3) Marco Silva: Hull City
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“Why does it always have to be a foreign manager? These ex-footballers are spending four or five years getting their badges, and what for? None of them are getting a chance. What’s he know about the Premier League? What’s he know?
“It’s baffling. When there are a lot of people out there who know about the Premier League, about what’s required to dig in. He’s not got a clue.” – Paul Merson
Those were the words Sky Sports “pundit” uttered when it was announced that 39-year-old Marco Silva was going to take over at Hull in January. The club were in dire straits sitting at the bottom of the table after just one win in 10 games.
To be fair to Hull, the club had appointed as many as eight English managers in the previous 15 years and decided to go with a foreign import who had proven his credentials at Olympiacos, Sporting Lisbon and Estoril with an enviable home record.
Three months on, Hull have had one of the finest runs in the league and Silva is now the toast of the Premier League. He turned the KCOM Stadium into a fortress where they have not lost a single game since his arrival (five wins and a draw) and had the league started in January they would have been fourth!
He was given only a six-month contract and he signed players on loan – managing to make it all work in his favour as Hull lifted themselves out of the relegation zone. The man who “has not got a clue” may keep the club afloat in the Premier League when they were written off at the start of the season as the first club to be surely relegated.
With a number of clubs lining up for his signature, he may move on to bigger things this summer.
