Hull City v Swansea City: ‘Crazy owner’ Acun Ilicali wants Tigers to be brave in promotion charge

That much was already clear.

At one point the Turkish businessman threw on his new team an announcement that as of two weeks’ time, ticket prices for under-16s and senior citizens will be reduced to £2, the price members can bring one friend along for.

“They are trying to stop me, I don’t care!” he smiled.

“I just started sweating and gone greyer,” joked Kesler.

Rodwell was surprised to be sat behind a card announcing him as “interim CEO.”

“I’m hoping it’s a typo!” he said when asked about the adjective.

The chairman told Arveladze he is still working out how the 19th-placed team in the Championship can make the play-offs with 19 matches left, starting with today’s visit from Swansea City.

Life is certainly not going to be dull with the showman in charge.

It is not just the eyes of East Yorkshire and thousands of new Turkish fans who will we watching how things pan out, the very top of Georgian politics have taken an interest too thanks to the presence of former Rangers striker Arveladze.

Having made his fortune by first carving out a career as a television presenter – he fronts the Turkish version of The Voice – before, in the legendary words of Victor Kiam, liking it so much he bought the company and a few more besides, entertainment is first, second and third on his list of priorities.

A fanbase who got so disenchanted and disentangled with their club under Assem Allam has much to look forward to.

“For me success is not results, I believe in what I see,” he said when asked how he would judge Arveladze’s success. “As soon as the team is playing well, you will always get results.

“I believe in good football, good brave football which brings success. Whenever I see the team play well I don’t focus on if we missed chances and if the team plays well, it’s good for me.

“I believe in attacking football, I believe that football should be entertaining. I would prefer a 4-3 loss than 0-0.

“Shota for me is one of the bravest coaches I have seen.”

Ilicali said it was not easy sacking “a very nice person like our ex-coach Mr McCann” but he had set his mind on Arveladze six months ago, and was not going to be swayed by results since.

The team won four straight games in November under Grant McCann, who signed off with back-to-back victories over promotion hopefuls Blackburn Rovers and Bournemouth. Replacing him with a coach who won plenty of silverware in his last job in Uzbekistan, but has never managed in England is risky.

“I was saying the same thing two weeks ago,” says Ilicali. “People were talking about relegation, I was thinking about promotion.

“Of course I can’t say we’re going to be promoted this season but why not?

“I’m checking every game to see who is winning. The sixth position is my target.

“I like risks. If I hadn’t taken risks, I wouldn’t be in front of you talking about this beautiful club.

“When I bought my TV channel it was the craziest risk I’ve ever done.

“It was worth $400m and if it hadn’t succeeded it would have been worth $200m.

“When I believe in myself, I always take the risk. Taking risks is part of my life.”

The football played by the “intelligent” Arveladze, who will be joined by Dutch coach Peter van der Ven, a former Aberdeen and Heart of Midlothian midfielder, when his work permit goes through, will be expected to reflect that.

He is not planning wholesale changes today, there has not been time, but scoring goals was a problem under McCann, which is why Iranian centre-forward Allahyar Sayyadmanesh was having a medical as he spoke.

“To score goals is the most difficult thing in football,” said Arveladze. “That’s why the goalscorers always cost more but sometimes it looks dead hard (he says he has a Scottish accent as well as the vernacular but did not show it off) and difficult and it’s not like that. You don’t have to shoot hard, you just shoot in the right corner and it goes in.

“They give the ball to the opponents a bit too much, which we can improve a little bit.

“We want to create more chances and give the boys who can create more possibilities.”

“But the energy they have is fantastic. The boys are playing in different positions because of lots of injuries in the last three months. They don’t make excuses that it’s not their opposition. You can see clearly they want to play and they’re full of energy.”

Big names will be watching.

“The prime minister and the foreign minister (of Georgia) have spoken to me on WhatsApp,” he revealed. “They have taken time out to congratulate me and you can see how much everyone in Georgia is interested in English football”

Supporters nearer to home are a bigger priority for the new owner.

“We are starting a new journey together and for me fans are the fire of this journey,” says Ilicali. “They’re going to give us the fuel and we’ll go 200 miles with it.”

Whatever happens, the showman is sure to put on some entertainment for them.