I’m still the man for Hull City, says Grant McCann

But the Hull City coach insists his belief has never wavered during his team’s slide down the Championship, and he has never questioned if he is the right man for the job of turning it around.

The year started in such positive fashion for the Tigers, winning at Sheffield Wednesday on its opening day to move to within touching distance of the Championship play-off places. Since then, they have only picked up two points from a possible 33.

That form was compounded by an injury list which has often run into double figures in that time, and the deadline-day sales of Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki, who had scored two thirds of Hull’s league goals at that point, and were arguably their best players.

The Tigers’ last match before the Football League suspended matches to try to help contain the spread of coronavirus was a humiliating 5-1 defeat at Stoke City, and the next had been due to be at home to Charlton Athletic, who knew victory would have taken them out of the relegation zone and put Hull in it.

They have been tough times for a coach who does not turn 40 until next month, but McCann’s time at Peterborough United and Doncaster Rovers has given the Northern Irishman the self-belief to stick to his principles.

“It’s very simple for me,” he explained, shortly before the suspension of matches. “I know what I do can win football games. Over the four years I’ve been a manager or head coach I always stay true to my beliefs.

“The main thing is trust. One thing we have to do is trust in the process.

“The players understand exactly what we want to do. Sometimes you can’t legislate for a mistake, that’s the way it goes.

“I never second-guess myself because I’ve got true beliefs in what I do. You just have to look at what you’ve done before.

“A lot of people question you when you lose, not when you win.”

In McCann’s debut season at Peterborough, they finished two places higher than the previous year, but he was sacked in February of his second campaign after a run of only seven matches without a victory. Doncaster were penalty kicks away from the League One play-off final last term.

All that experience came in League One, but McCann has no doubts about his ability to perform in the second tier.

“I may be learning in terms of a management position but I’ve played in the Championship all my career so I know what it’s about and it hasn’t changed,” stressed the former midfielder, whose playing career started at West Ham United and took in a spell with Barnsley.

“It’s a tough league, a demanding league, you have to be at your best every single week to get a result.

“In my four years as a manager I’ve experienced everything – the first year at Peterborough being thrown straight into it. In the Doncaster job I learned the highs and lows moving right up the table.

“This season again I’ve had the highs and the start of getting us into a really good position in January, then the lows of the defeats.

“Everything’s an experience, everything’s a learning curve. If you’re not learning, there’s no point being in this position.

“This has been a great learning curve for me.”

Despite all the handicaps he has had to overcome, questions were starting to be asked about McCann’s position before the enforced break. Games have since been suspended until April 30 at the earliest, but there is a determination from the English footballing authorities to complete the season which means Hull will have to be ready if and when the final nine games happen.

The time off should at least help some of their injured players to recover, and refresh the minds of the rest. Some whose seasons had been written off may now get the chance to finish 2019-20.

“I don’t think about my position,” said McCann. “I think about trying to work as hard as I can.

“You don’t need to be clever to understand what’s gone on this season but it’s my job to turn it around and take a bit of accountability. It’s really important we stand up to be counted.”

Meanwhile, training at Hull’s Cottingham training ground has been postponed for a further two weeks as a precaution against the virus.

The squad had been due back yesterday after a week of self-isolation, but instead they will work at home to personalised programmes created by the club’s sports science team.

The only exceptions have been those such as Jordy de Wijs, Reece Burke and Jon Toral, reporting for treatment, and the skeleton staff looking after them.

Hull’s Bishop Burton academy has also been locked down for a further fortnight, with all junior training sessions cancelled “until further notice.”

The KCOM Stadium is closed to “non-essential visitors”.