‘We’ll be aggressive from the start’: Sellés sets out Tigers ethos

LOOKING UP: New Hull City head coach Rubén Sellés, left, with chairman Acun Ilıcalı

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

New Hull City head coach Rubén Sellés has promised to come flying out of the blocks when he gets his Tigers career under way by being “aggressive”, “on the front foot”, and “dynamic and attacking” from the first minute.

He will have the perfect chance to give fans an early Christmas present by ending a six-game losing streak when he takes charge of his first game at home to Watford on Wednesday night.

Speaking at his first press conference as Tigers head coach today, the 41-year-old Spaniard said: “From the very beginning I’m going to attack every single game.”

Sellés, who arrived from League One Reading on Saturday, becomes City’s third manager in seven months and takes charge of a side low on confidence and propping up the Championship table in 24th place. They had finished seventh under Ex-Tiger Liam Rosenior last season.

But after the disastrous reign of the German Tim Walter, who was sacked at the end of November, the appointment of Sellés represents the chance of a reset at a pivotal point in the season.

He appeared at the press conference at the MKM Stadium alongside owner and chairman Acun Ilıcalı and Jared Dublin, who after joining the club as head of recruitment has now been promoted to sporting director.

With just three days to prepare for his first game, Sellés was realistic about the impact he can have in that time and said his initial priority was to “simplify the message” for the players.

He told reporters: “We need to be focused on the important things right now. We cannot change everything in one day. Our challenge in the first days and in the coming days is going to be to simplify our message and to build through the common points that the team has and that we have, so from those common points we can build together.

“Simplify the message, be honest, clear with the players and then working in the way we have been working because that’s why they brought us here.”

On the question of style – a sticking point under Rosenior and Walter – Sellés gave an answer that must have had Ilıcalı and supporters licking their lips.

He said: “I think we have a clear idea how to play the game. We’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to be vertical, we’re going to be front-foot and very dynamic and attacking in the counter-press.”

He also said his Hull City would have “an identity you can recognise”.

Asked for his assessment of the squad he has inherited, Sellés said: “Well I think the squad is more than capable of doing the things that we demand and to pick points [up] and to be out of the relegation zone and then go and try to achieve more than that. I think it’s a powerful squad.”

Ilıcalı was asked for his reflections as he approaches three years in charge.

“I enjoy it every moment, I enjoy it every minute” he said. “I enjoy it even when we lose because even though we lost so many games, in the streets when I walk, in the streets of this beautiful city, the fans still show me their love. They know we have the passion and you don’t always have success in football all the time.”

James Oliver-Pearce and Tobias Loveland have also joined City from Reading, becoming assistant head coach and first-team coach respectively.