That's right, that's right, the Tigers are coming to fight, it'll be sweet, so sweet, if the Tigers leave in defeat.... Game 41 sees Hull City come to the CCS with their hopes of sneaking into the play-offs starting to slip following 2 losses on the bounce, so we can expect another stern test against a side that earlier this season absolutely took us to Hull and back up at the MKM when they tore us to shreds, running out easy 3-0 winners. That performance by the Bluebirds ranks right up there with the worst we've seen this season and despite there being some fine finishes from a Hull perspective it’s fair to say they were ably assisted by the Bluebirds turning in a totally abject performance and displaying a real lack of intensity. We will certainly have to be right on our game if we are to get anything out of it, especially with so many ex-Bluebirds lining up against us! Our own form of course has been very up and down too, with 2 defeats of our own only being 'offset' by a gritty, but somewhat fortunate win away at Coventry last time out. As unexciting as things feel for us Bluebirds though, it must be said that if we triumph over the Tigers we will once again leapfrog them to gatecrash the top 10 spots once more - now who doesn't want to see us finish inside the top 10?? For those brave enough - last time out highlights.... Bulut's Bulletin Rubin Colwill's injury issues seem to once again be surfacing with him expected to miss this one and potentially the Birmingham clash midweek too. Callum O'Dowda is also missing out after feeling a slight hamstring issue in the weekend win v Coventry - bad news once again for the Irishman, let's just hope it's more precautionary than a real issue again. Both Mark McGuinness and Kion Etete are still both missing, with Etete being rumoured to possibly miss the remainder of the season now. There is marginally better news with McGuinness however with hopes of him making an appearance before the summer. Jak Alnwick is also sitting this one out again with continued concerns about his knee - though one begins to wonder whether he may have psychologically checked out and will be looking for a move in the summer having lost his starting berth to Horvath? Having put in a determined shift against the Sky Blues it would be no real surprise to see Erol stick with the same starting 11 for this one, though we may see young Cian Ashford make an appearance after impressing in 1st team training recently and Callum Robinson may also be afforded some more minutes in a bid to continue his re-integration back into the side. What Are The Odds On That? There are few moments in football that can make you smile nowadays but my old mate Phil Brown definitely provided one of them a little while back whilst he was gaffer of the Tigers. In homage to that moment he decided we should recreate the scene ahead of this clash, though he did say he wanted to bring a new member of his backroom team with him (at least I think he said backroom, though thinking about it, he may have said something about coming from behind???) Well I Never Did you know that the George Hotel in Hull, one of the oldest surviving pubs in the city, claims to have the smallest window in England - Originally a coaching in, it was said the slit in the wall was used by the porter to look for stagecoaches and customers. Apparently nowadays it's used to keep an eye out for lurkers from Llandaff.... During the Second World War, Hull became the most bombed city after 90% of its buildings was destroyed. Bullet holes can still be seen on some buildings throughout the city. Hopefully Bulut can identify holes in their defence on Saturday! 80s pop star and Hull City fan Sinitta once promised to sing on the pitch when the club returns to the Premier League. So THAT'S why they've been in no rush to get back there!!! Sharing The Love There's something quite striking about the list for this one.... though perhaps not quite striking enough in the case of one of them Gavin Gordon A youth player at Hull City, Gordon became the second youngest player to ever play for them when he came on as a substitute against Coventry City in the Football League Cup. But he struggled to ever establish himself at Hull and was allowed to leave and join Lincoln City for £30,000 in November 1997 where he formed a very effective strike partnership with Lee Thorpe. His scoring feats at Lincoln lead Cardiff City to pay £550,000 for him in December 2000, with owner Sam Hammam describing the player as having a ‘leap like a salmon’, with the amount due to rise depending on appearances he sadly never reached the required amount as his time with the Bluebirds became blighted by knocks. He scored his first goal for City on 1 January 2001 with a header during a 6–1 victory over Exeter City, but the rest of his season was spent on the