2017-18 Preview: Leadership key for Hull City's hopes of instant return

At his press unveiling last month, new Hull City manager Leonid Slutsky provided a welcome smattering of that and also applied some much-needed colour and charisma to a pretty sunless landscape for Tigers supporters, while marking himself out to be someone worth following.

Yet behind the charm, it was easy to detect the beating heart of a shrewd footballing man who knows full well that successful leaders must delegate authority and surround themselves with good people to achieve their ends.

Affable he may be, but Slutsky is nobody’s fool. You could never be labelled as such if you possess the footballing toolset to manage both your national team and a leading club side simultaneously, as he did for a spell with Russia and CSKA Moscow.

New to English football he may be, but Slutsky is clearly someone who does his homework. That much can be garnered from his excellent command of the English language in a relatively short space of time – he enrolled with the renowned Riversdown language school soon after arriving in London at the start of 2017 to boost his quest to land a manager’s job here.

When it came to the Championship, one of the most notoriously cut-throat divisions in world football, he did not need to enrol on an intensive course to gain a full grasp of it.

Slutsky is well aware of its punishing schedule and is smart enough to realise that those who prosper do not necessarily possess the best individuals, but must also draw upon the best leaders.

Hull have lost a fair few of those this summer in the likes of Curtis Davies and Tom Huddlestone. Several, thankfully, remain such as Michael Dawson, David Meyler and Sam Clucas, with the clear hope being that other leaders will also emerge and that the club’s meagre looking senior squad ranks are fully replenished by the end of August.

“The Championship a very hard tournament,” observed Slutsky. “It starts in August and finishes in May, a serious competition with 46 matches plus cup matches.

“When I researched about the division, the minimum (number of) players a team used, without goalkeepers, was 22 players.

“For example, at CSKA we used 15 players in one season. In the Championship it’s a minimum of 22, so I understand it is a very difficult tournament.

“One team could win seven matches in a row and then the same team might not win in seven matches. It is really very tough.

“And that is why it is so important to have leaders. Players who have experienced the Championship – like Meyler, Clucas and Dawson.

“I think our core may be the most serious from all the teams in the Championship.”

Mixed in with senior men and young professionals are likely to be several loan players, including the likes of Ola Aina – brought in from Chelsea to continue his footballing education.

For Slutsky, again conscious of the need for character alongside technical footballing qualities during the traditional nine-month Championship marathon, an intimate understanding of a player’s mentality is also essential in what is likely to be a far from straightforward season in East Yorkshire.

A wise philosophy.

Slutsky said: “A lot of loan players will be developing players.

“Maybe (aged) 21 or 22. For everyone, it will be a really serious challenge. It is a chance for them to go back to big clubs and get into the starting XI.

“For loan players, it is very important to have the motivation. Before signing, I will have a meeting with each player to understand their motivation here.”