On a baking spring bank holiday, Sergej Jakirovic basked in the glory of Hull’s fairytale promotion to the Premier League in an address to 40,000 ecstatic supporters from the balcony of Hull City Hall. We’re going to the Premier League!” roared the Jakirovic to the delight of those in attendance. Oli McBurnie’s late goal had secured a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the Championship playoff final 48 hours earlier, clinching one of the unlikeliest ascents for years.
Hull only survived relegation to League One on goal difference in 2024-25 but Jakirovic, an intriguing character and fine raconteur, proved the man with the alchemist’s touch. Three months on from those wild celebrations, the Bosnians new-look side must defy the odds again – and then some – to survive in the Premier League. Hull have been written off as relegation certainties by bookmakers and pundits, including former England duo Carlton Cole and Joe Cole, who ridiculed them on their podcast this week.
They have come in through the back door, they’ve slipped in.” Such barbs do not faze Hull’s head coach, who was in typically ebullient mood before Manchester United’s visit to the MKM Stadium on Saturday lunchtime. We’re up against the best teams, players and managers and I’ve seen all the predictions. But it’s a great motivation to prove them wrong because we don’t have anything to lose.
We want to improve and show that we can develop to do even better as a team – and of course we need another miracle to survive. It will be an even bigger achievement than winning promotion if we manage to stay up. We need 40 points, so everything is very clear.” Jakirovic has made the people of Hull walk a little taller in a city which has received more than its fair – or rather, unfair – share of negative publicity at times.
What did he make of the jibes from both Coles, which provoked such a furious backlash from Tigers fans? If they were in my position they would fight, so it’s easy to say we’ll finish 20th, but can they bet on that? They can put everything on that or they can lose, so we will see.
But we’re not here by accident.” The club’s high-profile chairman Acun Ilicali, who has said he will keep faith with Jakirovic even if Hull go down, has made 11 new signings – several of whom are currently injured – and broken the club’s transfer record twice in the process. The recruitment drive, described by some as scattergun, is also not over “We’re expecting three or four more players,” Jakirovic said. In all decisions, we are always speaking and trying to improve our team in many ways.” Hull’s dramatic rise last season – their fourth promotion to the Premier League from 2008 onwards – caught the imagination, and Jakirovic is a good story in his own right.
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