The Tigers start their descent into the summer with two big games over the Easter weekend
In the final nine games of the Championship season, Hull City manager Liam Rosenior and his team are venturing into unknown territory that, should they make it all the way and earn promotion to the Premier League, may leave them inducted into the annals of Tigers legends.
Although City is not in the top six, they do have a game in hand over Norwich and have two games this important Easter weekend. The first is this afternoon against Stoke City in front of a sold-out MKM Stadium, and on Easter Monday evening they travel to Elland Road to play leaders Leeds United.
From the locker room, the Tigers’ only goal is to defeat the Canaries and earn the last play-off spot. Even though there is some internal pressure, the City manager is eager to seize the chance that is waiting for them.
Rosenior has pushed the team to not just take advantage of the opportunity, but also to enjoy the ride. Not since 2015–16 has a City team threatened to finish so high in the football pyramid, and we all know what occurred at the end of that season.
“And that’s why, for myself as a manager this is new for me,” he stated. “I adore it. I have always desired this. My dream job has always been management. Seeing all of the hard work we’ve put in over the last 18 months, and how we’ve grown this club from its current state—including recruitment, team identity, and style—makes me want to be a successful manager without a doubt. It was all for the now. Now that we’ve arrived at this point, let’s enjoy it,” the Tigers manager said to Hull Live.
“The worst case scenario would be to repeat the entire process and win the championship the following season. That truly is the worst scenario that can occur.
“Some of those players had aspirations of playing in the Premier League when they were little, and now they have the chance to fulfil those dreams.” I want us to focus on the bright side of things, and I also want the supporters—who were incredible at home against Leicester—to be excited.
“Reflect on our situation from three years ago. Let’s reflect on our situation two years ago. I love this football club and I’m incredibly excited, and I want the fans to be as well. So let’s take stock of where we are right now, enjoy it, and stay together for the next several years to see where it may take us.
“Leave fear behind and let’s play football! We have a higher chance of winning if we can generate that kind of excitement and atmosphere in a stadium both at home and away. I told my guys to play fearlessly and not to worry about making mistakes because I won’t change, and maybe that will be sufficient to bring us to the precise where I believe we can succeed.”
Although the team’s current focus is on what can be accomplished in the final month of the season, Rosenior said he doesn’t fear failure and even if they do ultimately miss out on a top-six finish, it won’t be for lack of trying.
“You can only fail in life if you don’t give it your all,” he stated. I reject the idea of failure. Reaching for the stars can occasionally land you on the moon. It is not concerned about the outcome.
“At the conclusion of the season, I promise to review and examine every aspect of it. I’ll start by analysing my own performance and how I lead the team, develop the players, and execute the game plan; however, in this case, failure cannot be considered.
“All I ask of the players is that they go out there and give it their all, believing that if we do that and it’s good enough, we’ll succeed. It won’t be for want of effort if it’s not good enough.”
“I think you can see it. It’s easy when you’re retired from doing something you love like I have. I love being a footballer. You don’t realise at the time how much you were enjoying it because you were so focused,” Rosenior said. “Go and enjoy it. It’s different playing in front of 25,000 or 30 or 40,000 people every week trying to win a game of football.” City’s players have put themselves in a great position with nine games remaining.
However, because of the way we play, you have to be brave to take the ball in dangerous situations, therefore you have to enjoy football. I don’t think any of the guys who have been here since League One, like Alfie Jones, Greavesy, Coyley, Macca, or the boys, have ever been asked to take the ball and play the way we’ve asked them to play. It takes a lot of bravery and fearlessness to do that from behind, as well as enjoyment of the game of football.
“The boys are already having fun with it; I observed this in 95% of the Birmingham performance as well as in the Leicester performance. I witnessed our altercation and struggle at Preston in addition to being really unfortunate to lose to West Brom.
“It’s incredible, isn’t it, that we’ve scored 19 points in the last 10 games—that’s over two points per game—and we constantly look at blocks of ten. We know we can do much better. We simply need to continue being reliable and working in the manner that we are working. We are in a great situation and in a great position inside the league.”
