Sunderland Championship rivals sack manager after 18 games in charge

Sunderland’s Championship rivals Hull City have taken the decision to part company with manager Tim Walter.

The Tigers have endured a torrid start to the season, and currently find themselves in the relegation zone after 17 league matches, having lost four on the bounce. Their most recent defeat came against Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday evening, with goals from Josh Windass and Michael Smith handing all three points to the Owls.

Prior to the match, Hull chairman Acun Ilicali had appeared on BBC Radio Humberside to assure fans that Walter would remain in charge regardless of the result, but many supporters took the opportunity to provide a vocal opposition to their manager at the MKM Stadium.

And in a subsequent statement on Wednesday evening, the Tigers confirmed the 49-year-old’s departure. It read: “Hull City can confirm we have parted company with head coach Tim Walter with immediate effect Assistant head coaches Julian Hübner and Filip Tapalović have also left the club. First-team coach Andy Dawson will take interim charge while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a permanent successor. We would like to thank Tim, Julian, and Filip for their efforts during their time at the MKM Stadium and wish them well for the future.”

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Walter joined Hull in May, replacing Liam Rosenior in the dugout. At the time, Ilicali said: “Tim was always our first choice. We had many strong applicants and wanted to be thorough in our recruitment process, but it quickly became clear that Tim was the outstanding candidate.

“Our discussions were detailed and productive in planning for this season and I am encouraged about how we can work together to the benefit of our club. I believe in Tim’s philosophy and in doing so, I am hopeful that over the forthcoming season he can continue our positive progress and upward trajectory. I wish him the very best of luck!”

Since his arrival, the German has won just three of his 18 matches in England, with Hull having lost eight times in the Championship already this season. At the time of writing, no team has lost more often. One of his defeats came at the hands of Sunderland, who ran out 1-0 winners on Humberside in October.

Speaking after Tuesday’s defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, Walter insisted that his side had the better of the contest, despite the scoreline. He said: “After 10 minutes we got into the game and we had the biggest chances in the game. We hit the post, Regan [Slater] hit the goalkeeper or we shot it outside the goal. And then it is human because it makes something with you. We knew this situation from the games before, the heads went down.

“We got into the game but after the penalty went against us and that was the situation we couldn’t handle this evening. We tried to change to get the control back but then we lost the depths, they [Wednesday] dropped back and then it is hard to play against a team laid back. You have to create again and be more precise, it was like it is at the moment... they got the counter and we lost this game.”