London: It’s not often that a manager improves his reputation in a season where his team is relegated.
Marco Silva did just that — and he can expect to have plenty of suitors in the next few months.
The 39-year-old Portuguese coach was hired by Hull in January with the cash-strapped and up-for-sale club in last place in the Premier League. Staying up, he said, would be a “miracle,” and it proved to be beyond him, with Hull’s fate sealed with one game still to play following a 4-0 loss at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
That only tells half the story.
Taking into account only Premier League points accrued since the day Silva was hired, Hull would be in mid-table and punching well above their weight. He was unbeaten at home in nine games until a morale-sapping 2-0 loss to last-place Sunderland last week, and his team played with an organisation and cohesiveness not shown in the first half of the season.
“After the new manager arrived,” Hull goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic said late on Sunday, “the players began to believe again.”
It wasn’t enough, though. Hull were in too much of a mess for one man to repair in four months.
Off the field, fans were disgruntled because of ticket prices and a lack of off-season investment in the playing squad by the club’s owners — the Allam family — who didn’t want to spend any cash while they attempted to sell up.
Within weeks of his arrival, Silva saw key midfielders Robert Snodgrass and Jake Livermore sold and he could only strengthen what would soon be an eclectic squad by bringing in players on loan and rejects from bigger clubs.
The fact that Silva managed to keep alive Hull’s survival hopes until a week before the end of the season is a tribute to his work.
“We started to lose in preseason,” Silva said after the Palace game, “when we were making our preparation.”
Silva, of course, wasn’t there at that time. Steve Bruce was, and he quit three weeks before the season because of a lack of support from the board following the team’s promotion from the second-tier Championship. Hull could barely fill their bench for their opening league game in mid-August, which they actually won at home against defending champions Leicester.
“You need to prepare better,” Silva added, appearing to speak directly to the owners.
Silva said he will sit down with Hull chairman Assem Allam before the last game of the season, at home against Tottenham on Sunday, and discuss where to go from here. It’s seems unlikely that Silva will be at the KCOM Stadium next season.
Southampton and Watford are reportedly interested in ‘mini-Mourinho’. West Ham could also be if they decide to release manager Slaven Bilic. Away from the Premier League, Inter Milan have a vacancy and have also been linked with Silva.
Relegation can be a stain on a coach’s resume. But in Silva’s case, maybe not.
