Hull City boss Tim Walter not out of the woods despite Acun Ilicali's vote of confidence

Acun Ilicali is sticking with Tim Walter, for now, and has called on Hull City fans to get behind the under-fire manager after a disastrous start to the new season which has left them sailing nervously close to the Championship's dreaded drop zone.

In some respects, Ilicali's decision to back his manager when everybody else is calling for a change is admirable and flies in the face of modern football, and indeed, the Turkish owner's previous manager decisions at the MKM Stadium in dispensing of Shota Arveladze and Liam Rosenior.

Generally, when a manager goes on a semi-poor run, owners and the other power brokers at football clubs make a change and don't give their man time, but at City, Walter is being given the trust and time to try and arrest the slide by the man who appointed him.

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Some will respect the fact the owner is not bowing to growing fan pressure and firing the manager he has put so much faith, and finance, in over the past few months, instead giving him the support to turn it around, while others will be deeply unhappy that the status quo will remain, for now at least.

Fifteen games and one cup game have come and gone, and in truth, Walter's team have shown very little in the way of suggesting they're capable of being anything other than a team that is facing a season of struggle, largely down to the system they're being asked to play coupled with the lack of quality in the top half of the pitch.

Yes, there have been mitigating factors along the way, and even the strongest of Walter critics would surely acknowledge the hand he's been dealt has been tough, though equally, he's not helped himself at times.

Recruitment was slow and took longer than it should and Walter was left without a striker capable of scoring the goals needed. Tommy Conway and Tom Cannon would have been superb additions, but they went to Middlesbrough and Stoke City respectively and City were left to go elsewhere, an area that has not been covered and will need some heavy January investment.

Recently, injuries have had a disastrous effect and will continue for months to come with Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi both out for the rest of the season with ACL problems which require surgery, so Ilicali is absolutely right when he points that out, though there have to be questions raised about Walter's intense training schedule, and if that has had any impact, or if it's purely coincidence, and as the owner cites, rank bad luck.

That said, Belloumi's injury has come recently while Millar was a few weeks ago, and even before those respective disasters for the club, alarm bells were already ringing about the longevity of Walter's approach, and how much the players and supporters actually believed in it.

Few could argue this season has been entertaining, in truth, much of the first few months have been hard to watch and anything but the swashbuckling style we were expecting.

Ultimately, whichever camp you fall into—Walter in or out—he will be given time to try and turn it around, and Ilicali's support for his manager is admirable, to a point, in the current climate. Ultimately, though, if things don't improve quickly and City fail to get positive results against Luton Town and Sheffield Wednesday in the next two games, then the pressure will only increase, and his hand may well be forced.

It's all very well and good trying to be positive, looking up the table rather than down it, but we're realists and we base our opinion on what we're watching in front of our eyes, and what we've watched so far suggests unless there's a big change, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what could be waiting in May.

Walter's vote of confidence must yield a change of course because the owner's backing isn't unconditional, and there will come a point when a big decision will have to be made. Many think that point has been reached, but the owner isn't yet at that point. It may well come unless things improve drastically and quickly.