Hull City owner reveals why he sacked Liam Rosenior five months after new contract

Hull City 's owner has revealed he dismissed Liam Rosenior because of the team's style of play.

Despite a strong season that saw the Tigers narrowly miss out on a spot in the Championship play-offs, Rosenior was unexpectedly let go by the club's Turkish owner, Acun Ilicali, this week. The owner, who had given Rosenior a new long-term contract just last December, has spoken candidly about the issues that arose during the latter half of the season, leading to this decision.

Speaking to talkSPORT on Wednesday morning, Ilicali expressed his desire for a more offensive approach to the game. He said via Hull Live : "When you have a difference of thinking from the coach's side and the ownership and the football mind of the team, it is not good for the team to go for a long-term journey.

"Liam is a fantastic guy and a very good coach. I think he's such a nice person but at the end of the day, we have to decide what is best for the club."

Despite Hull netting 14 goals in their final seven matches of the season, Ilicali still wants a more forward-thinking style of play. He added: "Liam has a football philosophy, which I completely respect. But the football I want to see in my team is not the football style like Liam is playing."

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Liam Rosenior was sacked by Hull despite almost leading the club to the play-offs
(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA)

When questioned by host Jim White as to why he offered Rosenior a new contract midway through the season, Ilicali explained that things began to shift from January onwards. He revealed: "The separation started after January. In January, we brought in offensive players. The football mind of the team is making the recruitment an attacking style.

"You have to find a coach with the same mentality as the recruitment. Before January, we were in the same place with Liam. After that... I want to jump on my seat watching the team. I want the crowd to get more and more excited.

"To summarise, I think Liam is a very good coach with a certain football philosophy, but we want a very good coach with an attacking style of mentality. That is why we went different ways."

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