Defeat for Hull City against Cardiff City on the last game of the 2019/20 Championship season saw the Tigers drop down into League One for the first time in fifteen years last week.

Supporters of the club are extremely angry and frustrated at the perceived ineptitude of both the owners and the management staff, in allowing the club to slide down from eighth position on New Year's Day, to 24th towards the dying embers of the season.

This wasn't a gradual decline - this was an alarming collapse. Hull City won only six points after the win against Sheffield Wednesday on 1st January and went down with a whimper.

Hull City have had some excellent managers in the last thirty years - Warren Joyce, the player manager who guided them to safety during the "Great Escape" season; Brian Little, the ex-Premier League boss who almost took the club up through the play-offs at the turn of the century against all the odds; Peter Taylor, who oversaw back to back promotions up to the Championship; the notorious Phil Brown, who took them to their first season in the Premier League and kept the team in the division and latterly Steve Bruce, who took Hull City up to the Premier League on two separate occasions.

However, the club has also has managers who haven't been so successful. Where does McCann rank against these? 

  • Terry Dolan

Possibly the manager that gets the most vociferous reception from the last thirty years is the Bradford native Terry Dolan, who oversaw some of the darkest days Hull City fans have seen. "Fish Out, Dolan Out!" was the chant that rang through Boothferry Park during much of his tenure, with hatred towards the owner of the club also particularly poisonous. Hull City finished rock bottom of Division Two - as it was called then - with only five wins all season in the 1995/96 season, and attendances were quite often less than 4,000. Tigers fans will be hoping that the club does not plummet through the divisions as they did during this time, as Grant McCann's team lost the same amount of games this year (25) as Dolan's Hull City did all those years ago. That statistic alone is damning indeed.

  • Mark Hateley

After Dolan came Mark Hateley - another manager that Hull City fans do not hold in high regard. A massive name as a player, with England caps to his name and clubs such as AC Milan, Rangers and Monaco on his CV, Hateley failed to live up to the hype that his name suggested. Finishing 17th in the 1997/98 campaign in Division Three suggested that the job was too big for him with little experience as a manager, and with relegation to the Football Conference looking likely in the 1998/99 season, he was replaced by Warren Joyce who led them to a remarkable escape from relegation. 

  • Phil Parkinson

One manager who didn't last long in East Yorkshire came with an excellent reputation at the time. Peter Taylor departed for Crystal Palace after securing safety in the Championship in the 2005/06 season, and Parkinson came in as his replacement. However, as various players have alluded to in various publications as well as recent Podcasts, he tried to change too much too soon and after only six months in charge, then-Chairman Adam Pearson replaced him with number two Phil Brown. The rest, as they say, is history - but the club's slide down the table under Parkinson was alarming to say the least, with the club taking quick action that in the end paid dividends. 

  • Where does Grant McCann rank among these managers?

It is very difficult to compare the job managers do, even at the same club. However, it is safe to say that whilst Hull City fans may not consider their current manager as the worst manager in recent history, many are suggesting his time is certainly up. His side have lost as many games this season as Dolan's City did back in 1995/96 as previously mentioned, and they also conceded more goals this season (87) than they did then (78). Managers have been sacked for much less, as they say - and the job that McCann has done despite losing his two star players Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki, may suggest his time may be up in East Yorkshire.