Hull City: Acun Ilicali may need to make tough Tim Walter decision ASAP | OneFootball

Hull City head coach Tim Walter is under increasing pressure after his side's poor recent run of form.

It has been a disappointing few weeks for Hull City in the Championship, and head coach Tim Walter is coming under increasing pressure from supporters.

Hull finished seventh in the table last season, but owner Acun Ilicali made the controversial decision to sack former boss Liam Rosenior after missing out on the play-offs, replacing him with Walter.

Walter's tenure got off to a slow start as his side failed to win any of their first five league games, and there were even reports suggesting that the German's position was under threat, but it looked like a corner had been turned after a run of three consecutive victories in late September and early October.

However, the Tigers' form has declined in recent weeks, and they are now without a win in five league games after they were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom side Portsmouth at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, with Josh Murphy's second half equaliser for Pompey cancelling out Joao Pedro's early opener for the hosts.

Hull currently sit 15th in the table, just three points clear of the relegation zone, and they are back in action when they make the trip to face Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday night.

With discontent growing among the Tigers fan base, it is difficult not to feel Walter needs to pick up a victory in midweek, and his post-match comments after the draw against Portsmouth will no doubt have set alarm bells ringing.

Tim Walter criticises Hull City supporters after Portsmouth draw

It would seem that Walter is beginning to feel the heat amid his side's poor run of form after he abruptly walked out of one interview on Saturday, while he also appeared to suggest that the players need more support from the stands.

"I think everybody is frustrated," Walter told Hull Live. "I can understand (their frustration) because we played a really good first half, but the problem was that we didn't score the second.

"That's at the moment our biggest problem, that we can't score more than one goal. We have been in the lead three times (in the last three games) and we've had the chance to close the door, but unfortunately, we didn't do it, they're human.

"You come out with really high expectations (in the second half), and I want to go on and get the second goal, and afterwards, in the first situation, you conceded the goal, and that is a coincidence; it could happen. They are all humans, and we want to do it better, but, unfortunately, in the second half, we couldn't. They tried, they tried to do it but the equalising goal was the breaking point for our game today.

"We need to stick together; we want to do it better as well. All we want to create is a good mood and a good family that sticks together. We work together, and we want to do it better, but it's not always possible.

"All I can say is that we want to stick with our fans, we need them so much, but sometimes, it's, it's not possible and they have to understand. I couldn't understand it sometimes as well, but they are all humans, and they want to do it better."

Acun Ilicali may soon be facing big Tim Walter call in Hull City dugout

There may be some validity in Walter's comments, but turning on the fan base is never a wise move from a manager under pressure, and it does suggest that his tenure could soon be coming to an end.

Ilicali made the decision to sack Rosenior largely due to disagreements over the style of play, stating that he wanted "a very good coach with an attacking style mentality".

Walter was always Ilicali's first choice target to replace Rosenior, and after his appointment was confirmed, the former Hamburg boss claimed that his brand of football was "made for England".

Ilicali insisted that, despite his reasons for dismissing Rosenior, he was looking for success over style, and the Hull owner will be concerned by the fact that he is not currently seeing results or the exciting, attacking football that Walter had promised.

In Walter's defence, the Tigers sold a number of key players during the summer, including Jacon Greaves, Jean-Michael Seri, Ozan Tufan and Jaden Philogene, while influential loanees such as Tyler Morton, Fabio Carvalho, Anass Zaroury, Liam Delap and Noah Ohio all returned to their parent clubs.

It was almost impossible for Hull to replace those who had departed with players of a similar quality, and much of their summer business was done towards the end of the window, while free agents Steven Alzate and Joao Pedro arrived in September.

That meant that Walter did not get the chance to have a proper pre-season with his players, which has undoubtedly made it harder for the 48-year-old to gel all of his new signings and figure out his best team, and with a significantly weaker squad than last season, it is perhaps unfair to expect him to reach the same standards as Rosenior.

However, almost three months into the season, Tigers supporters will understandably have been expecting to see more evidence of Walter's trademark style of play, and the underwhelming performance in the draw against struggling Portsmouth will have raised further concerns.

Walter should be given at least until the international break to turn Hull's fortunes around, and he arguably deserves a longer period than that, but with increasing calls for him to be sacked, Tuesday night's game against an Oxford side who are without a victory in their last eight league matches feels like a must win.

It is possible that Walter may have burned his bridges with the Tigers fan base after his post-match comments on Saturday, and if the winless run continues over the coming week, Ilicali could have a big decision to make.