Hull City are reportedly set to axe manager Grant McCann and replace him with a former Rangers player following the club’s takeover.
According to Hull Live on Sunday night, the final match of McCann’s tenure at the MKM Stadium was Saturday’s 1-0 victory at promotion hopefuls Bournemouth.
They state that he would be relieved of his duties at a meeting on Monday morning with Ilicali and director of football Tan Kesler, bringing an end to his two-and-a-half-year reign as head coach.
Hull Live also claimed he took training on Monday and that his exit would be revealed on Tuesday as Acun Ilicali makes changes after his £30m takeover.
🐯 Former Rangers striker Shota Arveladze is set to be appointed as the new Hull City manager.#HCAFC pic.twitter.com/MvThei08Ui
— Football League Zone (@TheFLZone) January 24, 2022
48 year old former Ajax, Rangers and Trabzonspor player Shota Arveladze is the man said to be McCann’s replacement.
Arveladze, a former Georgian international has previously managed the likes of Kayserispor, Kasımpaşa, Trabzonspor, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Pakhtakor Tashkent while also worked as assistant to manager to Louis van Gaal, Ronald Koeman and Dick Advocaat at AZ.
Some may be surprised by McCann’s departure, with the club 10 points clear of the Championship relegation zone, but it’s understood Ilicali’s decision is one which has been made over a period of time.
In light of the recent news, fans have looked back at Grant’s interview and it seemed clear that he knew he was likely to be replaced.
“It’s a very tough place to come is Bournemouth – they’d only lost twice here this season,” said McCann.
“First half, we had to ride our luck a little bit. We couldn’t get to grips with (Emiliano) Marcondes and (Philip) Billing in the positions they were picking up.
“We had to change it a little bit tactically, particularly at half-time, and got Honeyman around (Jefferson) Lerma, and Keane (Lewis-Potter) and Tom Eaves to play in between their centre-backs and full-backs.
“We asked Randell (Williams) and Ryan to be a bit more aggressive and the centre-halves to be a bit more aggressive against Billing and Marcondes, which freed up Richie (Smallwood) and Doc (Greg Docherty) a little bit. I felt them two got control of the game in the second half.
“We were a bit more aggressive, we stopped them playing out. And when they did play out, we were around that ball much better than we were in the first half.
“They were strong first half, they played very, very well, but we coped with most things, Nathan made some fantastic saves and then we got a really good goal to take the three points.”
“Defensively this season, we’ve been strong,” McCann added.
“We conceded quite a lot of goals in the early part of the season from set-plays. In open play, all season, we’ve been quite strong defensively.
“It’s two clean sheets in the space of a few days, against second and third in the division, against one centre-forward who has got 20 goals (Blackburn’s Ben Brereton Diaz) and another who has got 19 (Solanke).
“I’m really pleased with our three young centre-halves (Di’Shon Bernard, Sean McLoughlin and Jacob Greaves) who have come through the week very well.
“Absolutely unbelievable from our fans today,” he said. “Fantastic support, we can’t thank them enough. I’m just pleased we’ve sent them home happy with three points.”
Four days ago, he said: “All we can do is to try and focus the boys. Hopefully these things (speculation about his future) will be answered in the next few days.
“It’s very hard for us to control that (the future under Ilicali). There’s nothing we can do.
“It’s very hard for me to answer these questions. I’ve enjoyed my time here and if it’s longer I’ll be delighted. If it’s not, that’s business.
“I’ve not met him (Ilicali) as yet. I’m sure that will happen within the next couple of days.
“I do think the players do need a bit of help. It’s been tough but this group of players have got a real mentality and a real character.
“This is a massive football club. We are looking forward to seeing what’s next.”
