Tim Walter’s position as Hull head coach was questioned by factions of supporters following a 2-1 home defeat against West Brom.
Hull were jeered off at full-time by some supporters after first-half goals from Karlan Grant and Josh Maja left the struggling Tigers seven games without a victory – and level on points with 22nd-placed Cardiff.
Joao Pedro’s excellent 40th-minute header kept alive Hull’s chances of avoiding defeat, but Carlos Corberan’s Baggies, who had gone eight matches without a win but are now back in the play-offs, held on to increase the pressure on Walter.
Despite having promised all-out, attacking football, the former Hamburg boss has been a divisive figure since replacing popular former manager Liam Rosenior in the summer.
And this damaging result did little to convince many supporters that he should remain at the MKM Stadium.
Perhaps aware of the uneasy atmosphere around the ground, the visitors began earnestly and took the lead after 12 minutes.
Grant was given too much space to cut inside from the left before striking towards goal.
Goalkeeper Ivor Pandur looked well positioned, but the ball spooned off centre-back Alfie Jones’ right knee and into the back of the net.
Hull responded purposefully, with Xavier Simons striking the underside of the crossbar with an artful side-footed hit from the edge of the penalty area.
But once Maja scored after 17 minutes there already appeared no way back for the Tigers.
Mikey Johnston sent over a fine deep cross from the left towards Darnell Furlong, who headed into a dangerous area.
Unmarked Maja rose well before heading downwards past Pandur, who could not react quickly enough.
Angry Hull fans predicting complete surrender from their side were nonetheless heartened by the reaction to the second goal.
Indeed, an encouraging spell of possession led to their deficit being reduced when Pedro brilliantly headed Charlie Hughes’ inviting cross into the top-left corner.
Further evidence to suggest Hull had not downed tools came after 58 minutes when Regan Slater headed Abdus Omur’s perfect delivery over the crossbar when it seemed easier to score.
West Brom still represented a threat going forward, though, and nearly added a third after 65 minutes.
Torbjorn Heggem’s well-executed overhead kick from 12 yards was goal-bound but smartly tipped over by Pandur.
Hull, unsurprisingly given what was at stake, finished the game strongly but they were reduced to half-chances rather than anything definitive against well-drilled opponents.
Walter will have valid claims to suggest his team deserved a point, but the damage was done in the first half.
Time will tell whether this defeat has far greater consequences for the under-fire German.
The managers
Hull’s Tim Walter:
“There are still 31 games left – I am always looking forward not backwards. All we can do is keep going. The players showed character, a lot of courage and a lot of bravery.
“We are looking forward – that’s all we can do. We are trying to push them forwards. We are not looking for excuses, we are looking for solutions.
“It’s more about the performance than anything else but, at the end, we didn’t have the luck.
“We are conceding unlucky goals but all you can do is to work and fight. They proved their character and they tried to involve our fans, which they did.
“The players wanted to show that we can beat teams like this and I know they can do it.
“It was like a repeat button: the same result and the same zero points. But it is, for me, about how we are performing to get to the results.
“If someone told me they would have had two shots against us I would have taken it.”
West Brom’s Carlos Corberan:
“We arrived to this game in a very difficult physical challenge because we played Thursday night.
“The minimum (gap between games) for me should be 72 hours – in my opinion this is a risk.
“We played against an opponent not in similar physical conditions because they played two days earlier.
“It’s not an excuse but we knew to achieve a positive result the level of strong mentality had to be key.
“I’m very satisfied with the mentality of the team – the effort and the commitment has been amazing.
“I value the mentality of the players because when you don’t win games you can get frustrated and give up.
“Hull are a very good team with very good players. It’s true that under their coach they do something that is totally different to other teams.
“Their types of rotations make it more of a tactical challenge and, with the physical challenge, we didn’t have time to prepare.
“We were very resilient. As a coach I will always want to make our fans proud of the team. We had some good moments, but we are not performing at the level I want.
“I feel unbelievably proud to lead this club for 100 games, but the most important thing is to make the fans proud.”
