Hull owner gives furious response to viral Joe Cole and Carlton Cole video

Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has hit back after a clip of Joe Cole and Carlton Cole laughing at his club went viral.

The newly-promoted Tigers host Manchester United on Saturday to mark their return to the Premier League.

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Speaking on the ‘Dressing Room’ podcast, ex-England star Joe Cole claimed Hull are ‘gone’ before kicking a ball, sending Carlton Cole into fits of laughter.

Joe Cole then claimed he intentionally ignored a request from TNT Sports to cover the lunchtime clash – which is also live on talkSPORT.

He said: “I want to make a confession here today, right. TNT Sports have contacted me for the new season. They’ve tried to slip in the Hull one on the first day of the season. I put my phone on do not disturb!”

He added that he expects the East Yorkshire side to be in danger of relegation: “They’ve spent 70million, I’ll be stunned if they stay up. They’ve come here through the back door, they’ve slipped in.”

“Lacking intelligence”

Ilicali joined talkSPORT on Friday to share his thoughts on the viral video – and he was not amused.

The businessman said: “We deserve respect, but respect can only be given by people who hold a level of intelligence, so I think there was a lack of intelligence.

“This is not a small thing. I’ve been all around the world, and if you ask me where I satisfy my soul, I would say, ‘Hull’.

“I think this a beautiful place. Everywhere is green, and the people are beautiful.

“For me, in this conversation, they are imagining what Hull is like, which is very dangerous, and I am sure they are sorry for that. One of them tried to apologise, but this wasn’t an apology.

“If someone makes fun of my mother, and then after they say, ‘it was just a joke’. I can’t say what I want to [because he’s on-air].

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“So, they have to be careful when they talk about topics like this.”

“It’s just banter”

Carlton Cole, who hosts our Sports Bar Weekender on Friday nights, insisted the clip was being taken too seriously.

Taking to Instagram, he said: “We’ve come under a bit of fire at the Dressing Room. The Hull City fans are not happy with us.

“Listen, a bit of back and forth, a bit of banter, it’s alright. It’s not the end of the world. One man’s opinion doesn’t make it right, doesn’t make it real.

“You might be disappointed with that opinion, but it’s alright. That’s the whole point of football. Yes, I did belly laugh when he said that you snuck in at the back door. I did. Come on, it’s funny. I’m laughing at my mate’s joke. I can do that.

“Joe thinks that you won’t stay up and it’s alright if you don’t stay up. It’s okay. You’ve done well to get to this point.

“I love Hull City. I’ve got admiration for Hull City. My son was there. He’s now at Middlesbrough, but when I look back, the fans were amazing.

He added: “So what I want from you is to suggest a forfeit. If you do stay up, or anybody that thinks Hull’s going to stay up, send your suggestions in for a forfeit for Joe Cole.”

Embracing the ‘underdog’ status

Last season, the Tigers were widely tipped to suffer relegation to League One; however, they defied the odds to win the Championship play-off final amid the controversy around ‘Spygate’.

Despite securing promotion, many pundits have immediately tipped Hull City for a swift return to the second tier.

However, Ilicali believes manager Sergej Javorcic and his players will revel in the role of being the Premier League’s underdogs.

He added: “This is such a normal thing. I checked 25, maybe 30 predictions and all of them put us first to go down.

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“But just check who was the favourite to be relegated last year in the Championship and we got promoted, so this only makes us laugh, we like to be called the underdogs.

“For us, we will bring five or six new players in next week, so the team that will be on the pitch [this Saturday] will not remain the team all season.

“We are never afraid, and these players have made us so proud, so many times. For us, I’m hopeful and I believe in my boys and I’m sure they’re going to do us proud again.”

Hull have brought in a raft of new players, and there are more expected in the final days of the window.

They have only lost one game over pre-season, which was against Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt.

However, the squad has suffered numerous injury blows, including new signing Jack Butland, with the former England international goalkeeper expected to be sidelined until Christmas.

Nevertheless, Hull will hope that with the new additions of Nobel Mendy, Konstantinos Tzolakis and 18-year-old Aussie centre-back Lucas Herrington will help secure Premier League survival.