1. What a putrid afternoon at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. City’s 1-0 defeat at Sunderland confirms – if you didn’t already know – that City are in grave danger of being relegated for the second season in a row. And worse still, it suggests there isn’t much hope of this fate being avoided. 2. The first half was unutterably supine, with City again showing a frightening lack of urgency in a game of obvious importance. That scares us, hinting as it does at an inadequate mentality among the players. The situation is dire, but the way matches are started is redolent of end-of-season dead rubbers. How is this possible? Why does it keep happening? 3. Nigel Adkins is not impressing us. It’s easy to mock the claim advanced in mitigation that we “warmed up well”, because you can sort of see what he’s getting at: that the preparation is right, and it’s the execution that’s lacking. But he isn’t executing either. Why do the players continue to look so half-arsed at the start of critically important fixtures? Why can’t we play with two strikers? Why do substitutions act to continue unsuccessful formations rather than alter them? And why on earth have we so completely stopped scoring? 4. Okay, we’re trying to tighten up and maybe nick enough 1-0s to scrape 21st. Fair enough. But it obviously isn’t working, and we’ve gone from a fairly free-scoring and even occasionally entertaining side to one that’s almost unwatchable, and actually amassing fewer points per game than under the previous manager. It’s godawful stuff, and even though he hasn’t been here a long time, a few stiff questions need putting to Mr Adkins. 5. That some City fans were still incensed enough to sing “you’re not fit to wear that shirt” is ominous. That’s not necessarily unfair – while the ultimate responsibility lies solely with the Allam family, this also isn’t a side that ought to be plunging towards relegation. It wasn’t a majority, but enough to be heard amid a severely angry full-time reaction, and suggests that the fans/players relationship that’s broadly survived our descent down the table is close to fracturing. 6. With a less kind turn of events following the FA Cup third round, we could have found ourselves bottom of the Championship by this weekend while we’re in fourth round action against Nottingham Forest. Mercifully, neither Sunderland nor Burton Albion are among the eight clubs playing their scheduled Championship fixtures, while Birmingham are in FA Cup action themselves. To be playing Leeds on January 30th as the 24th of 24 would have been a horrendous piece of footballing symbolism. Their fans don’t need much excuse to come to the Circle and take the piss, but to do so while we languished at the very foot of the table would have been unbearable. 7. That FA Cup tie in itself feels insignificant right now, but maybe it’s the sort of break from the lousy, rotten freefall we need. Not that beating Forest will be any kind of cakewalk; they’ve just dumped the FA Cup holders Arsenal out of the competition and have also played us off our own park once this season. 8. Marco Silva has been sacked by Watford. This shouldn’t be surprising, given the Watford hierarchy’s notorious impatience with head coaches in recent years. And it’s true that Silva was on a bad run and seemed to have been distracted fatally by interest shown in him by Everton a few weeks back. Yet we know he is quality. And with two weeks of the transfer window left and 18 games of the season to come, what would we give for him to be parachuted back in and asked basically to repeat the revival he instigated when all seemed to be lost little more than a year ago? Yes, we still got relegated under him, but without him we’d have been relegated in March. Our squad is not without talent, and Silva is not without the charisma and the character to do a persuasion job on Ehab Allam in a way akin to that regularly done by Steve Bruce on Assem. It’s doable in theory, but of course, not in practice. It will remain a mere pipe dream – not only will the Allams not entertain the idea of sacking Adkins so quickly after appointing him, but we can’t imagine they have high regard for Silva after he dared to see greener grass than that which they supplied for him at the beginning of 2017. On top of that, Silva will not have a lot of enthusiasm for coming to a club trying to avoid hurtling through the club’s second tier, and even a man of his self-belief won’t like risking two straight relegations on his CV with the same club, even though neither of them would be his fault. He’s better than us now – or, at least, he’s better than what we represent under the toxic regime of the Allams. 9. It’s not been a good week for ex-City gaffers. Phil Brown is also on the way out of his job, though in a familiar turn of events, is currently on gardening leave while Southend United tries to find a way of reaching settlement with their manager of the last five years. We can’t comment on the wisdom of the decision, of course, although seven defeats in eight does look rather ominous, but we hold plenty of affection for the first manager to take City to the top flight in English football and we wish him well. If we do end up in League One, you can imagine him crawling over broken glass to rescue us. In fact, you can imagine him doing that right now. 10. Our discussion with Sunderland podcast Roker Report last week made it evident, well, more evident, that fans of other clubs are aware of the wilful damage being inflicted on our club by the Allam family. Incredibly though there are some Hull City fans who still defend them, who still support them and attempt to paint them as victims of the actions of supporters determined to thwart their good intentions. It’s a dwindling band for sure, but it’s hard to fathom how they can do it, Stockholm Syndrome maybe, or a Vichy France-esque subservience fueled by self interest, who knows. But let’s say it plainly… if you still support the Allam family, you actively support their wilful damage of Hull City AFC. You can be certain that these people will, when the ghastly Allams eventually move on leaving the club little more than a husk, say “it won’t be long before new owners have ‘so called fans’ at their throats” or similar, in an attempt to deflect from the fact they cheerleaded as the Allams ripped apart the club they claim to support. http://www.ambernectar.org/blog/2018/01/things-we-think-we-think-289/
Bang on point 3, exactly what I was saying Saturday - while Ehab is responsible for 99.99% of problems, doesn't account for negative tactics and substitutions
I'm pretty sure those out of contract at the end of the season are looking elsewhere. That being the case they won't be giving a 100% each week. David Meyler has already tweeted that no contract is coming his way, he said later he was joking, and deleted it, but there is no smoke without fire. With the numerous out of contract players and the 3 loanees, the team is now made up of half hearted players who are on their way at the end of the season.