treatment table with persistent back problems. The same injury ruled him out of a large part of the following year, although one of the matches he did manage to play in was a Football League Trophy match against Rushden & Diamonds which ended in a 7–1 victory for Cardiff with Gordon finding the net five times! He spent a short time on loan at Oxford United to gain fitness and whilst at Oxford he scored the winning goal on his debut against York City before returning to Ninian Park where he finally broke into the first team, but at the end of the year he was released. He was signed by Notts County where he managed to regain some of the form he showed at Lincoln. After a stuttering second year he left to join Crawley Town on a free transfer but suffered a serious injury during the season. He signed for Histon at the start of the 2007–08 season but did not make an appearance for them due to his injuries. He went into coaching at Sleaford Town but now works as a postman for Royal Mail in Sleaford. There’s a really good article on him here; https://garethsfootballtravels.wordpress.com/2022/05/31/player-profile-62-gavin-gordon/ Jeff Hemmerman Hemmerman came through the youth ranks at Hull City. He moved to Portsmouth on a free transfer in May 1978. Hemmerman finished as top-scorer in the 1978–79 campaign with 16 goals, as "Pompey" finished three places outside the Fourth Division promotion places. Under the stewardship of new boss Frank Burrows, promotion was secured with a fourth-place finish in 1979–80. They missed out on a second-successive promotion by six points and three places in 1980–81, but then dropped back into mid-table in 1981–82. Hemmerman scored 40 goals in 123 league games during his spell at Fratton Park. He moved to Len Ashurst's Cardiff City and was the "Bluebirds" top-scorer in the 1982–83 Third Division promotion season with 26 goals in all competitions. However, he suffered a severe knee ligament injury against Bristol Rovers, and though he attempted a comeback the following year he struggled to regain form and fitness and subsequently retired from professional football at Ninian Park. He was awarded a testimonial match in December 1984 when Cardiff played Aston Villa. After retiring, he trained as a physiotherapist and worked for Cardiff City before setting up his own rehabilitation clinic in Newport. Oddly, one memory I have of him (as a young Bluebird that had just just started going to the odd game) was seeing him along with all the team in (from memory) David Morgan's doing some kind of promotional appearance. I'm pretty sure unless my memory is deceiving me I attended the testimonial game too. A couple of clips of him in action here (though one is a tad embarrassing for the club, a moment many older Bluebirds will remember with dread!!) Josh Magennis Magennis began his career as an outfield player, playing up front, even representing County Down in the Milk Cup as a youngster, before eventually becoming a goalkeeper. He was a member of the Glentoran youth team before joining the youth team at Cardiff City. On 31 October 2007, Cardiff met Liverpool in the Football League Cup but, with David Forde and on-loan goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel ineligible, Magennis took a spot on the bench for the match. The decision to include Magennis was controversial because he had been called up to the Northern Ireland under-19 team but was not allowed to join the squad by manager Dave Jones due to the need to keep the youngster at Cardiff, with only one senior goalkeeper available for the match. However the club realised he was never likely to make it between the sticks and so In April 2008 he reverted to playing as a striker, just before the Welsh Youth Cup final where he came on as a substitute. Magennis signed his first professional contract on 10 April 2009 for Cardiff City, the only second year academy student to be offered a professional deal, and began working with reserve team coach Paul Wilkinson who had previously coached former Cardiff striker Cameron Jerome in a similar manner. On 8 August 2009, Magennis made his professional debut when he replaced Jay Bothroyd as a late substitute on the opening day of the 2009–10 season in a 4–0 win over Scunthorpe United. In his fourth appearance for the club, Magennis scored his first professional goal during a 3–1 win over Bristol Rovers in the second round of the League Cup. The return of Ross McCormack and Warren Feeney from injury meant that Magennis fell down the pecking order at Cardiff and he was allowed to join League Two side Grimsby Town on a one-month loan deal on 15 October 2009 but Magennis made just a handful of appearance for the side before, on 29 October 2009, he was told that he and fellow loanee Arnaud Mendys loan contracts were to be terminated ahead of schedule. Magennis