Why Acun Ilicali's involvement in Hull City's recruitment is welcomed by Liam Rosenior

They were the sort of comments to send shivers down the spine of an old-school football manager.

The worst thing for a club is an owner who has lost interest, bored of his plaything and no longer willing to throw good money after bad.

But the opposite is not great either. Sometimes an owner can be too interested - too keen to make the signings and even pick the team.

Despite Ilicali's boyish enthusiasm, Hull City appear to have struck a good balance. His coach, Liam Rosenior, says he would be daft not to listen to the Turkish television mogul's advice on anything, yet he feels much more in control than predecessor Shota Arveladze did. Personal relationships are the key and vice-chairman Tan Kesler, whose revelation that was, is skilled at greasing the wheel.

"Because Liam spent quite a bit of time with us with his crew - Justin (Walker, first-team development coach) was with us, Andy (Dawson, Rosenior's assistant) was with us, Baz (Richardson, the goalkeeping coach) almost made it but couldn't - and saw the environment and how we drive for success, they know our intentions are not interfere with their job," explains Kesler. "It's not that we don't trust them."

Rosenior loves to canvas opinion on the game from unorthodox sources.

"Honestly, I'm not just saying it - I love working with Acun," he insists.

"He loves football, I love football, so we sit for hours talking about the game. I listen to his opinion, he listens to mine.

"Because I'm so open with him and he's so open with me, he's helped me with my decision-making at times. He helps me in terms of seeing things in a completely different way. Acun has put so much money and invested so much time in building this unbelievable club back up, why would I not listen to his opinion?

"He's said things to me and it's like a lightbulb goes off in my head.

"I listen to my wife. I asked AJ, my 12-year-old, recently what he thought about the team on Saturday and he'll say something completely different to what I'm thinking.

"My job is to take in everybody's valid point of view, sift it down and make a decision. The fact Acun watches videos of players, the fact he cares about how this team plays, I absolutely love it."

As Kesler puts it: "If he's excited, the fans will be excited. He's been watching football for 30 years so if he's not excited about the players as a TV man, knowing how important the magic box is for football, how can we excite our own fans?

"My job is to make sure the coach is confident about the players we're excited about.

"It's about trying to bring them both together.

"It's not a problem at our end at this point because everybody knows each other and we're a very tight unit, fully communicating. There's no animosity.

"If the chairman is excited about a player, Liam always knows which player it is anyway and implements his own ideas.

"It's a round table where Liam has the loudest voice but the chairman has the final voice and I make sure all these noises don't create chaos, everything gets delivered properly and efficiently."

Trust is vital and Rosenior says his in Ilicali is so deep it is not just football he asks him about.

"I remember having four or five meetings with the guys over a period of two weeks before I ended up joining the club (last November) and that was really helpful," he says. "I first met Acun on a Facetime call, then in person. Sometimes when you meet someone, you look in their eyes and you know. That's what I felt with Acun and I know Acun felt that with me.

"My biggest thing is trust and honesty, I say that to the players all the time. I try and be as trustworthy and honest as possible and I said to Acun, 'I will always be open in the way I work, I will always ask you for your opinion.'

"I may not do what you ask me to do and I'll give you a reason why because I'm the manager but he's been amazingly helpful to me.

"I'd trust him with my life. It's not just a manager-owner relationship. I've asked him for advice on life.

"He's been so successful with what he's done and what he's lived through - he's had tragedies and unbelievable success.

"He's one of the funniest fellas I've ever met and one of the most outgoing, caring people so why wouldn't I ask him for advice? And not just about football - if you've been that successful in life there has to be a reason.

"I really respect him and he's helped me grow as a manager."