I would say it's a serious meritocratic list, as everyone who's there deserves to be there. Brabin in particular. Having now spoken to a large percentage of his Great Escape team mates, they pretty much all say the same thing: Brabs was the main on-pitch reason why we stayed up. That half-season was the most important half-season in our history, and Brabs was the most important player within it. Had we gone down that season, who knows what would have happened given who our owners were? I'd say that Brabs is seriously deserving of his place within that list.
I agree on many of the pre-war players: Wright, Smith, Bell, McNaughton, Gordon. I would add Sammy Stevens, Paddy Mills and Tommy Bleakley too. We do try to skew it so that pre-war players find a route in, and I think we'll continue to do that (looking at other football clubs' halls of fame, pre-war players tend to always be under-represented). We've never had O'Connell as an option, however, as the hall is meant to be about what the inductees did for Hull City. I think O'Connell played 50-odd games for us and was never considered to be a particularly notable player. It's only what he did afterwards that marks him out.
Speaking of which, I wouldn't have Okocha in there either. Going from memory, I think he played 18/19 games for us, eight or nine of which were as a sub (sometimes coming on in the 90th minute too). He was amazing in some games (Wolves, Ipswich, West Brom) but he stunk the place out in others (Southampton, QPR). I know he did a lot to raise the club's image and sense of what is possible. I know it was incredibly exciting having him in a City shirt. I just don't think he did enough when his on-pitch contribution is coldly analysed. But then I know that supporting a football club is an emotional thing, and cold analysis is for boring b******s. Personally, I'd have Jobbo and Billy Askew in there, but that's because they were my two favourite players when I fell in love with City.
As for players from the decade just passed, it will be interesting. We've had Liam Rosenior, Robert Koren and David Meyler in the shortlist of the last couple of votes and they've done well but not quite well enough (Jelavic isn't retired yet so can't be included). I'd imagine that James Chester will be a shoo-in, as well as Tom Huddlestone and Robertson. They, along with the likes of Steve Bruce, Curtis Davies, Elmo, Hernandez, McGregor and co, will certainly be options. That said, there are still the other names mentioned above, along with the likes of Doug Clarke, Brian Bulless, Bill Bradbury, Frank Banks and co too. It's certainly fascinating topic, as you say, and everyone would have a different list of names. There is no right or wrong, really.
