The Croatian boss has become a hugely popular character both in the dressing room and on the terraces
Acun Ilicali and Sergej Jakirovic came together back in June(Image: Beyza Comert/Anadolu via Getty Images)
When the media crammed into the tight confines of Hull City‘s press suite at the MKM Stadium on June 30 last year to meet the Tigers’ latest new manager, one target was set out.
Owner Acun Ilicali flanked his latest incumbant Sergej Jakirovic and made it clear that a top 10 finish was the target for City, with that ambition coming just under two months after the club survived relegation from the skin of its teeth on the final day of the season at Portsmouth.
Little did Ilicali, and especially Jakirovic know, that just a few days later the club would be slapped with transfer restrictions that would mean they were unable to buy players or pay loan fees either in the summer or winter windows. That may well have changed the landscape somewhat.
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“I am learning. Fans will see the Acun they saw in the first year but with more experience,” Ilicali said back in June when he introduced Jakirovic to the media.
“Our first target is top 10. If we can get to top 10 and we will be successful and improve. I know all fans want consistency in the club, but we have to feel from our side that we are on the same track with the manager. Hopefully, everything goes good.
“I want attacking football, entertaining football. First results. I don’t want our fans to see two home wins in six month. I feel sad when the fans go home after chanting for two hours. It can happen, but not with boring football. I bought this club to make history and see entertaining football.”
Despite those obvious hurdles, Jakirovic has done a stellar job at the MKM Stadium, keeping City in and around the top six all season. His work was heralded earlier this month when he was nominated for the Championship’s Manager of the Season.
While City’s play-off push may have wilted in recent weeks, they go into the final two games of the season in with a chance of clinching a top-six birth.
They dropped out of the top six to Wrexham on goal difference after Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw at Leicester City, but belief remains strong, and so it should. They have the ability to end this slump.
Ilicali spoke about wanting to finish inside the top 10, and that place is guaranteed. Objective number one ticked off. Ambitions behind the scenes may have been loftier, and increased as the season wore on and the Tigers claimed victory after victory.
There will, of course, be huge disappointment if City miss out on a top-six place, given the position they had got themselves into, and nobody will have bigger regrets than the players themselves.
Whatever happens over the next two games, based on the owner’s own demands, they’ve secured a top 10 finish at the very least, but they can still turn this into a campaign to remember, and you wouldn’t rule it out.
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