"The odd thing" - Hull City Acun Ilicali ownership claim issued amid mixed supporter feelings | OneFootball

FLW's Hull City fan pundit has been speaking about Acun Ilicali's transparency with supporters.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Hull City's ambitions have become much more publicised ever since Acun Ilicali took the club over from the Allam family in January 2022.

After striking a reported £30m deal to sit in the hotseat at the MKM Stadium, in typical Tigers fashion, fortunes have been very mixed in the three-year spell which has followed.

The Turkish media mogul took over a club which, at the time, had the sole aim of reconsolidating its position in the Championship, whilst the Istanbul native immediately set about restoring a connection between the ownership and supporters, which had been lost in the years previous amid mass boycotts of home fixtures in HU3.

Given how Ilicali's tenure as Hull owner has gone so far, Football League World quizzed our resident City fan pundit, Ryan Frankish, for his thoughts on the 55-year-old's transparency with supporters regarding club matters.

At times, Ilicali's actions have divided opinion, and nothing was more evident of this than Liam Rosenior's dismissal last May, after the East Yorkshire side recorded their highest league finish since being relegated from the Premier League back in 2017.

It has sometimes also been argued that Hull's transfer policy under the Turk's stewardship is somewhat unsustainable, with 60 incomings made in the past three years, whilst the self-confessed Fenerbahçe supporter and director has been known to arrange question and answer sessions with supporters to address his thought process behind key decisions.

Frankish is aware of how the owner has split thoughts among the fanbase, but admits he has no particular issues with how messages are spread from inside the club to supporters.

"I'd say the owners are very transparent," he began. "I think that upsets some fans, really.

"Maybe there's the odd thing that's covered up. Personally (I think) the whole Gustavo Puerta situation, with his obligation-to-buy, I think that's been masked over a little bit.

"But, at the end of the day, not everything has to be out in the open. Acun always addresses problems when problems need to be addressed. He always does the fan Q&A's and speeches when needs be, because he wants everyone to be in the loop.

"It probably benefits him as much as it benefits the fans knowing (about club matters), so, I've got no qualms with Acun on that front."

Acun Ilicali will hope Hull City can push on under Ruben Selles

Throughout the past nine to ten months, there have been a plethora of instances where supporters' opinions on Ilicali have been mixed, especially with his role on Fenerbahçe's board of directors coinciding with the day-to-day running of the Championship side.

However, the owner and recruitment team at the MKM have received widespread praise for their recruitment in the most recent transfer window, despite the fact that £3m buy Eliot Matazo is one of several new recruits across the season to suffer the misfortune of a lengthy injury lay-off, joining Liam Millar, Mohamed Belloumi and Louie Barry in that sense.

Not many people associated with the club would have seen the Tigers involved in a relegation battle this season, despite losing the services of several key players from last term, such as Jacob Greaves, Jaden Philogene and Jean Michael Seri among others.

However, Hull have started to pick up form of late under Ruben Selles, with the hope that survival can be secured well in advance of the season's final weeks.

After the ill-fated reign of Tim Walter and a continued period of inconsistency, Hull are starting to find their feet and make small strides of progress under the former Reading boss, and the Spaniard will no doubt hope to be in the dugout for the long-haul to meet Ilicali's ambitions of ending the club's absence from the Premier League.