ESPN Soccernet - Correspondents - Hull City

Posted by Tom Collins on 08/17/2009

First off, welcome to my new blog. I've been watching Hull City for over ten years now, and have seen the club rise from a lower league laughing stock, locked out of their own ground, to Premier League upstarts terrorising the big boys. Hopefully you'll find my views on the Tigers interesting. I'd love to hear your feedback on my thoughts.

I've got to say, well done to Phil Brown and Paul Duffen on the past couple of weeks. After a lengthy period of inactivity in the transfer market, the Tigers hierarchy have pulled off some decent looking signings, and hopefully more will follow. The City Chairman said at the off we may not see players brought in until the last few weeks of the transfer window, citing the false market created by the transfer window.

How right Mr Duffen was, and Altidore, Olofinjana, Hunt and Ghilas have been recruited in the past couple of weeks, with hopefully a couple more will follow. These four seem to be the kind of signings that flourished last season; hungry players with a point to prove at this level. Habib Beye's assertion that he was looking for “a big payday” at the end of his career doesn't bode well in my view. Maybe it's a blessing we missed out on him. A big point is a look at the bench from Saturday's game at Stamford Bridge, which held the likes of Geo, Barmby and Zayatte, showing that the Tigers clearly have a stronger squad than last season.

City impressed at Stamford Bridge, producing a performance reminiscent of last season's glorious away days. Snarling, scrapping away in a condensed midfield area and denying space to more talented opponents.

Boateng was inspired, with the impressive Olofinjana giving the veteran a license to get forward. The city captain's deflected shot set up Hunt for the opening goal, before fluffing City's best chance of the second half. It was a surprising and impressive display from the midfielder, who many city fans thought would be only a peripheral figure this season.

The disappointing ending to the game mattered not. As Brown said post-match this was a statement of intent, a marker for city to aim for on the road for the rest of the season. The ‘experts' have again relegated City before a ball has been kicked, but on Saturday's showing, again city aren't going to lay down for anyone, and may well surprise sides who make the mistake of underestimating our threat.

In truth, city's survival this season rests on their home form, which has to improve. Hopefully a fully-fit Bullard will add the guile and craft needed to break teams down at the KC Stadium, which was sadly lacking for much of last season. Effort and commitment will definitely not be, and yesterday's performance said what all city fans really hoped for. We may well be relegated, but not without a fight.

Comments

Posted by Martin Sumpton on 08/17/2009

Agreed ! City need an experienced right back and another midfielder to give the squad better balance and strength in reserve. PD PB + BH have shopped-around and the new players not only look a promising blend of experience and young talent but they also want to make their mark - and play for City. There are too many players in the BPL who are looking for a 'last big pay-off' before returning home. The game at Chelsea was not discouraging; obviously I'm biased but I do believe City were really unlucky not to come away with a draw. Let's face it - Drogba 'falls over a hankie' to get a free kick and his last minute goal was a fluke. Too many good performances from the City team to warrant pessimism - and our defence was terrific as Chelsea were 'shut out'. Hunt's debut was excellent - how he coped with the continuous insults was the mark of a strong character, and he took his goal calmly. It augers well for the season and I look forward to seeing the new signings flourish. C'mon City !!

Posted by Erik S on 08/17/2009

Good post Tom. I'm glad we finally have a correspondant here to set the record straight for City. I agree, it was a spirited performance by the boys against Chelsea, and based on that I am left confident we have what it takes to stay up again. Even though the summer has been difficult in the transfer window, I'm pleased with the signings so far and with more signings to come things seem to be looking up.

I feel Brown doesn't get any credit whatsoever. Pundits seem to only focus on Brown and what he says and does. Pundits always seem to highlight his skin colour and choice of clothing as if to imply that fashion sense and life style is what makes you a good manager. Also, they (the media) bait him into saying things that cause drama. In the post match interview on Saturday, the reporter kept trying to force him to say something stupid and to complain about the referee, all which he resisted. I wish people would give Brown and Duffen more credit, as they have done wonders for this club

Posted by Brad in SoCal on 08/17/2009

Couldn't watch the game. It is interesting that Geo didn't start, but I was glad to see Stephen Hunt back in the Prem and in the thick of things. A big problem last year was on-loan players getting recalled or brought in (remember Manucho?) for short spells only, plus Bullard going down so quickly, all leading to lack of cohesiveness in the side the last half of the season. If we can regain that sense of toughness/competitive spirit, then all we need to do is score some goals (even Hunt's on Saturday seemed fortuitous). Turn those 1-goal losses into draws and draws into wins and we'll be fine.

