His first managerial role was a long time coming for Liam Rosenior. He had been in charge of Derby on an interim basis following the departure of Wayne Rooney but found himself at a crossroads when the club appointed Paul Warne.
‘When I came out from Derby I didn’t know where my career lay,’ Rosenior tells Sportsmail. ‘I didn’t know if people saw me as a manager, if people saw me as an assistant manager. I had a lot of different types of offers.’
When his former club Hull City came calling in November, it was the perfect job at the perfect time.
Rosenior, 38, has what he describes as an ‘unbelievable history’ with the Tigers. A player for five years, he enjoyed a promotion to the Premier League, an FA Cup final and a brief stint in Europe. But there are also family ties.
His grandmother, Cath Mills, lived in Hull for more than 30 years and worked with children with learning disabilities. The chant ‘Liam Rosenior, his nan is from Hull,’ was coined during his playing days but has an added significance as a manager.
His first managerial role was a long time coming for 38-year-old Liam Rosenior (above)
He had been in charge of Derby on an interim basis following the departure of Wayne Rooney
However, he found himself at a crossroads when the club appointed Paul Warne
‘My nan passed away a year ago,’ Rosenior says. ‘She got buried with a Hull scarf and the Hull colours, the amber and black. I think she’d be really, really proud. I can’t believe it. I was here for her funeral and if you’d have said to me a year later, you’re going to be manager of Hull City, I’d have said, ‘You’re crazy’.’
Rosenior may be a rookie when it comes to management but working as Rooney’s assistant during Derby’s battle with administration was the ultimate apprenticeship. He also formed a close bond with the former England striker.
‘I speak to Wayne at least once a week, that’s how close we still are,’ Rosenior says. ‘We just catch up — family, life, how things are going for each other.
‘In adversity, you create really good friendships. I know we’ll be friends for life because of what we went through and the pressure we were under. I’ll never forget it.’
Rosenior wants his team to play out from the back and be brave on the ball. Easier said than done —the Tigers had the worst defence in the Championship when he took charge. But there has been a noticeable improvement. ‘I want to play attacking football, I’ve got a clear identity and style of play,’ Rosenior explains.
‘I believe in playing in this way whether you’re near the bottom of the league or the top. I’m not playing out from the back because I want to stand on the touchline and everyone to go, ‘Look at this coach, look how pretty they play’. I want to do it to win games of football.’
Listening to Rosenior speak is refreshing. He is intelligent, open and honest and does not shy away from a question about the lack of diversity in management.
‘I hope it changes,’ says Rosenior, one of just eight non-white managers in England’s top four divisions. ‘My dad (former Fulham and West Ham striker Leroy) was manager of Gloucester City and Torquay. I used to go to games with him and people wouldn’t believe he was the manager because of the colour of his skin.
When his former club Hull came calling in November, it was the perfect job at the perfect time
‘I don’t think my dad got a fair deal in his career if I’m honest, the coach he was. It spurs me on, it motivates me to try to be somebody who people can look up to.
‘Chris Hughton made me believe I could do it. Seeing someone in a position that looks like you gives you the inspiration to do what you want to do. I want to be that inspiration for the next generation. I’m so proud when my kids see me standing on the touchline.’
Rosenior pauses before continuing. ‘It’s amazing, this city is twinned with Freetown. I’m from Sierra Leone. Freetown is the capital of Sierra Leone. Freetown should be called slavery town because it was the epicentre of slavery.
‘It was part of the three-point trade between Great Britain, West Africa and the West Indies. It’s a really strange thing being here at Hull and what it represents to me to stand on the touchline every week. I want the world to be a better place and not to be prejudged. Racism takes on all forms — it’s not just name calling, it’s prejudice.
‘It’s when someone walks in the room and people think they’re not capable to do a job because they’re a woman, black, Muslim, doesn’t matter. Prejudgment is part of racism and we’ve still got a long, long way to go.
Rosenior is intelligent, open and honest and does not shy away from a question about the lack of diversity in management
‘I went to a game, I won’t say where, while I’ve been manager here. I walked into the stadium and the guy said to me, ‘Do you have a name tag?’ I said, ‘No, I’m the manager of Hull’. He looked shocked.
‘I’m not saying that’s anything to do with the colour of my skin but it’s that grey area where you’re thinking, ‘You don’t perceive me to be a manager because, to you, I don’t look like a manager’.’
Rosenior’s side are 12th in the Championship but only four points outside the play-off places. ‘This league is so open,’ he adds. ‘My job is to make the team better every week. We’ve made really good strides in the last three months.’
With attendances up and an ambitious manager in place, there is a new sense of optimism around the MKM Stadium.
‘I want to be the manager that takes the club back up to the Premier League,’ Rosenior says. ‘That’s why I’m here. People may take that as arrogance but I believe it’s possible. This club is growing again and it’s amazing.’
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