Just a fortnight after Marco Silva announced he would not be staying at Hull City following their relegation to the Championship, the Tigers have turned to former CSKA Moscow manager Leonid Slutsky in an attempt to lead them back to the top flight.
Defensive specialist
Slutsky arrives at the KCOM stadium with a reputation of manufacturing organised teams based on foundations of solid defences. Following the departure of Curtis Davies and finishing with the worst defensive record in the Premier League last season, Slutsky will see this as a key area in Hull's attempted revival.
When a short playing career was cut short in 1989 after falling out of a tree rescuing his neighbour's cat, Slutsky distanced himself away from professional football for a decade. However, he was ushered back in as a manager at the turn of the century and took the reigns at CSKA in 2009 after spells in Russia's lower leagues.
Five major trophies during seven years at CSKA
Just two months into his tenure at one of the most highly acclaimed clubs in Russia, Slutsky guided CSKA to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Despite winning the Russian Cup in 2010-11, it took four seasons since his arrival to win the Premier League. A solid defence kept a record fifteen clean sheets in CSKA's double-winning season. The side from the capital then went on to win the league two more times in the next three seasons.
During his final full season at CSKA, Slutsky took over as Head Coach of the Russian national team. A record-equalling five consecutive victories in his opening five games helped them qualify for Euro 2016, before a lacklustre performance saw them finish bottom of their group at the tournament in France.
Slutsky stepped down from national team duties straight after the tournament, before resigning from his post at CSKA six months later.
"Leonid’s attention to detail, thoughts on playing style and his ambition made him the stand-out candidate"
After a further six months out of the game, Hull City decided to appoint Slutsky with Vice-Chairman Ehab Allam stating “I am delighted to welcome Leonid as our new Head Coach. After a thorough recruitment process, Leonid’s attention to detail, thoughts on playing style and his ambition made him the stand-out candidate".
Slutsky himself admitted "I am very much looking forward to the challenge of guiding the Club back to the Premier League. I already know that this is an important Club with a big and loyal fanbase. I’ve had a good feeling about it ever since meeting the Allam family and I can’t wait to get started next week".