Posted by Brian on 08/18/2009

We may well be relegated??
Give me a break.
I should have been this correspondent.
There is no mention of a need for a forwardattack.
What we lacked was the firepower that Chelsea had.
Jozy Altidore would have filled this need partially had he been able to get a work permit in time, but is there any of this possible analysis? no of course not.
The chairman said we would not see more signings until the end of the window simply because most of his offers were rejected at the beginning of it. They have been agressive and should be given credit for that, but they also needed to be more focused on individual players instead of casting a large net over positional needs (See Campbell blunder)
I have been trying to get this position all summer and just because im an american and dont have the firsthand knowledge i am suddenly a lesser analyst?
I respect someone who has been a fan for 10 years, my fiancee's father is from hull so i understand your excitement,butthis will never be asgood

Posted by sean on 08/19/2009

I am an arsenal man, but i really enjoy the fight and confidence you'v inspired in all the smaller clubs fighting for top honors. Hull added surprise away victories and scrappy fights, making top teams fight when they didnt expect it, and for that i wish you the best. In my opinion, to move forward, Phil Brown heeds to grow up.

No top team in Europe benches their best playmaker-goalscorer, so why would you? Geovanni needs to play more than "go try to save a lost game" like he has been at the end of last and beginning of this season. You looked outmatched from the start against tottenham, but as soon as Geo went in, you could at least boast some attacking chances. He won the free kick you scored off, and continued to create opportunities all game.
No top European team benches their stars, but shows faith. Cesc (my favorite) Ireland, lampard, ronaldo, modric, ronaldinho, arshavin (for Zenit), kaka, pato, xavi to name a few.
DONT BENCH YOUR STAR and i think you'l do fine. good luck

Posted by Brian P on 08/20/2009

636am in Britain. The chosen "correspondent" is probably alseep.
Hull's shocking 5-1 loss to the Spurs is now almost a day old.
Of course we still have heard no news about anything, but why should we expect Mr. Collins to dutifully report about Hull City. Is this even his favourite team?
Did he write last year for another team?
Is he the soccernet guy's person to write about any old team if no respectable BRTIS are around to cover it?
I always seem to get the name confused. I know he also shares it with the leading commander of US forces in Afghanistan, but again, who cares about Americans?
City fans should.
Aside from the shocking lack of defense in the loss, Jozy Altidore remains in the states.
Stephen Hunt has already paid dividends, twice now, but we need more than one player to step up, especially with the tragic news of skipper Ian Ashbee being sidelined for up to 9 months.
This is a tremendous hit to themidfield, but of course none ofthis is covered. Step up your game

Posted by mech on 08/20/2009

Bryan,
Stop complaining about not being the correspondent. If you give good analysis everyone will respect your knowledge and opinion. An "analyst" is simply someone who analyzes..we're all free to do that.
You're not saying anything that Brown hasn't already said about the need for forwards to be the primary players putting the ball in the net as opposed to relying so heavily on the midfielders. That's not ground-breaking analysis, my friend.

Posted by Hep on 08/20/2009

Brian, being American doens't make you a lesser analyst but how can you seriously think that someone who watches Fox Sports or some grainy feed from the internet can get a better feel for the games and goings on at City than someone who lives in the area and attends all the games?

I for one think that Tom made a very insightful opening post and look forward to more from him.

You talk about being focused on specific players and not dragging the net over positional needs, you make no sense! They spent far too long focusing on Campell when it was obvious he wasn't going to come.

You were right about one thing we did lack the firepower the Chelsea had so congratulations on that. I would take that further and say we also lack a Russian Billionaire to fund this amazing forward line. Give me a break!

I'm afraid to say that from your comments you certainly shouldn't have been this correspondant.

Posted by Mike on 08/21/2009

I was excited after the performance at Chelsea as well, but after the Spurs match, it's hard to walk away with much positive, isn't it?

I suppose you could say Hull has faced one of the toughest schedules so far...

Why does Hull seem to struggle so much at KC?

Posted by Brian on 08/23/2009

Hep. mech.
Thanks for your opinions.
It is nice someone actually can read this.
You see I have been submitting weekly updates about hull since the position became available at the end of the season and I recieved no aknowledgement whatsoever.
I agree about Campbell. If someone wants to sign, sign, dont go on "vacation". That was obvious. Focusing on specific players to me means finding someone like Altidore, instead of throwing contracts and any and all available strikers and being hit in the media after each declines your offer. An extreme example would have been making an offer for tevez.
Hep, as for your comments, I agree that someone who attends games regularly would have a better grasp than someone who only speaks to a former hull resident weekly to compare notes. But where does it say he is attending these games as well?MY point is that being an american seems to be the only thing that stopped my application which is not right, or even legal in the states.
So i write this.

Posted by Hep on 08/24/2009

I know he attends games because quite simply I've seen him at games home and away (he sits quite near me). Imagine my surprise when I saw that the picture was him.

However to satisfy you I would suggest that for all future games he should mark down whether or not he has attended the game he is reporting.

Brown has done his business mostly right in the window, he identified his targets and made a bid. Could he have been more discreet in regard to the media? Yes but he obviously finds it hard to dodge a direct question. Agents of the players seem to be the one's releasing it to the press anyway.

I don't think being American is the only reason you didn't get it. Stop being so paranoid. If you have a problem take it up with ESPN don't shout down the reporter because he got the job you wanted. He may have any sort of journalism qualifications for all you know. But the simple fact is that the area he is always going to be better than you is he GOES TO GAMES!!

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