Grant McCann talks what led to his departure from Doncaster Rovers to Hull City one year on

Grant McCann insists he had no desire to leave Doncaster Rovers at all last year before Hull City made the approach which led to his departure from the Keepmoat.
Grant McCannGrant McCann
Grant McCann

But he admits he felt the same excitement of the opportunity to prove people wrong with the Tigers that he had when accepting the Rovers job a year earlier.

McCann jumped ship to the Championship side last June, five weeks on from Rovers’ defeat to Charlton Athletic in the League One play-off semi-finals.

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Speaking to Sky Sports, McCann said he was devastated by the penalty shootout defeat at The Valley but had thrown himself fully into preparing for the following season at Rovers.

“I remember going on holiday a couple of weeks after the play-off game and I don’t think I spoke to my wife or my parents for the week, I just felt so low,” he said.

“I felt as if we were going to do it. Scoring the goal so late to go ahead in the tie, I think John Marquis scored. And then to concede two minutes after it and then lose on penalties which is the worst way ever, I just felt sick.

“I got back to work straight away and there were three players I think that I brought into Doncaster before Darren [Moore] went in there, people like Madger Gomes, Ben Sheaf, Brad Halliday.

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“We had done business quite early. I had no intention of leaving. I was ready to have another push the season after.”

Hull - who had seen Nigel Adkins reject the opportunity to stay on as manager - made the approach to McCann in mid-June and within a few days he was unveiled at the KCOM Stadium, along with his assistant Cliff Byrne.

The 40-year-old said his departure from Rovers was purely due to his own ambition and the chance to overcome the odds with troubled Hull.

“To receive the call from Hull, I’m a very ambitious person and I want to see how far I can go in my managerial career,” he said.

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“To take the step into the Championship where I wanted to be with Doncaster was - I wouldn’t say it was an easy decision because I had no real sense of leaving Doncaster. I didn’t have a reason for it.

“The club supported me in everything I wanted to do. They are tremendous people there behind the scenes. The players were great, the fans were great.

“But just to have that chance in the Championship with a club like Hull, it reminded me of the Doncaster challenge when I first went in there - people writing you off, and things like that.

“Maybe I could go in there and reach the point where we can challenge for better than what people think.

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“Initially we did, then things got on top of us, probably from January onwards.”

Hull - who are preparing for a potential return to action with the rest of the Championship clubs - are currently two points clear of the relegation zone having taken two points from the previous 33 available. The club sold star men Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki in January, exacerbating the downturn in form.

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