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In a world where football chairmen sack managers at will, you have to wonder how Grant McCann is still Hull City manager.
Having lost 19 of their last 20 Championship league games, which including an 8-0 mauling to Wigan and suffering relegation to League One last season, it almost seemed an inevitability that the Tigers would part way with McCann and look for a fresh start in the third division this campaign.
To almost everyone’s surprise, he retained his job and would be tasked with leading the club back to the Championship at the first time of asking. But why? I guess we’ll never know.
Since the Allam family took over the club in 2010, they have only sacked four managers in almost ten years which, compared to some other clubs, is a pretty good record. Many other bosses have left the club by their own will in that time, including the likes of Steve Bruce, Nigel Adkins and Nigel Pearson, mainly citing the club’s lack of ambition. But, for all their faults, perhaps patience is something that the Hull owners do have.
Since their relegation, Hull have won seven of their nine games with their two defeats coming against Fleetwood and Peterborough, two sides expected to be towards the top of League One. The Tigers currently sit second, just a point off current leaders Lincoln.
They’ve kept six clean sheets in those nine matches which, when you remember that they conceded eight in one game back in July, is an exceptional turnaround. It’s usually extremely tough to change the mindset of a team that just gets used to losing games, but that’s exactly what McCann seems to have done.
One factor that has undoubtedly helped with this is the 40-year-old’s knowledge of League One. Having previously played and coached in this division, he’s certainly no stranger to the third tier.
As a manager, he spent one-and-a-half seasons as Peterborough boss in this league, finishing 11th in his only full season with Posh. He was then appointed Doncaster boss and guided them to the League One Play-Offs, before losing in the semi-finals to eventual winners Charlton. Admittedly, it’s not an outstanding record, but having managed over 100 games at this level, it undoubtedly helps.
Along with his experience of the league, the signings he has made are also familiar with playing at this level. Richie Smallwood (80 appearances in League One before signing), Hakeeb Adelakun (120), Lewie Coyle (117), Josh Emmanuel (72), Mallik Wilks (46), Greg Docherty (41) and Alfie Jones (30) were all brought in in the summer, with three promotions between them to boot.
Sacking McCann would have, in most people’s opinion, been the right thing to do after their horrific run of results and the subsequent relegation to League One. So, perhaps, finally, the Hull board’s poor decision making has turned out to be a good thing.
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