The sigh of relief was palpable at around 4.55pm at the KC Stadium on Saturday. A much-needed win was Hull City’s, after a battling performance giving the home side a 2-1 win against Wigan.

The biggest sigh surely came from Phil Brown. The Tigers boss has received more than his fair share of criticism in recent weeks, with a section of the City support calling for the manager’s head. Paul Duffen publicly backed the manager, before questioning the sanity of Hull City’s fans. Good PR Mr Duffen.

So, a tumultuous week for the Tigers manager. But after delighting the national media with tales of rescuing a potential suicide victim, Brownie took a risk of his own, selecting another new captain in Nick Barmby, and playing Kamil Zayatte in a midfield holding role. The new formation worked well, and Zayatte offered both protection to the back four, and a physical presence in both penalty areas, as well as crafting the winning goal for the excellent Geovanni.

It’s been impossible not to feel sorry for the manager this week, and Saturday’s result will be a massive fillip to him and the backroom staff. With an international break approaching, another poor showing would have left Brown facing two weeks of increased pressure. At least now he can top up his tan for a few days and take a few well deserved days off.

This wasn’t a classic performance, but as Brown had mooted mid week, City went back to the drawing board, replicating the battling, hard-fought and high-tempo performances of late 2008. As I mentioned last week, to compete at this level, City have to fight for 90 minutes, as a bare minimum. That they did, hustling a poor Wigan side out of their rhythm, and gradually imposing their will on the visitors. A couple of half chances were created here and there, but City weren’t really opening Wigan up.

It was more an attitude change, and an acknowledgement that effort and commitment was the way to get our season going. Barmby acted as Brown’s cheerleader on the pitch, leading by example as captain. An early example came when the diminutive midfielder sprinted 30 yards to smash into a Latic. Not the most laudable action by a footballer of all time, but the East stand crowd (myself included) erupted; a marker was set down and City’s pace of play visibly quickened. Every Tigers player was at full tilt for the majority of the game. Special mention must be made to Geovanni, whose workrate was magnificent, and fully deserved his goal. Dean Marney also had his best game in a City shirt for some time, reminding us that at his best his engine and workrate can really impact upon a Premier League game.

The defence also showed much improvement, looking solid, if not totally secure. I’m still to be convinced that Sonko is our best option, but Kevin Kilbane did well. Credit must go to Zayatte though, who did a great job in breaking up play around the area, and protected the back four far better than others have done in that position.

Is that it then? Have we cracked it? Err, not yet. Just as it is unfair to criticise too much after defeat, it’s not advisable to get too carried away after a victory, as craved as it was. But at least Saturday’s game showed that the whole squad understands what is needed. On paper, this squad is probably the third or fourth weakest in the league. The chances are City will be at the wrong end of the table for the majority of the season. This is not being negative, just realistic. If performances like Saturday can be replicated, than we have a chance of staying up, which I think most Tigers fans would settle for. There’ll be highs and lows, but with this level of application we’ve got every chance of staying up.

TC

Do you agree? I’d love to hear your comments.