In my opinion the first half performance against Charlton yesterday was extremely poor and we were lucky to be ahead at half time as Charlton's strikers missed some glaring opportunities to put them ahead. If Charlton had taken its chances before half time we could easily have run up our fifth successive defeat.
Once again McCann showed his tactical ineptitude, choosing to cede two thirds of the pitch to Charlton whose midfielders pushed into our half of the field virtually unchallenged until well into the second half, when Pratleys red-card reduced them to 10 men and a well-worked second goal finally saw us pushing forward. Until that point Possession stats showed a 2-1 balance in favor of Charlton (34:66).
While we have good options in the Back-5, mid-field needs strengthening although Honeyman and Docherty are outstanding. And a replacement for Eaves who has failed to take his many opportunities as striker is critical. Two free agents who could fill these gaps are Irvine (suggested by Chazz) who could provide some much needed back-up energy in mid-field and is still looking for a club and lives in the area, and Diomande who had a great goal-scoring record with Los Angeles FC in the MSL (24 goals in 51 games despite mainly being used as an impact sub) before quitting last summer to return to his family in Norway.
Diomande is also a free agent who could bring a real goal-scoring threat to our wasteful offense. I watched him on TV several times at LAFC and he is exactly what we need - a strong and experienced opportunist for whom a return to Hull would be very tempting, allowing Eaves to go out on loan, hopefully to recover his confidence and scoring touch.
Just my thoughts. But if McCann continues to have us play like we did in the first half yesterday we are going to be a mid-table side at best by seasons end.
Once again McCann showed his tactical ineptitude, choosing to cede two thirds of the pitch to Charlton whose midfielders pushed into our half of the field virtually unchallenged until well into the second half, when Pratleys red-card reduced them to 10 men and a well-worked second goal finally saw us pushing forward. Until that point Possession stats showed a 2-1 balance in favor of Charlton (34:66).
While we have good options in the Back-5, mid-field needs strengthening although Honeyman and Docherty are outstanding. And a replacement for Eaves who has failed to take his many opportunities as striker is critical. Two free agents who could fill these gaps are Irvine (suggested by Chazz) who could provide some much needed back-up energy in mid-field and is still looking for a club and lives in the area, and Diomande who had a great goal-scoring record with Los Angeles FC in the MSL (24 goals in 51 games despite mainly being used as an impact sub) before quitting last summer to return to his family in Norway.
Diomande is also a free agent who could bring a real goal-scoring threat to our wasteful offense. I watched him on TV several times at LAFC and he is exactly what we need - a strong and experienced opportunist for whom a return to Hull would be very tempting, allowing Eaves to go out on loan, hopefully to recover his confidence and scoring touch.
Just my thoughts. But if McCann continues to have us play like we did in the first half yesterday we are going to be a mid-table side at best by seasons end.
