Who will be the next man to go to Hull and back?

With the news that Steve Bruce has resigned as Hull City manager on Friday it has left their preparations for this upcoming season in the Premier League in the worst possible shape and the question is who will be the man to come in and steady the ship.

The club could almost not have been left in a worse state with there now only being 13 fit players on the books, players seem to be dropping like flies and the news that Michael Dawson is now ruled out for three months would have been met with a collective sigh by Hull fans.

You get the feeling that for Bruce that it was England or bust for him. I’m not saying the injury crisis was the sole reason as to why he left but it would have certainly been magnified by the fact that he was not backed in the transfer market to get reinforcements.

That added to the backdrop of rumours of the sale of the club and you can begin to understand why Bruce was heading for the exit door one way or another. Getting the England job would have been the perfect way for him to depart but now the departure is not so glamorous.

Speaking of glamorous it’s not quite a word you would describe with this new managerial vacancy, whoever takes over will be taking over a threadbare squad and one beset by backroom turmoil so whoever comes in is certainly going to have his work cut out.

The big question is who is that man going to be?. The bookmakers have former Everton manager Roberto Martinez pegged down as the early favourite. He certainly comes with a lot of Premier League experience and more importantly that of working with sides at the lower end of the table such was his time at Wigan Athletic.

That said his stock isn’t at a particular high after his sacking from Everton at the tail end of last season, once again a Martinez side showed defensive weaknesses and it was those weaknesses at the back which ultimately did for Wigan after many great escapes. If the Spainard was to take the job you do have to wonder if he would have finally learned from all those previous mistakes.

If it’s not to be Martinez then former England manager Steve McClaren is another name touted, for McClaren the next job he takes is going to be very important as he’s had a number of failures now and you would imagine that one more spell in charge that doesn’t live up to expectations and he will be somewhat of a busted flush.

After that the reading doesn’t look all that inspiring if you were a Hull fan. The contenders have a very Manchester United flavour with names such as Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane and Mike Phelan being linked with carrying on the Manchester- Hull connection. Whether that happens or not though remains to be seen.

Another man in the frame is Neil Warnock, he decided not to renew his contract at Rotherham after keeping up last season and at his age you do have to wonder if he has the appetite for another season and ultimately another relegation battle.

So the smart money would be on Roberto Martinez taking over from Steve Bruce, it wouldn’t be the worst appointment in the world but if you are a Hull fan then you would have every right in thinking that this season is going to be a very long one.