The wait it over: Hull City have confirmed that 48-year old, German coach Tim Walter will succeed Liam Rosenior as head coach, signing a contract that will see him at the club for three years. Walter, described as an innovative coach with a high-octane, possession-orientated style of play averaging two goals a game, will officially join the club on 1 July subject to obtaining a visa. Acun, our chairman who announced he fired Rosenior due to a ‘difference of opinion’, described Walter as the ‘outstanding candidate’; he told the BBC:
"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."
The former Hamburger manager has coached five teams during his career: Karlsrucher SC U19s (2014-2015); Bayern Munich II (2017-2018); Holstein Kiel (2018-2019); VfB Stuggart (2019-2019); and Hamburger SV (2021-2024). The latter was his most successful spell as a manager, coaching 104 matches and winning 51, drawing 28 and losing 25, departing the club with a 49% win rate. He has also managed almost 200 games (197) in his homeland and boasts an overall win rate of 50.25%.
Walter is known for his pressing game, and a desire to play football on the front foot at high intensity, rating the success of his team’s performances by the amount of shots on target and how many hit the back of the net. He also highlighted his desire to see the game played in the final third of the pitch. Here is what he said in an interview:
“I try to focus on attack. Goals and scoring opportunities…I want to be in control of the game. And I have control when the ball is in my court.”
Clearly, he is a very successful manager, with experience (he has also worked with Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager), however, his tactics and style of play is the antithesis of Liam Rosenior, and it may take some time for the players, who have been playing with a defensive mindset for a season and a half, to accustom a completely different system. Hopefully he will make an immediate impact and it does not take too long for our squad to gel together again.
I watched some highlights of Walter’s previous club, Hamburger, and I have to say, they play some amazing football and their build-up to goals are pragmatic; it is not much different from how Rosenior would make us play out from the back, but the biggest difference is that they do not waste time passing it between keeper and defenders and get the ball moving forward as fast as possible. They were not scared to boot the ball up-field too, which is something we seldom did, and they knew how to score goals, something we lacked throughout the previous season.
It is wunderbar to hear that we have a new manager, and we can now turn our attention to the transfers we make (we need to recruit at least 10 players!), which will be interesting: will he bring in players from his previous teams, which would be smart given they already know his style, and not go for high profile players, or will he chase after these known players like Rosenior did and take a gamble? It is a shame all our current loanees, all attacking players, will not stay (it is a possibility that Delap will stay) as with an offensive minded manager, it certainly would be ‘heart-attack’ football.
I hope Walter settles and the team and fans stick with him as once he does, it is going to be an exciting few seasons for us.