Parlour backs Tigers for play-off push - if recruitment is right
FORMER Hull City and Arsenal winger Ray Parlour believes the Tigers can challenge for a place in the Championship’s top six next season, if the club recruit well this summer.
City expect to be busy in the transfer market ahead of the new campaign, with owner Acun Ilicali set to back Liam Rosenior with funds to improve his squad.
Attack-minded players are top of Rosenior’s shopping list, with wide players and a frontman key to what the City head coach believes will give him the best chance of improving on this season’s 15th-placed finish.
Ilicali invested heavily last summer with Ozan Tufan, Allahyar Sayyadmanesh and Dogukan Sinik all arriving for significant transfer fees, with Jean Michael Seri an eye-catching arrival.
Creating chances and scoring goals proved City’s undoing in the second half of the season as Rosenior’s side struggled to win games, instead, having to settle for draws.
No team in the Championship drew more than the 16 games the Tigers did, and in a bid to turn some of those into wins, Rosenior will beef up his attacking arsenal.
“Liam Rosenior has done well since he came in,” Parlour told Netbet. “He’s an up-and-coming manager which is always important, the club did very well to spot him.
“I’ve spoken to him a few times and he’s got good knowledge and knows players well. Obviously, he was at Brighton as a coach for a while and then he was at Derby – he’s waited for his opportunity and now he’s got it.
“The most important thing for Hull this season was to not get into that relegation battle and that’s what they did, they stayed out of it, which was great.
“I think they need a little bit of investment and the owners need to think, ‘do we have the right manager in place now?’ If they think they have, then they need to support him.
“It’s a little bit like Arsenal and Mikel Arteta – they supported him because they thought he was the right manager to take the club forward.
“If Hull think Rosenior is the right manager, give him a little bit of money and give him a chance to try and get you into that playoff situation.
“If they can do that – it’s a great club with great support whenever I played for them – so it’s all there, but they just need that little bit of investment. Hopefully, Liam can get that so they can really kick on next season and push for the play-offs.”