Ex-Sheffield United manager emerges as "leading contender" for Hull City vacancy | OneFootball

Slavisa Jokanovic appears likely to swiftly replace Tim Walter at Hull City

Slavisa Jokanovic has reportedly emerged as the "leading contender" to replace Tim Walter at Hull City, less than 24 hours after the German was relieved of his duties by controversial chairman Acun Ilicali.

That's according to a huge recent update from talkSPORT's Alex Crook, who has reported via his X account that Jokanovic is poised to succeed Walter at the MKM Stadium.

Walter was handed his marching orders on Wednesday evening after a meeting had been held by the Tigers board to assess the situation.

The former Hamburg boss, who was described as a "number one target" for Ilicali after the contentious decision was made to sack Liam Rosenior just days after finishing the 2023/24 Championship campaign in seventh place and just three points off the play-offs, ultimately flattered to deceive at Hull and left his post following a brief and largely-miserable spell in charge.

Hull fell agonisingly short of a top-six finish with Rosenior but have found themselves competing at the wrong end of the table this term under Walter, who won just three of his 17 league games in charge of the Tigers.

All three of those victories came successively too, as Hull briefly appeared to be turning a corner after seeing off Stoke City, Cardiff and QPR but failed to kick on.

At this moment in time, they're placed 22nd in the league standings courtesy of Tuesday's 2-0 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, which proved the final nail in the coffin for Walter's tenure as he was booed by large sections of the MKM Stadium following a nine-match unbeaten run including four straight losses.

The search for the fourth permanent manager of Ilicali's rein has commenced and appears to be taking shape rather quickly, with Mark Robins' name having been thrown into the mix following his own controversial sacking from Championship rivals Coventry City before the latest development pertaining to Jokanovic emerged this afternoon.

Slavisa Jokanovic a "leading contender" to succeed Tim Walter at Hull City

According to Crook's recent update, Jokanovic is currently the main contender being lined up to succeed Walter, with Hull evidently keen on getting a new manager in the building as soon as possible.

The Serbian boss has been out of work for more than a year after leaving Dinamo Moscow in May 2023 but boasts plenty of experience at Championship level, having won promotion with both Watford and Fulham.

His promotion-winning nous will clearly form some appeal from higher up, as Ilicali is ambitious and ultimately wants to oversee Hull's return to the Premier League.

Hull City supporters may like Acun Ilicali stance following Tim Walter sacking

Ilicali is hardly flawless and has made a series of mistakes at Hull, most notably his decision to part ways with Rosenior after narrowly missing out on the play-offs last term. As is rather well-documented, that decision has seemingly come back to bite Hull.

The next appointment feels crucial for Ilicali in particular, as he simply needs to get it right in order to win the fans over, otherwise you feel he risks losing them altogether. His popularity among supporters has decreased massively, and little wonder given just how much they've struggled after Rosenior's sacking.

That said, he does deserve credit for already making seeming inroads into sourcing a new managerial hire.

Doing so isn't always the case, and fellow relegation rivals Cardiff represent a fine example of that, as they've now had interim boss Omer Riza stuck in limbo for more than two months after sacking Erol Bulut all the way back in September.