Troubled Tigers look for more than cold Turkey

Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has reassured fans he is not selling the troubled EFL club.

But the Turkey-based billionaire – known as the Turkish Simon Cowell – has admitted mistakes after more than three years in charge and promised to step back from his role at his beloved Fenerbahçe, in Istanbul, in order to concentrate on Hull City.

Ilicali took control of the Tigers in January 2022, but despite promising fans a return to the Premier League, his reign has been beset by repeated managerial replacements, financial difficulties and a recent transfer embargo.

New manager Sergej Jakirovic and his first team squad are currently with Ilicali at their pre-season camp in Turkey, where they have been joined by 30 supporters who won an all-expenses paid trip through club sponsors Correndon Airlines.

And earlier this week Ilicali, who owns a Turkish TV station which includes the country’s leading talent show, met the local media – and one Hull-based reporter – to face questions on the club’s future.

“When we give an interview in Turkey, it comes out differently in England,” he said. 

“When we give an interview in England, it comes out differently in Turkey. 

“This is probably due to the distance. 

“I have never made a statement that I will sell the club. 

“Such a question was asked and the answer was that it was normal that there was interest from the club because the current value of our squad is over 50 million euros, it was around 20 million euros when we arrived. 

“This will go up a little more. We think it can potentially double. 

“We said it is normal that there is interest and maybe it is more attractive in Turkey. 

“Let me answer once again; I have no thought of selling the club at the moment. I am very happy. I hope we will have good success. 

“We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. 

“Years ago I didn’t think I would buy the club, and now I don't think I will sell it. There are surprises in life, but right now I have no plans to sell the club.”

Fireworks greeted Ilicali when he arrived at the MKM Stadium in January 2022 to replace the unpopular Hassam family, who had fallen out with Hull City supporters – and just about everyone else in the city.

But despite promises to return to the Premier League, the team assembled – with a little help from Turkey and eastern Europe – has been competing at the wrong end of the EFL Championship. 

They survived relegation back to League One on the last day of last season – before Ilicali sacked his third head coach, Rubén Sellés.

Hiring and firing his managers has become a feature and a hindrance of the Ilicali era.

Initially, after sacking Grant McCann, who had won promotion during COVID, he hired Rangers legend Shota Arveladze, who’d enjoyed limited success in Turkey. The Georgian was sacked after less than a year and is now back in Turkey, managing Kasimpasa.

His replacement, Liam Rosenior, looked like an astute appointment, but the popular young English coach – whose grandmother, fans liked to remind him, was from Hull – also lasted less than a year, despite guiding the team to their highest league position for eight years. 

But Ilicali, who funded the loan signings of Liam Delap and Jadon Philogene, knew – like Rosenior and Hull fans – that a real chance had slipped away. 

And he wasn’t prepared to keep faith with a head coach who, now at Strasbourg, narrowly missed out on European qualification last season after having Champions League qualification in their sights.

Meanwhile, Rosenior’s replacement last summer was a disaster. Mouthy German coach Tim Walter was lucky to survive the fourth months and 18 games (three wins) – and his replacement, Sellés, was hired just in time, after a promising spell with Reading, to keep Hull up on the last day of last season. A week later, he was sacked.

Jakirović, pictured below, is another gamble. The 48-year-old, a five-time Bosnia and Herzegovina international who played for 19 clubs, has had mixed success across seven managerial roles in Croatia, Turkey, and his home country. He is no stranger to relegation battles, having secured safety with his last club, Kayserispor, last season.

He arrives in East Yorkshire with significant off-the-field issues, including the transfer embargo, imposed by the EFL until the end of next summer’s transfer window, over an unpaid loan bill for Aston Villa’s Louie Barry. They cannot pay a fee for a player until then, so must rely on more loans, free transfers – and favours from Turkey, no doubt.

A defiant Ilicali insists the club will thrive, not just survive. He and his senior staff are confident the appeal they have launched against the embargo will be successful.

“Let me give you some information about our transfer situation,” he said this week.

“We can take players on loan and free of charge. We cannot give money to a club and make a transfer, but I have a dream that Turkish footballers will make us proud there. We cannot go out of logic for this.

“We took Ozan Tufan there, today he is the favourite of the fans. He played perfectly and gave his all. The fans also love him very much. 

“Not every footballer will be successful. Abdülkadir was also very successful in his first season, after that, he couldn't play due to injury, but otherwise his quality is indisputable. Doğukan was injured a lot, unfortunately, we didn't get to see him. It would be nice if a Turkish footballer succeeded there with my team.”

Hull fans will also be pleased to hear that their owner will be stepping back from his duties closer to home in Istanbul.

A Fenerbahce diehard since birth, Ilicali is now the Istanbul club’s vice-president, which can be no easy task with colourful and controversial Jose Mourinho in charge.

But he conceded – to a rapt Turkish media audience – that his role may have affected Hull City’s season, adding: “I realised I’m not Superman. I thought I could handle it, but the extreme intensity at Fenerbahçe took up more of my time than I expected. 

“There were days when a 24-hour day turned into 17-18 hours of Fenerbahçe for me. There were instant crises, instant problems, many tasks. 

“I am happy and very proud to be the vice-president of Fenerbahce, but it affected the Hull City side. 

I spent the whole summer non-stop with Fenerbahce; it must have had an impact. 

“Life is about learning from mistakes, I don’t see my tenure at Fenerbahce as a mistake, don’t misunderstand me, but it is true that such a result came out.

“I’m proud to be working at Fenerbahce. I don’t want to analyse the past season, but if I have to talk about the next season, I don’t like to talk about the past right now, a good squad is being built. 

“Our president is making a great effort day and night. Good transfers have been made, are being made and will be made. I feel we will have a strong squad. 

“As a Fenerbahçe fan, I will always support the team. If our president asks me for anything, I’m always here. The important thing here is that hearts are one. I am a good Fenerbahce fan. I’m there when the team needs me, I’m proud of that. 

“Last year I was invited as a manager, I was proud of that. Right now, I’m in the stands as a fan and I will support until the end.”

Hull City fans have endured their fair share of difficult owners over the club’s 120-year history. The Hassam family are not the first to have been made some disastrous decisions before being driven out of the club; but Ilicali was supposed to be different – a saviour not a survivor. 

At least the 15 Hull supporters (and a guest each) who made the trip to Turkey will not be complaining about their owner’s future plans, or past performances.

Thanks to the club’s principal partners Corendon Airlines and Anex Tour, they travelled with the team on a Corendon Airlines chartered flight from Humberside Airport to Istanbul and enjoyed a week of luxury accommodation at the five-star Selectum City Ataşehir hotel. 

They fly home on Sunday after taking in training, two warm-up matches and a tour of Istanbul.

Iliccli said: “This is the fourth time I have invited our beautiful fans to Türkiye, and I am just as excited as the first time to create more memories together.

“Our fans have always given me so much love and it will be my privilege to welcome more of you to my home city for an unforgettable experience unique to Hull City.

“No other club engages supporters like we do, giving fans the chance to meet and travel with the players and coaching staff and watch the team up close.

“Together, we will share many special moments, kicking off the summer in style before embarking on a new season, when we will need everyone as one, striving towards the same goal.”

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