Hull City have appointed Marco Silva as their manager on a deal until the end of the season, the club have confirmed.
The 39-year-old Portuguese replaces Mike Phelan, who was sacked on Tuesday with Hull bottom of the Premier League following a run of one win in 10 matches.
“Marco is a young coach who has impressed us with his philosophy and football style,” the club’s vice-chairman, said Ehab Allam in a statement. “He has a great track record and we feel this is a bold and exciting appointment in our aim to retain the club’s Premier League status.
“Marco will be bringing in his own back-room team who have all played their part in his recent success. We are already working hard with Marco and his team to deliver some key additions to our squad during this transfer window.”
Silva has coached at Estoril, Sporting Lisbon and Olympiakos, leading the former to Portugal’s top flight, Sporting to the Portuguese cup in 2015 and the later to the Greek title last season. He left Olympiakos for personal reasons shortly after and thus was immediately available to Hull.
Silva has no experience of English football and speaks only limited English but he will have to quickly get to grips with the task of keeping Hull in the Premier League. They are three points from safety and next face Bournemouth at the KCom Stadium a week on Saturday.
Before that are two cup ties – the visit of Swansea City in the FA Cup third round this Saturday and the EFL Cup semi-final first‑leg trip to Manchester United on Tuesday. Silva is expected to be in charge for both.