic" - Don Goodman issues brutal Tim Walter, Hull City verdict | OneFootball

Walter is severely under pressure at the MKM Stadium after a wretched recent run

Don Goodman believes that making a swift decision on Tim Walter's future at Hull City would be a big admission of error from Turkish owner, Acun Ilicali.

The Tigers chairman moved swiftly to appoint the 48-year-old in early June after dismissing former head coach Liam Rosenior just days after the 2023/24 regular Championship season reached its climax.

It was believed that Walter would bring a unique style of play to East Yorkshire, with the hopes that it would yield success and see City competing at the top end of the second tier once more after finishing seventh last season - the club's highest league finish since 2017.

However, in the first 15 league games of his tenure, the pressure continues to mount on the former Hamburg SV boss after a run of no wins in seven, which has led to severe doubts over his future at the club.

Don Goodman "sees no evidence" of Tim Walter's exciting brand of football

Hull head into the international break off the back of a 2-1 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion at the MKM Stadium - an encounter which also continued a run of just one clean sheet so far this campaign.

Supporters had already made their feelings known to the German and his style of football in the 1-0 defeat to Oxford United last week, but it was revealed that Walter still had the full backing of Ilicali heading into Sunday's game.

However, a second straight defeat sees City level on points with the bottom three and only in 19th position by virtue of a better goal difference than Cardiff City, with Goodman stating that the Turkish businessman may need to bite the bullet to accept his own error of judgment.

“I heard Acun Ilıcalı backing Tim Walter last week but they're only out of the relegation zone on goal difference," Goodman began via Gambling Zone.

“Although there are some crazy rotations which see centre-backs ending up on the wing and midfielders in defence, there is little evidence that Walter is implementing the attacking and exciting brand of football that was promised by the owner when he was appointed," he added.

“Should Ilıcalı stick or twist? It depends if he thinks they can turn it around, as it looks like they'll end up in a relegation battle at this moment in time. If he was to sack Tim Walter, it would be an admission of making a catastrophic error of judgment."

“Ilıcalı said he didn't like Liam Rosenior's style of football but he dragged a team from a relegation battle to the brink of the play-offs. I would have to presume that Hull City would have more points and more wins if Liam Rosenior had been in charge. We'll never know but I'd put my money on it if I was a betting man," the pundit continued.

He concluded : “I thought it was a strange decision in the summer and it's not looking good at the minute. It's a shame as Acun Ilıcalı cares and is desperate to see Hull play in the Premier League but his decision to sack Liam Rosenior and hire Tim Walter is not looking like a good one at this moment in time.”

Tim Walter's Hull City future remains up in the air

It has recently been reported by TEAMtalk that Ilicali and the Tigers' hierarchy will be holding "crunch talks" this week regarding Walter's future, which is currently unknown.

The German can count himself largely unfortunate to have lost two extremely impressive summer acquisitions in the form of Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi to season-ending ACL injuries.

But, the truth of the matter is that many have been left unimpressed by a style of play which was previously branded as 'Heart-Attack Football' and see no signs of imminent improvement.

Walter was previously believed to have been under the threat of losing his job, just a month into his Championship venture, prior to recording three successive victories against Stoke City, Cardiff City and Queens Park Rangers - the club's only successes so far this season.

Whilst there have been rays of light in an otherwise dismal start, such as the individual form of the highly-rated Charlie Hughes, Hull's expansive nature has so often left the defense overworked.

Furthermore, there has been a distinct lack of quality within the final third, with 10 of Hull's 16 goals coming in their three victories, although Joao Pedro has done all he can to turn the tide in that regard with two goals in three outings.

It remains to be seen whether Walter is in the dugout for a pivotal clash against Luton Town on November 23rd, and if he is, an imminent change in form would be the expectation.

Failure to do so would only increase the pressure on Ilicali to act in the best interests of the club, with the likes of Steven Schumacher already mentioned among the City fanbase as an ideal replacement.