‘Leave my family alone’: McCann reacts after son targeted on social media

‘I’LL CONTINUE TO WORK HARD FOR THE CLUB’: Grant McCann. Picture credit: Hull City

Hull City boss Grant McCann says he can understand fans venting their frustration at him, but it is “ridiculous” that his teenage son has been targeted on social media.

The Tigers left the field after the 2-1 home defeat to Peterborough on Wednesday to boos and chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” directed at McCann.

The result saw City slip back into the bottom three of the Sky Bet Championship, in a season that has yielded just two wins from 13 games.

The Tigers, who were promoted last season as League One champions, head to ninth-place Luton tomorrow desperately hoping for a win.

Asked about the criticism at a pre-match press conference today, McCann said: “Obviously it does affect you and it affects the players as well. But it is what it is. You know, that’s football.

“Fans are allowed to vent their frustrations and voice their opinions at football games; that’s what it’s about.

“But it’s disappointing, probably for me, when … you know, I’ve said to you before, I don’t see social media any more, I’ve deleted it off my phone and stuff like that, so it’s probably kept me a wee bit more sane.

“But what’s disappointing is when my boy, my kids, are getting messages and stuff on Instagram; a 15-year-old kid, about me, is, it’s just ridiculous, really.

AGONY: City slumped to a home defeat against Peterborough on Wednesday. Picture credit: Hull City

“But we’ve been here before, I’ve been here before, and I‘ll continue to work hard for this football club until I’m told otherwise, and my staff will and my players will.”

He added: “As a family, we’ve come through bad times before; obviously at this football club in the first season, and seen the dark times there, and then seen the good times with the promotion.

“At the minute it can seem like we’re so far away. People can look and go, ‘Hull City, they’ve no chance’, but if anyone has come to see us play this season they can see what we’re trying to do. They can see the performance levels are there, we’re just not getting the results, we’re just not getting the breaks at the minute.

“And it will come, I’m a firm believer in that. I’m a firm believer in if you continue to stick to what you know, and how we know we can play, like we’ve shown for nearly every game this season, it will change.”

Hull-born defender Lewie Coyle was asked if the “stick” the manager was getting was affecting the players.

Coyle said: “No. At the end of the day that’s football. We as a group, and the manager included, we understand the frustrations of the football club. We’re not where we want to be, so certainly the fans aren’t going to happy neither.”

Coyle said there was an “unbelievable togetherness” at the club last season, and “that’s not something that’s just gonna disappear because time’s are getting tough”.

‘WE HAVE TO STICK TOGETHER’: Lewie Coyle. Picture credit: Hull City

He added: “We all have to pull in the same direction and pull together and come through the other side. When the chips are down you have to all pull together, all stick together, and never jump ship.”

City have been dealt another blow with key player Tom Huddlestone expected be out for four to six weeks with a recurrence of a hamstring injury. He was substituted at the half-hour mark in the defeat to Posh.

McCann described the news as a “kick in the teeth”, and said: “It’s a reccurence of the hamstring injury in a different area.

“Tom’s felt good over the last ten to twelve days, so again it’s a kick in the teeth for us, a kick in the teeth for Tom. He’s a bit frustrated, obviously seen him yesterday morning, and we’ll see how he recovers. We’re probably looking at a timescale of maybe four to six weeks.”

Aside from a calf problem for goalkeeper Nathan Baxter, City have no other injury worries.

McCann has long maintained that performances have been better than the results this season.

Asked about the performance against Peterborough, the Tigers chief said: “Well, statistically, the best performance of the season. Physically, the best performance of the season. But, we didn’t win the game.”

He added: “We felt frustrated after the game because we felt the performance level was good. All season, we’ve been in every single game; the little breaks just probably haven’t went our way.”

McCann said 10 of the 19 goals City have conceded this season have come from set pieces, which the team were “still trying to get better at”.

The club are due to hold an open training session at the MKM Stadium next week.