EFL • NON-LEAGUE • SCOTLAND

The Hull City gaffer and Rangers cult hero walks us through a frantic first six months in the Tigers dugout – and recalls sex jokes with Johan Cruyff…

Interview Guus Hetterscheid

INTERVIEW SHOTA ARVELADZE

You were appointed in January and led Hull well away from relegation danger in the Championship. How do you reflect on your first six months?

I was welcomed from day one. At the start, the club was in a difficult place [19th, nine points above the drop zone] and there wasn’t time to change many things because the transfer market was almost closed. The main goal was to stay in the Championship, and we did that – the team showed character. There were disappointments, like the 5-0 defeat against Bristol City in April, but the fact that we were certain of staying up a few matches before the end saved a lot of stressful moments.

This is your first managerial role in Britain. How did the move happen?

I’ve known the owner, Acun Ilicali, for a while – Iworked in Turkey for years and have a home there, and we spoke about his project at Hull before. When he was looking for a new manager in January, I was asked if I’d like to join. I saw it as a brilliant opportunity to get started in English football. I was ready for a fresh challenge after my period at Pakhtakor Tashkent in Uzbekistan, so looked more deeply into Hull. I knew the club by name, but quickly learned more about their history, achievements in recent seasons and how the squad had been put together. Then I watched several games to find out how I could help the team.