The Turkish businessman welcomes back his former manager to the MKM Stadium for the first time
Hull City owner with former manager Liam Rosenior (Image: Orhan Cicek/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Acun Ilicali admits it will be a proud occasion when Hull City host Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday night, in front of a worldwide television audience.
The 7:45pm contest is being shown live on BBC One and TNT Sports, as well as ESPN in the USA, having attracted plenty of interest since the draw was made last month.
While City and Chelsea are no strangers to facing each other in the world’s oldest cup competition, it will be the first time Liam Rosenior has returned to the MKM Stadium since leaving at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, when his Tigers side agonisingly missed out on the Championship’s top six.
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Ilicali gave Rosenior his first permanent job in management following his departure as caretaker boss at Derby County, and while their owner-manager relationship may have ended almost two years ago, Ilicali says the pair remain friends and in regular contact.
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“Liam is a very special friend, a special person, a special coach,” Ilicali told Hull Live. “We were watching the draw live, and ten seconds later, his message came to me with smiling faces, so then I called him, and we had a wonderful chat. We will have dinner, hopefully when he comes, and we will talk about many things.
“We are proud of him, and he always says, ‘Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be a Championship manager, now I’m here at Chelsea.’
“I told him when we were separating our ways, that you will be a big coach and your philosophy is very effective in football, but I’m not on that page. I want to see a different kind of football which is respected by everybody. I think as an owner of a club – and I’m giving everything to this club – I want to watch something different, and this has to be respected. On the other hand, his football style can be suitable for big teams like Chelsea.
“He’s a special person. We have a good friendship and he has a very clean heart, and we have always a good relationship. I think it’s a fantastic game.
“I’m proud to play against Chelsea in the FA Cup, but we’ll be more proud if we can pass the round. For me, success is the only thing that calms me down, otherwise I’ll never be calm and I will be always nervous.”
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