Hull City set to confirm big Ruben Selles news | OneFootball

Hull City have now made the decision to part ways with head coach Ruben Selles

Hull City are now set to officially confirm the sacking of Ruben Selles after crunch talks with controversial chairman Acun Ilicali, in a decision which may not prove too popular at the MKM Stadium.

This comes according to a recent update from John Percy of The Telegraph, who reported the news via his X account early on Thursday morning.

Selles' immediate future with the club has been up in the air despite leading the Tigers to survival after arriving back in December to replace Tim Walter, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal.

Hull were rooted to the foot of the Championship table at the time of Selles' appointment.

They managed to stay up on the final day of the season by virtue of goal difference ahead of 22nd-placed Luton Town, with Selles achieving the objective of survival. That, however, has seemingly not been enough to convince Hull's key decision-makers he is capable of taking them forward and onto success in the 2025/26 campaign.

Hull City set to sack Ruben Selles

As Percy's update states, Hull are set to confirm the sacking of Selles today.

Discussions were undertaken regarding Selles' future as part of an internal post-season review conducted by Hull's key decision-makers in the wake of the club's survival in the Championship.

A previous report from HullLive outlined how a series of meetings took place in Istanbul between Ilicali and sporting director Jared Dublin, head of recruitment Martin Hodge and board member Mustapha Yokes, with Selles' tenure a key point of discussion.

It is said that Hull's form following the March international break was a pressing concern for Ilicali.

Concerningly, it has been additionally reported by BBC Radio Humberside's Mike White that Hull do not currently have any candidates lined up to replace Selles, which will make the news all the more frustrating for supporters, who have long questioned Ilicali's succession planning.

The Tigers picked up just seven points from their remaining matches amid defeats to relegation rivals Luton Town and Derby County, but still managed to retain their Championship status over the Hatters alongside Plymouth Argyle and Cardiff City.

Ilicali, however, rightly or wrongly, clearly intends on appointing a head coach he believes to have the quality to take Hull back to the Premier League, and is duly set to part ways with Selles, with the Spaniard lined up to represent the club's third managerial sacking inside just 12 months.

Hull City, Acun Ilicali could be repeating Liam Rosenior mistake with Ruben Selles

There is a school of thought among both the Hull faithful and neutral supporters across the country that the decision to sack Selles would be yet another harsh call from Ilicali, who came under fire this time last year for the contentious dismissal of Liam Rosenior.

Rosenior, a widely-popular head coach who was one of three bosses nominated for the Championship's Manager of the Season award in 2023/24, saw himself dismissed shortly after guiding Hull to a seventh-placed finish as they only missed out on the play-offs by goal difference.

The former defender had considerably stronger resources to work with than Selles; he was backed heavily in both the summer and January transfer windows and assembled a squad featuring the likes of Jaden Philogene, Fabio Carvalho, Liam Delap, Jacob Greaves and Ozan Tufan that many felt had underachieved by falling short of the top-six.

But he, much like Selles, was overseeing a progressive long-term project, and Hull have arguably lived to regret his sacking. Rosenior went on to Strasbourg, who are currently sitting in fifth place in Ligue 1 with the youngest squad in any of Europe's top five leagues, and there will be the fear that Selles could also go on to achieve better things after leaving Hull.

Selles, of course, is not immune from criticism either, but he did achieve the initial target of keeping Hull in the Championship and supporters were excited to see what the ex-Southampton and Reading boss could deliver across the course of a full season.

They will now never find out, with Ilicali set to pull the trigger once more in what feels an equally-harsh and controversial judgment call.