Phelan frustrated with contract delays

Hull City caretaker boss Mike Phelan says he hasn't signed a deal to become manager on a permanent basis because the club keep changing the terms of his contract.

The former Manchester United assistant manager took over on an interim basis from Steve Bruce who resigned just before the start of the new season because of what he termed a failure to invest in new players.

Despite having only 13 fit players at his disposal, the season started well and Phelan won the Manager of the Month award for August.

However, the club failed to win a single game in September and suffered heavy losses to Arsenal and Liverpool.

Despite these setbacks, Phelan is confident that he will be appointed to the manager's role on a permanent basis, but has admitted he is frustrated at the delay.

"I am always confident that my future will be resolved. There's a lot of speculation out there," he said.

"My own press officer comes to me with the off detailed report of what I'm supposed to be thinking or doing. My side of things is that we are still talking and we will continue to talk until it is resolved.

"What needs to be resolved is the terms of the deal. It keeps changing. One minute I think I've got something and the club are happy with and then the next minute it changes, so it's a case of thinking about all these new changes on the table and coming to a decision."

Hull welcome Chelsea to the KC Stadium on Saturday but, despite the London club also enduring a winless September, he doesn't believe that now is a good time to play them.

"I wouldn't say it's a good time to face Chelsea," he added.

"It's the time to face them because the calendar says that. We are serious about what we want to do, where we want to go. It's another game at home and we want to perform and make sure we give them a good game.

"It is important to pick up points in every game. We tried to do that against Arsenal, against Liverpool, but that wasn't to be. We didn't come out of it very well as far as conceding goals, but we have an opportunity with eleven men on Saturday. Hopefully we can stay with that and be competitive."

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