Some of the posts here are hard to understand. I mean as a club we are in an historically elevated position at a level we have never attained before. We have players in our squad of a quality we could not of dreamed of only a few years ago , never mind the years when we grubbed around the bottom rungs of the football league. We have an expectation that we should be promoted a view shared by a good many fans of other clubs, our average gates though for reasons well discussed are way in excess of what we have had for most of our history. When people refer to the quality of our football we have to ask compared to what and when ? The Carter era ? The mid 60s the mid 80s or the KC era ? It cannot be argued we don't score enough or rather we are low scoring nor can it be seriously argued we are overly defensive minded not with two attacking fullbacks such as we have. We maybe lack a genuine 'flair ' player but how many such players can anyone name playing at this level ? In over 45 years of supporting city I cannot remember a single season where the football was consistently entertaining and successful every season has had its moments some more moments than others of course some virtually none but in my opinion I wouldnt swap a team of entertainers who finish mid table for the team we have that I think has an very real chance of promotion.
At a level we have never attained before? We've spent more of our history in the second tier than at any other level.
Erm, we've been sat in the championship or higher since at least 2007. I wouldn't exactly say we are at a height never attained before.
That may be true ( just ) but for the most part of that time we were never considered one of the most likely promotion candidates. Nor were we as now regarded as one of the bigger fish which we are now on account of our budget playing staff and the fact that we are just down from the top division , that in itself indicates we are at a different level , which is what I was suggesting, not that we have never been in this division before. To spell it out what I mean is that having spent time in the premier league and the associated wealth it brings anything other than promotion this season will be considered a failure which is a qualitative difference to where we have been before. That is a 'level' we have never attained before. We might have hoped for promotion in years gone by but I cannot ever recall it being as expected as it is this season AZ
And just to make it clearer never have we had a squad the majority of which have played at the highest level including international level unless someone can tell me when previously we have had three players who have England caps in our team
Well said. I don't have a problem with the raised expectations on our current squad, but to suggest these expectations are normal across much of our history is ridiculous.
This has turned into a really sad apology for supporting a football club. One thing I know about competitive football is that there is and always has been an element of ambition involved, regardless of level. The scope of the ambition might vary to circumstances but it will be there, whether it is to get promoted or to avoid relegation; to think otherwise is just bonkers. The whistle blows and there is an ambition not to lose, it blows at the end and there is an ambition to repeat the performance or to put it right. I think Hull City AFC has always had ambition and most of its supporters shared it, but there are always the odd (sic) few who want to think otherwise - it must be an altitude thing, perhaps getting down off their cross would help. Our current ambition is driven by our current circumstances, it reflected in the manager's target of two points per game and automatic promotion. I saw a post earlier (Chazz, I think) that asked if we expect a Burnley type performance every game; it was asked with an edge of ridicule. But why not? As long as we have the same squad and players, why not expect a great performance, why have an ambition to play inferior football, what is the point. Does that not give players the right to not try - or as Bruce describes it, 'roll their sleeves up and pull on their boots'. I think some supporters get what they deserve.
Kenwyne Jones is in talks with a foreign club and will leave on a free, Cardiff desperate to get him off the wage bill apparently.
No I don't expect it every game , however I don't expect us to play badly either 80% of the time , once every now and then fair enough the fact is there are far to many times we have been completely rolled over and let inferior teams boss us off the pitch
Crouch would be a great signing, but I think Hughes has already said that he won't be allowed to leave Stoke in the January window
Certainly they were old team mates, but I think I read somewhere that the two of them never really got on
He'd be the perfect strike partner for Hernandez in my opinion.. also as BlackAndAmberGambler said, we put plenty of crosses in the box so Crouchy would be perfect. If he's not willing to loan him... maybe we could buy him for fairly cheap (surely his contract ends with Stoke in 6 months?) and offer him a 1 year deal with the option of another year?
