SLUTSKY: I NEED ALL THE FACTS
Missing data holding Tigers back, says boss
HULL boss Leonid Slutsky says a lack of data is the main factor behind the Tigers’ wretched start to the season.
Slutsky, 46, took charge at the KC in June and was tasked with securing an instant return to the Premier League.
However, the former CSKA Moscow boss has won just four of his 16 games at the helm and admitted this week that he would understand if owner Assem Allam pulled the trigger.
Slutsky, though, isn’t going down without a fight. The Russian lost 13 players over the summer, while a tardy recruitment drive led to Hull startingthe season with a skeletal, hastily-assembled squad.
And that, says Slutsky, is why he hasn’t yet shown the qualities that earned him a seven-year stint at CSKA.
“Seventy per cent of our squad missed pre-season,” said Slutsky, who managed his country at Euro 2016 and is the first Russian ever to manage in England. “We never trained all together. We never played friendly matches.
“We started to play together – really play together – only after five official matches. This is a difficult situation.
“Let me explain why. As a manager, you must have a lot of information and research on everybody. You need lots of data to scan, like a computer.
“For example, how does he recover after a match? Some players come back to optimal form very quickly. Others are up and down, take a long time.
“That is the first problem. Second problem: how does a player react to stressful situations? Third problem: how does he play with pain? Can he manage a small injury?
Pressure
“When you know the players well, this is very easy. You know already that a certain person needs two weeks more to rest. That someone can play in a high-pressure game no problem.
“With a new team like this, it is very difficult to manage because you don’t have that data. You have to learn it during the season.
“Sheffield United are a very good example of what I am talking about. Promoted from League One, keep the squad together. It is not 3-0, 4-0 each match, but they win close games because they understand each other and the way they play.
“With us, sometimes we played really high quality. Sometimes we broke and played like it was the first time we’d seen each other.
“I have tried to speed things up, but it is not an easy process. Especially in the Championship because the level of the teams is very similar.”
To that end, Slutsky has admitted being caught on the hop, despite living in England since January.
“I watched a lot of matches last season, but mainly at Fulham,” says Slutsky, whose bedding-in period was funded by friend and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
Degrees
“It wasn’t a good reflection because at that time Fulham played very well and had a serious advantage. So, it came as a big surprise when every team was so tough.
“Maybe only Wolves have players from a higher level. Everybody else, it is plus or minus a few degrees.
“Matches are unpredictable. It is either a draw or a one-goal swing. In this situation, being solid and having a team spirit is very important. But again, those things take time.”
And that – as the 18-game reign of Simon Grayson at Sunderland proves – is something Slutsky is unlikely to get.
“I researched the situation in the Championship and the maximum for anyone is two years,” he smiles. “So you must show your quality very quickly.
“What I will say is that Hull fans have not seen my real quality yet. For me, it is a big motivation to show them. But I understand the rules – and I know I have to play by the same rules. This is a very big challenge for me.”