It's the trickle down effect you see in businesses when firms are in decline. In our case, Half-hearted owners. Half-hearted players Half-hearted fans. And I'm one of the latter now. And strangely I'm not bothered if we go down. I've already decided if the owners are not prepared to invest then neither will I with my time and money. I've been a member of the Premier Club since inception in 2002. This is my last season. **** 'em.
It a very sad state of affairs Lee, I have to say I am of much the same mind. I was one that said I would keep going, as at my age I just felt I wasn't going to let the Allam deprive me of what I enjoy doing. But that enjoyment has slowly been sucked out of us all, and like you if they can't be bothered to invest in the team, then I am sure as hell not giving them anymore of my money.
Has Meyler played like he wants a new contract? What the article misses out is that I think Adkins said that the first half was the worst they played under him and he said players didn't go in for the 50/50s. There just isn't the choice in the squad to have competition though. Silva's two signings Grosicki (mainly not bothered, now injured) and Evandro (virtually always injured) haven't helped much either. His 'charisma' didn't help bring great players here, and I think he would have struggled as much as any other manager with us this season.
Out of our 11 starting players on Saturday 7 of them probably won't be here next season as they are on loan or out of contract. That's the Goalkeeper, back four and midfield two. That's a large section of the team that don't have a selfish reason to fight relegation too hard. Add to that Bowen probably expecting an offer from elsewhere and Evandro will probably be on DLA.
Exactly, it struck me that Ryan Mason, as long as he get back playing again, could well be playing in the 3rd division after his last game was against Chelsea. Not something he would be expecting, and not likely to be sticking around long if he get back playing OK.
If the Allams do recoup all of their investment (plus interest lets not forget) - which looks like their plan - then fans who have spent money over the years on season tickets, memberships call it what you will, will have actually invested more in the team than it's owners. Our investment is gone, we can't suddenly change our minds and decide we'll have it all back. What a sorry state of affairs.
It's a complete car crash, and the Allams (along with Darnborough since he arrived) are responsible. Yes, like Slutsky, Adkins possibly should be getting a little more out of the squad, but the club is riddled with problems (some of which Lambo mentions). However, I think it's totally wrong to be saying things like 'this squad should be doing much better'. Yes, individually there are a handful of reasonable players, but the overall squad is god damn awful. Even more so considering where we've come from and the riches we've had available in recent years. The squad is severely lacking in pace, guile (bar only 1 or 2), physical presence and strong characters. It is simply nowhere near good enough. Then add in all the problems that the club is riddled with, which all stem from the top ("the fish rots from the head") and that's why we are where we are ... a club nailed on for relegation unless something changes quickly i.e. unless the Allams support Adkins in the this transfer window with a handful of quality additions - real pace, experience, physical presence, leaders. It doesn't look like it's going to happen though, which means I now expect us to be relegated. And to pin hopes, as the Allams seem to be doing, on the returning goal machine Keane, the dependable Hernandez and Dave is simply laughable.
Re: 4, in fairness Adkins is proving pretty adept at eking out 1-0 score lines. Re: 9, I’d have either of Silva or Brown back here in a heartbeat right now. We’ve slipped so far so quickly to make this happen.
I'm not particularly inclined to defend Adkins, but I don't agree with the bit about 'unsuccessful formations'. As fans we make such a big deal out of what is nothing more than a sequence of numbers written down. In reality a manager's game plan will be so much more complex than can ever be represented by simply writing "4-4-2 or 4-5-1" that no two teams deemed to be playing the same formation will ever really be the same. A formation alone means very little indeed, and it isn't true that simply playing more strikers means more goals. I love to see a good strike partnership sometimes, but it isn't always the best decision necessarily. This squad has an abundance of attacking midfielders and so it makes sense to try and squeeze in as many as possible. There could be an argument that Campbell alongside Dicko or Keane would be a good partnership, but then we'd probably have to drop Toral who often looks like our most dangerous player.
It seems to be a common theme with those of us who have stopped going (because we're sick of the Allam's piss-taking) that we don't really miss it all that much, that's the really sad thing. Most of us have been supporting City long enough to know that this malaise isn't (just) because the team is playing ****e ATM, god knows we've been through enough of those patches, it's far, far deeper than that. I didn't renew my pass at the end of the 14-15 season and haven't been to a City game since. Now that my kids are older, I should be taking them to footy on a Saturday afternoon. I just can't see that happening any time soon.....
A double relegation will highlight further (if needed) to the rest of the football world, just what a basket case our club is thanks to our wonderfully inept owners. The more we can sully the Allam name the better in the sort term IMO.
Nobody really cares outside hull ,,on Talksport on Saturday , they touched on our game briefly and all Joey Barton said was appointing an unknown Russian was asking for trouble and only got ourselves to blame if we go down , completely oblivious or uninterested in the other 100 reasons
Have the Allams gone yet? All I can say is our current plight is like a coma, and we'll only get out of it when these lot get lost.
Toral, Evandro and Irvine. Allegedly Henriksen too. Not many clubs have three players of the quality of those first three to pick from. In a 4-4-2 you could maybe squeeze one of them in out wide but that's it.