Shota Arveladze’s playing career:
Youth career
1987–1990 – Dinamo Tbilisi
Senior career
1990–1991 – Martve Tbilisi – 30 games (33 goals)
1991–1994 – Dinamo Tbilisi – 67 games (51 goals)
1993–1994 → Trabzonspor (loan) – 18 games (15 goals)
1995–1997 – Trabzonspor – 76 games (46 goals)
1997–2001 – Ajax – 96 games (55 goals)
2001–2005 – Rangers – 95 games (44 goals)
2005–2007 – AZ – 60 games (36 goals)
2007–2008 – Levante – 4 games (0 goals)
Total – 426 games (258 goals)
National team
1992–2007 – Georgia – 61 games (26 goals)
Shota Arveladze’s managerial career:
Teams managed
2008–2010 AZ (assistant)
2010–2012 Kayserispor
2012–2015 Kasımpaşa
2015 Trabzonspor
2016–2017 Maccabi Tel Aviv
2017–2020 Pakhtakor Tashkent
Kayserispor – 29 June 2010 until 3 October 2012 – 86 games, 33 wins, 16 draws, 37 defeats, 38.37 win %
Kasımpaşa – 8 October 2012 until 13 March 2015 – 91 games, 33 wins, 28 draws, 30 defeats, 36.26 win %
Trabzonspor – 3 July 2015 until 11 November 2015 – 15 games, 6 wins, 3 draws, 6 defeats, 40.00 win %
Maccabi Tel Aviv – 16 June 2016 until 4 January 2017 – 30 games, 16 wins, 7 draws, 7 defeats, 53.33 win %
Pakhtakor – 23 June 2017 until 21 December 2020 – 124 games, 90 wins, 18 draws, 16 defeats, 72.58 win %
Career totals – 346 games, 178 wins, 72 draws, 96 defeats, 51.45 win %
HONOURS:
Dinamo Tbilisi
Umaglesi Liga: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94
Georgian Cup: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94
Trabzonspor
Turkish Cup: 1994–95
Turkish Super Cup: 1995
Ajax
Eredivisie: 1997–98
KNVB Cup: 1997–98, 1998–99
Rangers
Scottish Premier League: 2002–03, 2004–05
Scottish Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
Scottish League Cup: 2002–03
Individual
CIS Cup top goalscorer: 1993
Turkish Footballer of the Year: 1994
Georgian Footballer of the Year: 1994, 1998, 2007
Turkish Cup top scorer: 1994–95
Süper Lig top scorer: 1995–96
SPL Player of the Month: September 2003
Manager
Pakhtakor Tashkent
Uzbekistan Super League: 2019, 2020
Uzbekistan Cup: 2019, 2020
Uzbekistan League Cup: 2019
Twitter users reacted with Hull City set to axe their manager Grant McCann and replace him with former Rangers player Shota Arveladze…
@superadd13: Wrong decision.
@ExileAryui: Why mcann is not the guy to get us the PL and deffo not the guy to keep us in the PL if we got there. Everyone one is forgetting about all the mistakes he’s made in the championship, if he wasn’t forced to change the system we would still be playing the same old and losing!
@nick14saunders: Harsh on McCann and I just hope it doesn’t disrupt the dressing room, but will back the new manager just like always! Be very interesting to see who his back room staff are, this is going to be some ride!!!
@JoPSmith25: I personally would have given Grant his chance, Acun hasn’t, that’s his choice, now we need to wish Grant all the best and move on! In Acun we trust
@AlexPDouglas: Would have personally given him a chance but if he’s got a vision, then he’ll want his own man to back in the market which it looks like he is doing.
@BCFCJD: Massively bizarre that he was kept in charge during that dreadful spell they had a couple years ago only to be sacked when he finally gets them looking comfortable in the Championship
@gmc_63: Presumably winning at Bournemouth 1-0 wasn’t deemed good enough? Absolutely ridiculous decision, though if you look at the transfer rumours no surprise. Looks like half of Turkey is lined up to join them this week.
@Mr_Marsiyagy: Let’s face it most city fans wouldn’t be up in arms if we hadn’t won the last two games. It’s football and as much as it Seems harsh to sack GM now it was always going to happen.
@vic_amber: Well we thought it’d be interesting under a new owner – first big decision made. Strap yourselves in! Credit to Grant for bouncing back and making us title winners last season. also for the work he’s done with the young players. Wish him well. #hcafc
@SWood18: These plans have clearly been in place for a long time, assume the new signings will be the same, planned a few months a go by the new man. It would be fucking mental to just knock them on the head cause of a couple of wins. Exciting times. #hcafc
@Powl87Jp: Surely this is exciting times for city after what we’ve been through under allams? Potentially 7.5 million could be spent on 2 players next week. New manager aswel surely there’s no negativity from the fans??? Surely? #hcafc
Welcome big man. Good luck! Wishing you the best. https://t.co/aEitlcStNb pic.twitter.com/IkK9sDowAU
— TigerAbroad 🎗 (@TigerAbroad) January 23, 2022

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