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Hull City news: 'Marco Silva already making an impact on Tigers' dressing room' - Josh Tymon

Tymon scored in the 2-0 win over Swansea City in what was Marco Silva's first game in charge of the club

Michael Walker
Sunday 08 January 2017 23:46 GMT
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Silva made three substitutions to help inspire Hull's 2-0 win over Swansea
Silva made three substitutions to help inspire Hull's 2-0 win over Swansea (Getty Images)

Marco Silva took his third training session as Hull City manager on Sunday and according to one player at least - Josh Tymon - the 39-year-old Portuguese is already making his impact felt at the club’s Cottingham base.

Born in Hull, 17-year-old Tymon scored his first senior goal for the club to ensure victory over Swansea in the FA Cup at a deserted KCOM stadium on Saturday.

The 2-0 win was Hull’s first clean sheet in 23 games and Tymon intimated that this was not a co-incidence, saying of Silva: “He’s very tactical.

“He likes to get in amongst players and put his stamp on how we’re playing and how we’re passing, how we’re defending set-pieces. Even though it’s only two days he’s put his spin on it and how he wants us to play.”

Tymon was one of three successful second-half substitutions made by Silva. Abel Hernandez and Shaun Maloney were the other two and they combined with the coveted Robert Snodgrass to give Hull their 78th minute opener.

Silva acknowledged that substitutions do not always turn out this way, and he also downplayed what can be achieved by a coach in such a short period of time.

“It’s not easy [two sessions],” Silva said. “It’s impossible for me to say the team won this game all because of my ideas.”

But Silva also said: “If you look with attention, you saw we changed a lot of things in our positioning, in our defensive organisation; we try to do a lot of things different in our set-pieces. Of course, we need more time.”

It was an occasion notable for the 18,000 empty seats in a stadium holding 24,000, and it was against opposition in Swansea who began brightly and threatened occasionally but who also did not wholly convince their new manager Paul Clement.

The crowd, atmosphere and opposition will be altogether different in Hull’s next game – which comes fast at Silva: Manchester United away in the League Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday night.

The game will inevitably throw up a Jose Mourinho comparison for Silva. In Portugal this already exists and Mourinho has spoken fondly of Silva.

But the newest foreign manager in English football did sound daunted by the challenges facing him, one of which is the fractured nature of the club he has just joined. Hull are attracting scepticism the way the club is run, and over Mike Phelan’s dismissal after 82 days in post, and Saturday could easily have gone wrong for Silva.

But he said he was unconcerned as he took his place on the touchline: “No, I’m not normally nervous, anxious, no. It’s important for me, here, but it’s difficult for you to see me nervous or anxious.”

With injuries and the Africa Cup of Nations already curtailing Silva’s options, captain Michael Dawson leaving the pitch gingerly 20 minutes from the end with a hurt shoulder was not what he needed. Silva, however, left open the possibility that Dawson and Harry Maguire both could be fit for Tuesday.

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