Acun Ilicali sets Tim Walter Championship target after insisting success comes before style

That was not the impression he gave when Walter's predecessor Liam Rosenior was sacked after leading the Tigers to seventh in the Championship, saying his style of football did not excite him.

But the chairman was keen to stress that whilst he brought Walter to do both, success is the priority.

"I want to clarify, first is to have a successful team and we prefer his style of play,” said Ilicali.

"He achieved 1.82 (points per game) in his career in Hamburg (his last job), that's a very shining number. This number I think should have taken him to the Bundesliga and maybe we wouldn't have got him so maybe God wouldn't let him go to the Bundesliga."

Asked to define success for Hull next season, Ilicali replied: "At the moment success for us is top 10 but of course our aim is top six."

Nevertheless the usual questions to a new manager about his style of play seemed more pertinent than normal. Some call Walter's approach "heart attack football" and he did nothing to dispel similarities with the "total football" philosophy of the great Dutch sides of the 1970s.

"In Hamburg we scored the most goals, we had the best expected goals so we played very offensive," he said. “We play differently.

"We have a fluid build-up from the back so nobody stands still, it's always play and move because if you stay still you will be dead.

"It's very high intensity with a lot of possession but possession is nothing without working.

"In the stadium they can't hear me as much so I will bring it in training."

Walter began coaching Bayern Munich’s second team when Pep Guardiola was first-team coach before stints with Hamburg and Stuttgart – two huge German clubs languishing in the second tier. He feels it has given him the right mindset.

"At Bayern Munich I learnt how to win," he said. "We want to play offensively, we want to score but at the end, we want to win.

"I like to be under pressure – pressure is a privilege."

Walter will be working with a new head of recruit after Lee Darnbrough joined Stoke City. He will be replaced.