made his first start for Cardiff on 9 January 2010 in a 1–1 draw with Blackpool but was forced off after just 35 minutes after suffering a fractured fibula. He made his comeback as a substitute on the last day of the regular season against Derby County. He was given a free transfer by Cardiff at the end of the season along with Peter Enckelman, Warren Feeney, Tony Capaldi and Aaron Morris. On 5 July 2010, Magennis signed a deal with Aberdeen Oumar Niasse Signed by Everton from Lokomotiv Moscow for a fee believed to be around £13.5 million the striker scored 9 goals in his 42 senior appearances over 5 seasons (all 9 coming in the 2017-2018 season). Following a reasonable loan spell with Hull City in the Premier League (5 goals in 19 games including 1 against Liverpool and 2 against then Premier League Swansea in a 2-1 victory), the Tigers opted not to take up the option of an outright purchase for £10 million, with their relegation from the top flight a likely reason. This then opened the door for a further loan spell during the 2018-2019 season to Cardiff City whereby, despite lots of running around in his 13 appearances Niasse failed to score. He subsequently returned to Everton, making just 3 appearances the following season before being released. In March 2021, after a period of training with the club, Niasse signed for Championship side Huddersfield Town. He never made an appearance for the club and left when his contract expired in June 2021. On 17 February 2022, Niasse then signed for League One side Burton Albion following a short period of training with the club, scoring three goals in twelve appearances in his time at the club before being released at the end of the 2021–22 season. Last seen in action for Macclesfield but now currently without a club. So, can our Leopards change their spots and put in a big performance at home against the Tigers? Will we avoid a big catastrophe by beating Hull and leave us feline good?? May we see Erol spring a trap and snare the Tigers before they know what's hit them??? All I know is we need revenge for earlier in the season, a Tigers eye for an eye and all that because it's the thrill of the fight, risin' up to the challenge of our rival, and the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night (or just after 5pm) and Erol's watching us all with the eye of the tiger...... Blooooooooooooooobirds!!!! <0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/
Great Post as usual BB. Very big away support at the Gas. I guess it would have kicked off on the bank to the left of the away end, as usual.
I recall trying to get from the car park to the ground without getting inadvertently caught up in dozens of scuffles going on all around the place.
Just a normal afternoon at Eastville. With nothing better to do I once went to a League Cup game at Eastville, Rovers v Villa. The home end, with all the greyhound bookies gear, was packed. Then the Villa came in, in such numbers that they simply pushed the Gas fans into the bottom corner of their end. Little fighting just shear weight of numbers. I was having a quiet pint before the game in a local pub when out of the blue in walked the Peg. On his own, just fancied seeing a game of football.
Magificent again Brizzo - ............back to today. If we hadn't capitulated to the jacks and then played like strangers against Sunderland, we'd be playing for a top 6 spot today. Not saying for a minute it's still on, but B365 are offering City @ 150/1 for a top 6 finish - that's a serious longshot. With Norwich and Coventry playing Ipswich and Leeds, you can be certain of one thing. If those results go to the form sides and we manage a win today, those odds will shorten.
Happy Match Day C'mon City Blooooooobirds!!!! To mark the occasional, I threw an American banknote in the air. I was doing the higher dollar. Is it coat time so early?
Assume that was a bob banknote??? I need to be really careful when doing our renowned celebration nowadays... All too often I get a bit carried away and bash into things and I end up chanting "everyone, do the Ayatollah, ow my knee"..... I'll just grab my jacket and head out the door with you Clingo....
Well I Never Did you know that the George Hotel in Hull, one of the oldest surviving pubs in the city, claims to have the smallest window in England - Originally a coaching in, it was said the slit in the wall was used by the porter to look for stagecoaches and customers. Apparently nowadays it's used to keep an eye out for lurkers from Llandaff.... Fug you chum……no slits in Llandaff Brizzle….cheap shot. Your forum followers will no thank you for your derogatory remark about one of their favourites! Bethan is watching too! Masky
I see WoL have a different line up with a new signing in place of Grant. No idea who he is but I'm guessing he's a bit tasty!!!
