Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has fired back at former Premier League players Joe Cole and Carlton Cole after the pair poked fun at his club's prospects of staying in the top flight this season.
The criticism emerged during an episode of The Dressing Room podcast, where Joe Cole, the ex-Chelsea and England midfielder, revealed he had rejected an offer to work as a pundit for Hull's opening league match. He went further, suggesting he would be "stunned" if the Tigers managed to avoid relegation, and made light of their route back to the Premier League by saying: "They've come here through the back door. They've slipped in."
Hull's return to English football's elite tier was anything but straightforward. The club sealed promotion with a dramatic, last-gasp victory over Middlesbrough in May's Championship play-off final at Wembley. That triumph came just a year after Hull had scraped clear of relegation to League One, staying up on goal difference alone during the 2024-25 campaign. This season marks their first taste of Premier League football since 2017.
Ilicali did not take the remarks lightly, using social media to voice his frustration at the comments made about a club he described as his