Hull ‘uncertainty’ stopping Phelan agreeing deal

Ian Watson

Hull boss Mike Phelan said he will use the international break to continue discussions about taking on the permanent job at the KCOM Stadium.

Phelan has been close to agreeing a deal and insisted there is “no panic” about his future despite the speculation continuing for longer than he would like.

Phelan said: “My future will take care of itself – I’m not in a position of panic or worrying too much about it.

“The talks I’ve had have been very, very good but then once people sleep on things they tend to change overnight and it was just a case of not being particularly happy with the uncertainty of the deal.

“I stressed that, so moving on we’ll have another cake and a coffee and we’ll discuss it.”

Phelan added that he will take encouragement with the way his side contained Chelsea for the first period before the gulf in quality finally told after the break.

He said: “I was encouraged because in the first half we took Chelsea to certain limits and we created a few chances, but at this level when you get the chances against teams of this quality you have to take them.

“I felt we were the architects of our own demise – we gave the ball away very cheaply and our decision-making wasn’t great, and we suffered the consequences.”