Hull a tough job for Nigel Adkins, says Don Goodman
Friday 8 December 2017 09:15, UK
Don Goodman believes that new Hull boss Nigel Adkins has got a difficult job on his hands at a club that appears very unhappy behind the scenes.
Adkins was appointed in place of Leonid Slutsky this week, who left the club 20th in the Sky Bet Championship table after just four wins from 20 games this season.
Speaking on EFL Matters on Thursday night, Goodman said: "When a manager comes in it's invariably because a club aren't doing very well, so confidence might be a little bit low. With the squad they've got they shouldn't be down in 20th and in a relegation scrap.
"I go right back to when Steve Bruce got them promoted through the play-offs and then chose to walk away rather than manage a Premier League club. It was a huge statement and tells you that behind the scenes, with the ownership and the conflict with the fans, it's not a happy club. That might be reflected in the league table."
Goodman and presenter David Prutton were joined on the show by The Sun's EFL reporter Tom Barclay, who said that Adkins has plenty to prove after his last two jobs, at Reading and Sheffield United, ended disappointingly.
"Nigel Adkins has a lot of experience at this level but perhaps still has something to prove having not really been in the game for awhile and with how his last two jobs went," said Barclay.
"Leonid Slutsky was perhaps too honest at times. They were good going forward [under him] but defensively they looked naive at times. Four wins in 20 games suggests perhaps it was time for a change."
While Goodman added: "You only ever know in time whether an appointment is [a good one]. They've tried the left field glamorous foreign coach approach and it hasn't worked out for them, so now they seem to have gone for somebody who knows the division and is a safer pair of hands.
"Often that will work out in a positive way."
