Mike Phelan’s long awaited confirmation as Hull City’s manager has finally been made official but he faces an immediate fight to rebuild the club’s backroom team after failing to prevent Aston Villa from poaching Stephen Clemence, his former assistant.
A key figure at the club, Clemence has rejoined his mentor, Steve Bruce, at Villa Park but fears that Gary Walsh, Hull’s goalkeeping coach, may also be set to defect were allayed after Walsh made it clear that he has no desire to depart. Phelan – who assisted Bruce on Humberside before succeeding him on a caretaker basis – had hoped that a new-found sense of stability might have persuaded Clemence to stay but Villa’s pull ultimately proved too strong.
Phelan, 54, has been in temporary charge for three months, stepping up from the No2 role when Bruce resigned on 22 July after disagreements with the Allam family, Hull’s owner, over transfers – or rather the lack of them.
“It’s been a while in coming, but I’m happy with the position I am now in and looking forward to the challenge ahead,” he told the club’s official website. “It has taken time but things have to be done correctly with these matters. What is important now is that we move forward and help this squad of players be successful for this football club.
“It’s exciting to step over that threshold into management, and I’m looking forward to working with this group of players that has done so well so far.
“The support I have received from everyone has been magnificent and I want that to continue because the challenges ahead are huge. The fans have been excellent through the last few months and the players have given me their full backing. I’m looking forward to what is to come now so roll on the next few games.”
Phelan, previously Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United, has impressed players, supporters and the board by overcoming a raft of injuries to senior players to collect a respectable seven points from seven Premier League games while also steering the team into the last 16 of the League Cup.
After weeks of protracted negotiations slowed by on-off takeover talks between the Allam family and a Chinese consortium, negotiations intensified during the past few days and Phelan is thought to have agreed a one-year deal worth around £1.5m. With at least one member of that consortium failing the Premier League’s fit and proper person test, the club are now negotiating with other potential buyers but any sale looks some distance away.
Instead the immediate challenge is to cope with Clemence’s exit while also arresting a slide in form which has seen Hull - who visit Bournemouth on Saturday - lose four of their last five Premier League games.
Although the squad will be upset to lose the popular Clemence there is likely to be a sense of relief that, more than a month after Ehab Allam, Hull’s vice chairman, made Phelan a formal contract offer via email, its precise terms have finally been brokered satisfactorily.
