Acun Ilicali's Hull City pre-match team-talk 'like a manger's' says Nathan Baxter as owner looks quickly for a new coach

Arveladze was surprisingly sacked – surprising in terms of the timing rather than the decision – along with his assistant Peter van Veen on the morning of their Championship game at home to Luton Town.

Former Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvahal quickly emerged as the favourite, with reports in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday night that he has left Al Wahda after just four games.

That may not necessarily mean he is heading to Yorkshire, however, with Wolverhampton Wanderers, heavily Portuguese-influenced, in the market for a new coach after sacking Bruno Lage hours earlier.

Andy Dawson stepped up to take the team but goalkeeper Baxter revealed the chairman gave the players a motivational speech when they arrived at the stadium.

"He was really positive," said the on-loan Chelsea player.

"It was quite a moving speech he gave us.

"It's the sort of thing you want from your manager. He's obviously the leader and the focal point of this club and it got the boys going."

Whether Baxter's words were a reference to Arveladze is open to interpretation but the former Rangers striker did not come across as someone well-suited to tub-thumping team-talks.

Judging by the lethargy some of the team's big names showed in Arveladze's final game at Swansea City – which presumably spooked Ilicali into the decision – motivating them to do their jobs defensively will be a big part of the next coach's job, and Dawson placed great emphasis on it when speaking to the media after the game against Luton Town. Whatever else their faults in the 2-0 defeat, it was notably how the likes of Ozan Tufan – criticised by some in South Wales – put a good shift in.

Knowledge of English football, something Arveladze lacked when he arrived in January, will also be important, more so than it was eight months ago because the squad has so many players now who lack it. That the Tigers were interested in former West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion manager Slaven Bilic before he took the Watford job suggests they might be thinking along similar lines.

The aim is to make an appointment before Hull's next game, at home to Wigan Athletic on Wednesday.

Despite the turmoil of the day and a filthy night of weather, those Hull fans in the 15,730 got behind popular former player Dawson and his team on Friday and will almost certainly do so if someone else is in the dugout on Wednesday, barring a spectacularly ill-judged choice.

Ilicali, who invested heavily in the squad over the summer and is currently running competition to take 160 Hull fans and their guests on holiday to Turkey, has certainly engaged supporters after the dark final years under the Allam family.

"Friday was the first time I've played in the (MKM) stadium this season and the atmosphere was brilliant," said Baxter. "When you go 2-0 down that (change in mood) is to be expected but even then they were good.

"It was the first time I've played with the crowd behind me (at both ends) and that's Acun (who decided to move the away supporters). Without Acun the stadium would not be like this. He's so positive."