Not just in terms of results either.
Chosen as the successor to Valerien Ismael at Barnsley, Markus Schopp’s short-lived reign at Oakwell in 2021-22 never got off the ground. He was replaced at the start of November after one win in 15 games – the Reds have reached the end-of-season lottery in the previous campaign.
Danny Schofield’s tenure at Huddersfield Town in the following campaign was comfortably shorter.
Taking over from Carlos Corberan, who led the Terriers to Wembley at the end of 21-22, Schofield’s era lasted 68 days. He won just once in nine matches.
Which brings us to Hull City’s Tim Walter.
As with Schopp and Schofield, the German has not exactly hit the ground running, following on from Liam Rosenior, who went agonisingly close to reaching the end-of-season lottery with the Tigers at the end of last term.
He is still waiting for his first win and his footballing style – or perceived lack of it in some quarters – is starting to grate with supporters.
While Schopp and Schofield were comparatively mild-mannered operators in their dealings with the media and preferred the sanctuary of the training ground, Walter is different and will clearly fight his corner and bridles at talk of any identity crisis.
His spirit is admirable and a fightback has to start from somewhere, at least.
His side were booed off following last Friday’s 2-0 home loss to Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United, which extended their winless sequence during his tenure to six matches in all competitions. City have not scored in their past three games either.
The promise of exciting attacking, high intensity, possession-heavy football with lots of player rotation – as visualised when he was entrusted with the job by owner Acun Ilicali – has not transpired as yet.
Walter sees strong signs, but requires the oxygen of points with the Tigers facing a side who are on their second permanent head coach of the season already in Stoke tonight and potentially another who are primed to make a change if things don’t improve fast in Cardiff on Saturday week.
After a clear week, described as ‘brilliant’ by the former Hamburg coach, he needs his ‘heart attack’ football to start easing a few headaches among frustrated fans.
Walter said: “That’s the right of the fans, but for me, it’s no problem as we were also frustrated about the (Sheffield United) result.
“You can imagine if you have a new squad and a lot of new players, everything rises through confidence. Especially in our game. If you don’t know the other one (player, well enough), then it’s harder.
“At the end, how we performed was the way to the (right) result. The progress, improvement and development, especially for a lot of younger players, was really great.”
As for criticisms regarding a lack of discernible style, he countered: “We had a lot of possession. I don’t know if they know what possession play is, but at the end we had 68 per cent ball possession and we had more shots on goal and that’s the data.
“The data that is most important at the end is the result, but the way to the result is the performance.
“The performance we played, without our mistakes, was that we were really creating chances. At the end, it was the finishing pass and target shot, that’s the important thing.
“I see the things behind (that). How we can create and how we came in the penalty area. It was really good.
“I can understand people talking, but my job is working with players and trying to improve them.
“It’s about the confidence and conviction of the players and they have it. At the end we had 16 corners, I don’t know if any other team had 16 corners (last week) and don’t score..”
Quite simply, Hull – and Walter – need a break, as do their opponents this evening.
The game is the first in the Stoke dug-out for former Huddersfield Town coach Narcis Pelach. Among his assistants is Dean Whitehead, who left his coaching position at Barnsley earlier this week.
While Pelach is eyeing his own particular milestone and night to cherish, the need of Walter is also pretty self-explanatory. He craves his own new manager ‘bounce’.
Walter, who could involve Carl Rushworth and Steven Alzate this evening, added: “Now I know the phrase.
“I have to take a look on my own, our squad and style of play. Maybe, they want to impress the new one (head coach), but all we can do is play our game and work.
“We know the (Stoke) style and you don’t have the time to change it in one or two sessions. That’s not possible and they have their style of playing.”
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