‘My Tigers will represent the proud values of Hull’: Rosenior
‘I UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS CITY IS ABOUT’: Liam Rosenior. Picture credit: Hull City
By Simon Bristow
Liam Rosenior’s Hull City will represent the Hull values of “honesty”, “integrity” and “hard work”, he said, as he prepares to make an emotional home debut as manager on Saturday.
The 38-year-old former Tigers player was unveiled as City’s new head coach nine days ago, and he has now revealed just how deep his personal and family connections to the club are.
During a glittering five-years as a City player, which included the club’s highest ever league finish in the Premier League and its first FA Cup Final, fans delighted in those connections by singing “his nana’s from Hull”.
Now back in charge as a highly-rated young manager, Rosenior revealed that not only was his late grandmother from Hull - she moved from London 30 years ago - she was also a Hull City season ticket holder. And as a ten-year-old boy, the future first-teamer used to stand on the terraces at Boothferry Park as a fan after pestering his uncle to take him to games.
Rosenior has made a solid start to his managerial career, picking up a creditable draw at Millwall after having a player sent off, and a thrilling 3-2 away win at Cardiff to give him a very good four points from his first two games in charge.
‘I’M HERE TO BE SUCCESSFUL’: Liam Rosenior
The Tigers face Paul Ince’s Reading at the MKM Stadium tomorrow, in what is expected to be an emotional occasion in front of a bumper crowd, with the fans getting their first chance to welcome Rosenior back.
Asked how special it would be, Rosenior told the pre-match press conference: “It is for me personally. Obviously you guys know about my connection with the club, with family. You know, a year ago, pretty much to the day, my grandmother passed away. She was a season ticket holder here before I even played, so…
“But when you’re a manager, and when you’re a player, you take that out and focus on the job in hand, and I’ll be even happier and more emotional if we have three points in the bag on Saturday afternoon.”
Recalling his childhood links to the Tigers, while remaining focused on the future, Rosenior said: “When I was a little boy I remember I used to go and watch Hull at Boothferry Park when I was ten, for fun when I was up here for summer holidays, and it’s amazing how these things work out where I’m now manager of the football club.
“And yeah, it’s a great honour for me to be manager but I’m not here for that, I’m here to be successful as well. I’ll be really disappointed if in my time here it’s not a successful time for the club. So that’s my biggest focus on enjoying this, it’s to make sure we win games of football in the long-term.
“So it’s great and it’s an emotional occasion for me and my family, but it drives me to be successful.”
Asked if he had any special memories of Boothferry Park as a boy, Rosenior said: “I do, yeah. My uncle Rob, he hates football, and every summer holiday my mum would bring me up here to spend time with my cousins and my nan, and he loves speedway but he hated the football, and I used to push him and push him to take me to Boothferry Park and stand on the terraces and watch them play.”
Those years have not only given him an insight into the club, but also to the city itself, he said.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “When I came back it was then called the KC Stadium, and now the MKM, but the benefits of all of that time is I understand what the people from Hull represent and what the city is about. It’s about honesty, it’s about hard work and integrity, and that’s something that I really want to bring, so whether we win, lose or draw, I want those eleven players on the pitch to represent the club in the right way, which is giving one hundred per cent and not taking their foot off the gas.”
Rosenior said he was “delighted” with the players since his arrival - City were 21st in the Championship after two straight defeats but have now climbed to 19th - but he played down any personal impact he has had.
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“It’s not the impact that I’ve had,” he said. “I‘m just a part of a very big group and I think loads of credit needs to be given to Andy Dawson [caretaker manager before Rosenior’s appointment] and Barry Richardson and Beri [Pardo, head of performance strategy], because they stabilised the group in a difficult time.
“And I’ve actually come in at a time where I can see what they’ve done, and I’m very similar in the way I see the game; that’s why I’m working with the guys, so it’s not about me, it’s about all of us, staff, players, being in it together and the reaction so far since I’ve been in has been really, really good.”
The Tigers have failed in their appeal to have Oscar’s three-match ban overturned for his sending off in the goalless draw at Millwall, Rosenior said. “It’s a shame he’s not available but we’ve got a good enough squad to get by,” he added.
City have no new injury worries ahead of the visit of the Royals, who are two points better off in 13th place.
The game will be the Tigers’ last before the season pauses for the Qatar World Cup. The squad will be taking a warm-weather break in Turkey, which is expected to feature some friendly matches with opponents to be announced.