Great we're changing the name from Hull Tigers to what now? Going to be even shorter like 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Tigers'?
If they were dropping it it wouldnt be a small box almost hidden away saying 'see tomorrow's HDM', it would be front page lead in today's.
James Smailes (JS): After so much progress during your time at the club, how disappointing was it to take a backward step in 2014-15? Ehab Allam (EA): The season has been a tough one, although not necessarily the end. We had signs of this much earlier in the season. If we look at the end of the calendar year last year, the poor run we had with injuries and the poor run of results in November leading into December, we knew we were struggling then. The two wins at the Christmas period gave us a lift, but on Boxing Day we only had around 13 points and we obviously knew with the injuries and struggles to put out our best XI, we knew it would be a struggle. You have the hope, but we had already committed the funds in the summer transfer window. We knew we were in for a struggle from that point onwards. You always have hope, we made a further commitment with Dame N'Doye and we hoped we could scrape through. We knew if we did we'd just be scraping through. JS: In your mind, what was to blame for relegation from the PL? EA: If you look at our form at the start of the season we were in good form and we were winning games and even though we dropped points late in matches, you could see the potential there. The injuries to very key players please log in to view this image set us back. They were serious setbacks because they were long-term injuries and took people out for the majority of the season. If you look at Robert Snodgrass, Mohamed Diame, Nikica Jelavic, there were lots of significant injuries. We lost Michael Dawson for some time too. The pundits said we had the best transfer window of the summer and if you look at what we spent in comparison to the clubs who finished around us, we spent a lot more and started off much better. But we had the big injuries to the key players and that is what cost us. JS: If you had your time over again, is there anything you would do differently? EA: There are always things retrospectively that you question whether you could have done differently. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I think it is human nature please log in to view this image to look back and question whether you should have done something. But at the time you made the decisions it was always the right decision and in terms of the injuries, you can't really do much to change that when the injuries are happening in games. On reflection, though, there is always things you can do better. JS: Steve Bruce says he feels as though he let you down, how would you respond to that? EA: I think in an organisation such as this there is no one person to blame. This is a team effort and we are a team. Nothing rests on a single person and many things contribute to failure and success. I'd like to think with his success in gaining us promotion it wasn't just down to Steve and we played a part too, just as we share in the success we share in the failure too. Steve is passionate about the club and his squad. He's very motivated and wants to maintain a level of success, so I wasn't surprised he was disappointed at the end of the year. JS: There's been a little bit of uncertainty, has there ever been any question marks over the manager's position for you? EA: We always knew from the start of the season and the last time the club were in the Premier league please log in to view this image that the second season is always the hardest. We knew it would be a tough season, which is why we invested so heavily in the summer. We knew the second season was going to be the toughest and it was just about survival. JS: Did Steve ever offer his resignation? EA: I think that's irrelevant where we are right now. We have a good relationship with Steve and we trust in Steve. We will give it another go and it is not down to one individual, we all share this. JS: Have you had to pick him up at all? EA: Steve is level headed and when he'd had time to sit back and reflect, Steve is a pretty positive person. Steve is a fighter with a good fighting spirit and that is good to see, you need that. Steve doesn't get down for long and has picked himself back up. JS: You clearly see him as the right man to lead you back up, what gives you that faith? EA: You look at his track record of getting promotion here and at other clubs, so let's hope he can do it again. JS: As a club, what are the challenges you face this summer? EA: The major challenge for me is to maintain the core of the squad that we have. There is interest in players who we want to keep. That is key for us. The second major factor for myself is to regain the winning mentality we need in the Championship. If you look at the year we got promoted from the Championship we won 24 games that season. I think we went up on a low number of points and what you are really look for is a target of 27 wins from 46 games. That's around a 60 per cent win ratio when we have come off the back of two seasons with a very low win ratio. We need to change that winning mentality clearly. You don't expect to win as many games in the Premier League, a club of our size, so you know the win ratio will be low. But to get promoted we need the win ratio high again. JS: It's started with the retained list, do you expect a lot of movement in and out of the club before the new season? EA: What I expect and what I hope for are two different things. I am hoping for very little change because we want to bounce back and regain promotion. Every single player has a relegation clause in their contract and you can imagine some of the bigger players on bigger wages won't be as happy please log in to view this image to take the hit when they have an alternative at a club in the Premier League for example. They may look elsewhere. But we have the core of the squad who got us promoted, with a few more years experience plus a few more added to that squad, Harry Maguire and Tom Ince (below) for example. Ideally for us we will retain the core of the squad. We know that is tough, but that's the intention. JS: In terms of recruitment, how important is it to reach an agreement soon on who is leaving, allowing you the necessary time to re-build? EA: I'm not expecting too much business. That's what I hope for. My expectation is some of our players will be too good for the Championship, will have their heads turned and we'll have no choice, but I hope to retain the core. JS: Have you fielded much interest so far in your players? EA: We are aware of the interest that is out there and other clubs have told us that they will be coming in for certain players and wanted to let us know. I was at the AGM last weekend in Portugal and all the clubs were there and I have been informed that some of our players are attracting interest, ones we don't want to let go of. But we are not looking to sell. That's a good sign. Last time we fell out the Premier League we struggled to move players on. It shows what a good job we have done and Steve made some very good signings with some good young players. JS: How would you describe the club's financial health in the wake of relegation? EA: Thankfully all the players do have those relegation clauses. With the parachute payments we are in a reasonable position. We will have to make one or two tweaks and there will be some natural movement. We'll be fine. JS: Is sponsorship affected? Will 12BET remain as shirt sponsors or is there a get-out for relegation? EA: Our deal with 12BET was specific for the Premier League and we are now looking for sponsors. It was specific to the Premier League and a shirt deal in the Championship will be at a fraction of the price. JS: Is there a need to sell players? Is the wage bill manageable? EA: We have to make the books balance but with the expected departure of one or two players we will balance the books and we are not concerned at all, as I have already mentioned – the aim is to bounce straight back into the Premier League and to do that we need our top players. The relegation clauses give us this opportunity.
Two questions I want Ehab to answer tomorrow: Is the club still up for sale? Will the re-brand be reversed if the FA reject the name change?
Ehab doesn't seem aware that they are looking like losing Tom Ince. He mentions him in one of his answers above as one if the good young players along with Harry Maguire.
Quite. I'm pretty sure the reality is this interview was given several days ago when none of this with Ince was happening....
I'd be careful about speaking too soon, this is just part one of the interview, part two on all the name change bollocks is tomorrow.
Yeah fair enough - here's hoping a dose of championship football might help him see the light.... Or will he try and convince us about the global appeal of Hull Tigers in the championship...
If we lose players it's because their heads have been turned. He may be getting his defence in early as he says a number of clubs will be definitely coming in for our players. Of course they will be the ones we all want to keep.
Reading the bit about Bruce offering his resignation, looks like he did then going on the answer. I half wish Bruce had gone, he's a big fat target for the scapegoaters and kneejerkers instead of all the scummy money grabbers and coke sniffers we had on the playing staff last year, cant wait to see the back of Hernandez, fat Tom and Livermore amongst others
