Football League World
·29 November 2024
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·29 November 2024
The attacking midfielder revealed a rather frank admission on Tim Walter's dismissal as Hull City boss
Hull City midfielder Kasey Palmer has revealed a brutally honest reaction to the dismissal of Tim Walter, who was relieved of his duties after just 17 games in charge on Wednesday evening.
Walter arrived at the MKM Stadium with sizable shoes to fill, having been brought in to replace Liam Rosenior after the popular young head coach was contentiously handed his marching orders in the wake of Hull's failed attempt at clinching a spot in the Championship's top six at the end of the previous season.
While the former Hamburg boss was dealt with a fair degree of adversity in the summer transfer window, where Hull lost prized assets such as Jaden Philogene and Jacob Greaves and had to undertake an inevitable squad rebuild amid wholesale departures, results and performances were simply below par from day one and Acun Ilicali's latest decision has this time been met without question.
Walter managed to win just three games in charge of Hull, which all came successively as they mounted a three-match winning streak by beating Stoke, Cardiff City and QPR but were unable to take too many points from superior opposition and failed to maintain a consistent run of form.
His final affair in the job was Tuesday evening's disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, which prompted boos throughout the MKM Stadium as Hull slipped down to 22nd place in the division, where they remain ahead of their trip to promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough tomorrow afternoon.
They will be led by Andy Dawson in the meantime as Ilicali ramps up his search for a fresh appointment, with Mark Robins and Slavisa Jokanovic both reportedly of interest.
Kasey Palmer, who was one of four deadline day signings for the Tigers after completing a move from Championship rivals Coventry City, pulled no punches in a frank admission on Walter's sacking.
The attacking midfielder was a bit-part player under the German's tuition and had seemingly become frustrated about his lack of minutes, while he believes Walter's exit did not come as a big surprise as Hull are, in his words, "massively underachieving".
Palmer explained to HullLive: "It's difficult when a manager leaves. "It's always sad, but I think we kind of expected it with how the results have gone. We haven't been doing well enough. We haven't won games, and that's football.
"I think when you look at the dressing room, I look at the dressing room, it's a squad that's capable of achieving promotion, whether that's through the play-offs or automatically. We've got enough talent and ability in the building that should be fighting to get promoted.
"So to be at the bottom of the table is not what anyone expected, not what I expected when I signed, and I think not the ambition of the club or the fans. We're underachieving massively, so something had to change.
"I wouldn't say so (mixed feelings). I wanted to play a lot more than I played, so that's all I can really say to be fair. I want to play every game, and I don't think I got the opportunity to play where I wanted to play (in the number ten role) and do what I wanted to do in the time that I've been here."
It has been a frustrating start to life in East Yorkshire for Palmer, who has found a regular starting berth difficult to come by but will hope for an upturn in fortunes when Ilicali appoints Walter's successor.
The 28-year-old boasts an array of Championship experience with the likes of Huddersfield Town, Bristol City and Coventry and would have been expected to feature with more regularity under Walter, though that was not the case as Gustavo Puerta and Regan Slater were often preferred by the now-ex-boss.
Palmer, who has only started on four occasions for the Tigers since his move from Coventry, has shown glimpses of real promise and many supporters have called for him to start regularly, which will doubtless be one of the key tasks facing whoever gets the call in the coming days and weeks.