Baz's article, not sure if this is what people have been referring to.
It's only fair to preface this by referencing that Hull City have been, as Ruben Selles quite rightly says, competitive in pretty much every game he's been in charge of.
A quick look at the league table since he took charge shows they have been steady, after he inherited a rudderless ship meandering towards the relegation iceberg, though it still all feels a bit 'meh', in truth.
Arguably, the first 20 minutes at Burnley were fairly poor, and they were torn to pieces down both flanks - not for the first time this season and an obvious area of improvement in the summer, irrespective of what league they're in. Aside from that,
City have been in every game. They've not been well-beaten by anybody and have pulled out some fine results along the way to drag themselves off the bottom of the table and give themselves a fighting chance of staying in the league.
Those two wins in Sheffield will live long in the memory, while the away success at Sunderland was much-needed and there have been other bright moments, in a season littered with disappointment.
Unfortunately,
there have been too many performances like we saw at Watford on Tuesday night, and it's those that raise so many questions and leave supporters in a fit of absolute despair.
Make no mistake about it, after that defeat at Cardiff City, Selles needed a response and he got it by beating Plymouth Argyle and Oxford United in front of their own supporters. They also claimed respectable points on the road at Bristol City and West Brom, especially given they were playing with 10 men at Ashton Gate from the 15th minute once Joao Pedro was needlessly sent off.
The problem is, since the international break, City have come back in something of a comatose state. Their performances, as Selles has pointed out, have been competitive, but at this stage of the season, they need more than simply turning up and being competitive. That's the bare minimum I'd expect from any team at this level, or at any level of professional football for that matter, where you're being paid thousands of pounds to do your job, every single whim and wish catered for.
I'd argue every team in this league is competitive, that attribute is not exclusive to City and that's not enough. Against Luton, they were decent enough in the first period without really looking like scoring and fell apart once that freak own goal went in seconds into the second half.
At Sheffield Wednesday, the game was played like a pre-season contest. Yes, ultimately, they won the game, and that's fantastic, but then to go to Watford and produce such a meek performance is simply not acceptable. It's felt like the games have been played in flip-flops, not the urgency required when survival is on the line. We're talking about people's livelihoods here; this isn't a cakewalk. If City go down, people at the club will lose their jobs, and for a club losing £500,000 a week, relegation is a major problem.
Either the players don't truly appreciate the severity of the situation and are going through the motions until the summer when one or two of them can get away elsewhere, or they're so struck down by the fear of their position that it's crippling their ability to offer any kind of intensity, and therefore the games look passive. Either way, the worry about this club sleepwalking into relegation has never gone away.
They're passive all over the pitch, there's a lack of willingness to make something happen. Everything is slow, laboured and the lack of intensity is infuriating. Probably summed up by Sean McLoughlin's (and no criticism is aimed at Sean, a central defender, doing what he can) wave of his right foot at a volley late in the game, completely missing the ball. It was then worked back out to Steven Alzate, who looked so scared to shoot that he could have rushed it any quicker and hit one of the City fans in the block closest to the corner flag.
Of course, the reason City have been in the bottom reaches of the Championship all season is because they're not good enough to be any higher. After 41 games, the league table simply doesn't lie. Consistency has and continues to be, their problem. So does starting quickly at the start of the second half. That concession 10 minutes in at Vicarage Road was another occasion where they've conceded in that period. Concentration is clearly an issue, as is stopping crosses and following runners. Fairly basic stuff.
After all the positivity of Charlie Hughes' winner at Hillsborough on Saturday, the optimism balloon has well and truly been popped. And by the time City roll out at the MKM Stadium on Monday night against a Coventry City side inside the top six, they could be outside the bottom three only on goal difference. A scary thought with only five games left, especially given their chronic lack of goals.
Under Selles, they have been able to win games of football, albeit not more than one in a row, and that is reason enough to believe they can still get another six points which will probably be enough.
City still have the opportunity to get themselves out of this mess, and it's down to them to produce the goods. Results are everything at this stage of the season, we know that, but you have got to show an awful lot more courage and bravery than we've seen at times recently if they're to ensure this club is in the Championship next season. Based on what we've seen against Luton and Watford, and for 93 minutes at Hillsborough (and add games at Cardiff, against Stoke and QPR into that), there's no guarantee.
What we can say for certain is that come the end of the season, Acun Ilicali needs to explain where he sees things going and, after a shambles of a season, where this club is heading and what it wants to achieve because this, at times, has been a rudderless ship treading water, scrambling to get through each day without sinking.
