Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic - a Premier League rookie - loved testing himself against the division's most experience manager David Moyes of Everton
Sergej Jakirovic talks to David Moyes before the match between Hull City and Everton at MKM Stadium on October 11, 2026
Sergej Jakirovic talks to David Moyes before the match between Hull City and Everton at MKM Stadium on October 11, 2026(Image: Lee Parker - CameraSport via Getty Images)
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Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic admits that as a rookie boss in the Premier League it was an honour for him to pits his wits against David Moyes because it feels like the Everton manager has been operating in the division for a century.
Moyes was the English top-flight’s youngest manager when he first arrived at Goodison Park as a 38-year-old in 2002 but now the 63-year-old is the elder statesman among the competition’s dugouts. Along with serial title winners Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United and Arsene Wenger of Arsenal, the Glaswegian is one of just three managers to pick up more than a thousand Premier League points.
Following Sunday’s 2-2 draw at MKM Stadium, Jakirovic, who steered the Tigers to Premier League promotion in his first season in charge and had described Moyes as one of the “old folks” who “know everything” about football in his pre-match press conference, said: “Always, it’s a very big test for me, because I’m new here, and David is... 100 years here!
“So, I can be calmer when I see him, he’s very calm like he’s in his living room, so this is very interesting. But this experience, I’m young, I’m 49 years old now – I’m 50 in December, so I’m not so young – but I compare with me with him and I’m younger, and I have to learn from every game.
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“For me, it’s an honour to be his opponent and try to beat him or try to surprise him, which is not so easy.”
The former Bosnia and Herzegovina international added: “I think it’s fair result, you know? In the end, we used one of their mistakes and we scored the goal, but unfortunately, we gave them two goals.
“Then we showed the strong mentality, because we played with more risk and were happier with the ball. We created a good chance for Mohamed Belloumi and he scored.
“Maybe I was not happy with some transitions, counter attacks, especially in the first half because we had better decisions. We were scrappy on the ball.
“But this the players’ decision and you cannot change there anything. But in the end, I think we should be happy with this point.”
Jakirovic was not happy with the goal that saw Everton take the lead as Sorba Thomas’ cross-field pass for Semi Ajayi was intercepted by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who picked out Thierno Barry to score, but he acknowledged that Moyes’ men are a difficult side to come up against.
He said: “I felt more of a lack of energy at that moment. We were not so aggressive on the front foot, that we chasing them with the ball, especially doing pressing on the player with the ball and around him.
“That was the reason why we made substitutions. I can say there is no responsibility in these situations or a lack of concentration, but now it’s done.
“So, there is a lot of scope to improve some things and in possession, we should be braver on the ball because we can create problems. You see that after going 2-1 up how Everton sat back.
“Especially against Everton is not easy to break them because they are a pragmatic team, they are a tall team who put in very good challenges and are tactically disciplined. They know what they’re doing, so this is the reason why they are still unbeaten.”
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