“Quite a coup for a club at Championship level” – Hull City fan pundit reacts as Tigers close in on European manager | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Hull City are set to bring in Pedro Martins as their new head coach, replacing Shota Arveladze in the dugout at the MKM Stadium.

The Tigers dispensed of the Georgian’s services on Friday before they faced Luton Town after results went on a downward spiral before the international break, with five defeats on the spin seeing the club tumble down the Championship table.

Owner Acun Ilicali has not wasted much time in securing Arveladze’s successor, as less than a week later he is set to tie up the signature of Martins.

Quiz: Did Hull City win, draw or lose the last time they played at these 18 stadiums?

1 of 18

Anfield

W D L

The 52-year-old has spent the last four years with Greek giants Olympiacos, winning the Super League in Greece three times before bowing out of his job this summer just gone, having lost in a Champions League qualifier to Maccabi Haifa 4-0 at home.

Despite it being reported that Ilicali was preferring some experience in the EFL when it came to his next manager, he has opted for an individual who has never coached in England, but in the eyes of FLW’s Hull fan pundit Ant Northgraves, it is no issue whatsoever and Martins must be regarding as a big pull for the club.

“Pedro Martins – one that was sort of in the background but never really pushed as the favourite, but he’s quite a coup for a club at Championship level, definitely,” Ant said.

“Wolves were after him in the Premier League and we’ve somehow coaxed him here, so we must be doing something right I suppose.

“He’s got experience in the Europa League, Champions League, he’s been very successful in Greece with Olympiacos and let’s hope to try and take advantage of that upward trajectory and hope he can hit that kind of momentum as soon as he comes in.

“He’s obviously a manager that’s got some form of respect and structure about him and hopefully he can put that into our team.”

The Verdict

Whilst the level of quality of the Greek top flight can be possibly questioned, the fact that Martins has a lot of experience managing in European competitions means this is indeed quite a coup for Hull, as Ant said.

Unlike Arveladze, whose only success was in Uzbekistan after failing to really impress in Türkiye, Martins brings in a reputation as someone who is very skilled at his craft.

It was probably the right move to seek someone from overseas by Ilicali to handle the mix of young British talent and the foreign imports that have been recruited this summer, and in Martins they probably could not have asked for much more.

He will be judged inevitably on his results with the Tigers, but on paper, it is a stellar appointment.