When Marco Silva was named Hull City manager in January, the consensus was that the Portuguese had been extremely lucky to be given a chance to manage in the Premier League. Three months later, Hull will be fortunate to hang on to him.

Hull had made so many mistakes since promotion from the Championship, that glorious day in May last year when Steve Bruce, the most successful manager in the club’s history, returned them to the top flight, that the appointment of Silva was dismissed as another one.

According to Sky Sports pundits Paul Merson and Phil Thompson, Silva’s arrival was an insult to all the hard-working British managers who had done their time in the lower leagues.