A week is a long time in football and politics, so we are told. So just how long is the next six weeks going to be for Hull City fans? That’s the period of time Jimmy Bullard is set to be out of action for the Tigers after a bizarre injury sustained in Saturday’s numbing defeat to Aston Villa.

City just put in a bad shift. They were second best all over the pitch, and Villa never looked in any trouble throughout the 90 minutes. As I’ve said before, this City team is not good enough to get results at this level without playing somewhere approaching their best. They were poor on Saturday and were well beaten. It’ll happen again this season, but isn’t anything to be too despondent about. If such performances become a regular occurrence, then questions will rightly be asked. Hopefully they won’t, and City can get back to the stirring performances that led to a four match unbeaten run.

Would another such run be aided by a return to a 4-5-1 formation? I’m still an advocate of it in certain circumstances, but it clearly didn’t work on Saturday. I also think tactical mumbo-jumbo can be much overstated at times, and had we played as poorly in a 4-4-2 the result would have probably been the same. 4-5-1 certainly doesn’t suit Altidore, who clearly benefits from having a pacey partner up front.

City’s defence has been poor of late, so should we be putting the onus on them to keep the team in the game, rather than attacking and trying to pressurise the opposition? In view of recent results, I saw Saturday’s game at Villa as something of a ‘free hit’, and we probably should have been a little more attacking and risked getting hit on the break by Villa.

A clear blame for Saturday’s defeat rests with Matt Duke, who was at fault for two of the three goals. Boaz Myhill, who has been a frustrated substitute for a couple of weeks, is clearly a superior all-round goalkeeper, and should be in the side. Phil Brown seems to like to keep Myhill on his toes once a season by playing Duke for a couple of games. While this may be a clever way of keeping the Welsh international on his toes, it has the side effect of leaving our team without a world-class shot stopper, instead a workmanlike keeper who rarely wins his team points. That is what is needed at this level between the posts.

But the real story of the day was Bullard’s injury. Jimmy has been if not the sole reason, then definitely the catalyst for the team’s upturn in fortunes. City showed against Everton that they can win without him, but now they will have to get results over a longer period of time, until well into the New Year. The busy Christmas period is always a vital point of any season in any division, and Bullard’s absence will leave a massive hole in the Tigers central midfield.

Can Dean Marney fill it? The former Tottenham scurrier has certainly improved in recent games, and had a terrific game against Everton. I doubt he can produce that week after week, but at the moment he’s the nearest thing we’ve got to Bullard. Geo will also assume more responsibility, and may drop a little deeper to replicate Bullard’s role.

At least it’s not as bad as it first appeared. Jimmy leaving Villa Park in tears had everyone understandably fearing the worst, but fortunately no huge injury occurred similar to the two previous knee re-constructions he has needed. Bullard can still have a huge say in the Tiger’s fate this season, but it’s up to the rest of the squad to do the business over what looks a very difficult run of fixtures for the club.

What effect will Bullard’s injury have? I’d love to hear your thoughts?

Cheers,
TC