1. A week to remember, though not entirely to savour. The nature of the defeat to Manchester United was incredibly tough to stomach but the manner of the performance was little more than sensational. The attitude, the commitment, the energy – all of it proved just how much this reduced squad of professionals feel it right now. 2. You’d almost rather be 4-0 down at half time and all hope extinguished than having a fully deserved point snatched away in second half added time. There was a grim inevitability to our being breached late on after gallantly repelling an expensively assembled team that lay siege to our goal for most of the second half. We were however, agonisingly close to our finest result against Manchester United in the Premier League era (because let’s face it the 0-0 at the end of 2014/15 was nothing to cheer as that game confirmed relegation and a win for the visitors couldn’t improve their league standing so they were on the beach, all but Marouane Fellaini who performed knee surgery on Paul McShane using his studs, but we digress) but as in 2008/09 (away) and 2013/14 (home) we had to make do with heroic defeat. Bah! Football is a cruel game sometimes. 3. Our heroes in defeat are led by a man who, at almost 53, has now made it clearer than ever that he has done his time as a second-in-command picking up the cones from the training ground and is ready to be the main man picking the players instead. And, frankly, Mike Phelan could have done little more to prove his case so far this season. 4. Whether he gets it, of course, is still in the lap of the gods. A takeover, according to Ehab Allam’s programme notes at the weekend, has been agreed. The new owners have a huge decision to make and, with the transfer deadline approaching and the squad pleading for reinforcements, will need to make it quickly. Phelan’s healthy, mutually respectful relationship with the players makes him the obvious candidate right now. And you can’t argue with results, even if one of those results was a 1-0 defeat cruelly snatched from the jaws of a miraculous goalless draw. 5. We enjoyed Exeter very much. A westcountry summer’s evening in a pleasant city, a good match, a terrace to stand on, a result in 90 minutes, a decent run-out for some promising young players, a return to action for the mighty Harry Maguire. It’s just a pity that the draw for round three – Stoke City away – couldn’t match the appeal, or even hang on to its coat-tails. 6. There are those who would take the £14-20m that Aston Villa are purported to have offered City for Abel Hernández, but they seem to be ignoring the lesson learnt when we sold Shane Long to Southampton: a goalscorer in the hand is worth £12m in the bush. Or something. While it sounds like a staggering amount of money for Hernández, how much would it cost to buy even a comparable forward, let alone a better one, in today’s market where every new TV deal adds several noughts to already inflated contracts? Are there even any available this close to the window’s closure anyway? 7. There’s a goalkeeper incoming, whether or not we bolster the striking corps, as David Marshall signs from Cardiff for £5m. Those of an overly sentimental bent feel this is unfair on Eldin Jakupović, who has made a highly competent start to 2016/17, but he should be judged on his body of work, not just on recent performance. Then there is the wider picture to consider: there is doubt over Allan McGregor’s long term availability, and Dušan Kuciak doesn’t seem to be taken seriously as a contender for first choice. Marshall’s signing seems prudent, and good value. 8. City have struck a deal with Viking to get full match commentary on to commercial radio in the locality for the first time in many, many years. Now, bear with us on this, because it’s an odd one. Viking’s parent company, like most of the nation’s local commercial radio, has not been interested in live football for a long time because they rightly see it as not sound business (Viking has heritage sister stations in the whole of the north west and north east, Premier League hotbed areas, and none do football commentary, which is eye-watering in its cost), and by putting the games on their Viking 2 service (formerly Great Yorkshire Gold/Magic), listeners will either need to tolerate a muffled, passé AM frequency or purchase a DAB device which, as any digital radio owner who lives along the A63 corridor between North Ferriby and North Cave knows, provides a signal that is intermittent at best, while rights issues presumably mean neither City nor Viking can broadcast commentary online. BBC Radio Humberside isn’t perfect, to many, but it is available on FM, has an established set of good individual broadcasters working on the football coverage and provides adequate pre-match and post-match output (something it seems Viking won’t be doing, commencing their programme at the weekend just before kick off and ending it shortly after the final whistle). It isn’t a fool who wonders, without malice, whether this arrangement was suggested by the club as a riposte to recent BBC efforts to defy their ludicrously imposed rules on what they can say, what they can film and who they can interview and generally not act as mouthpieces for an autocratic, discredited regime. And no radio station, nor its parent group, would instigate a deal when a season has already begun – the lack of fanfare about the deal from Viking is notable (it’ll be interesting also to see if they pull the plug if City are relegated). It is presumably good business on this occasion for Viking, otherwise they wouldn’t have done it, but it just feels like an enterprise concocted entirely by the club, for entirely its own reasons, that has entirely nothing to do with City supporters or making new corporate partnerships, and entirely everything to do with pursuing petty private vendettas. 9. Sam Allardyce has, we hear, been unable to persuade John Terry out of retirement and rejoin the England squad. The national side took only three central defenders to the European Championships and such is the dearth of quality English centre backs, the new England boss has felt compelled to turn, fruitlessly, to a nigh-on 36 year old of baggage and dubious character. Having watched Curtis Davies repel everyone in the Premier League who has dared share a blade of grass with him this season, we feel there is an obvious solution right here in Hull. Nobody should think we’re joking either – it’s supposed to be a new dawn of picking players in form, and it’s about bloody time City had a serving England international. There isn’t a sensible reason for not calling him up to the squad this weekend, especially as Chris Smalling is currently unable to get into the Manchester United team and John Stones had to go off early in Manchester City’s game at the weekend. Allardyce has instead gone for 35 year old Phil Jagielka, which is just baffling. We do, however, think his decision to not call up overhyped ex-City loanee Mark Noble, a player he knows extremely well and relied upon heavily when he was manager at West Ham, is very funny indeed, not to mention correct. Maybe all the obsessives in the media about a very ordinary midfielder will shut up now. 10. One final note for the departing Allams: good riddance. You took over full of wild promises about community, philanthropy and togetherness; you blew it with your self-importance, dictatorial nonsense, spite, inadequacy and hatred of the Hull and East Yorkshire people whom you had cajoled into investing so much of their hopes in you. We want your spectacular failure to haunt you to the end because your wretched and tyrannical reign will never be forgotten, nor forgiven, by Hull City supporters. http://www.ambernectar.org/blog/2016/08/things-we-think-we-think-235/?
This needed saying twice: 10. One final note for the departing Allams: good riddance. You took over full of wild promises about community, philanthropy and togetherness; you blew it with your self-importance, dictatorial nonsense, spite, inadequacy and hatred of the Hull and East Yorkshire people whom you had cajoled into investing so much of their hopes in you. We want your spectacular failure to haunt you to the end because your wretched and tyrannical reign will never be forgotten, nor forgiven, by Hull City supporters.
"Those of an overly sentimental bent feel this is unfair on Eldin Jakupović, who has made a highly competent start to 2016/17, but he should be judged on his body of work, not just on recent performance." "Having watched Curtis Davies repel everyone in the Premier League who has dared share a blade of grass with him this season, we feel there is an obvious solution right here in Hull. Nobody should think we’re joking either – it’s supposed to be a new dawn of picking players in form," Maybe BFS is judging Davies on his body of work & not just recent performances?
This needed saying again: 10. One final note for the departing Allams: good riddance. You took over full of wild promises about community, philanthropy and togetherness; you blew it with your self-importance, dictatorial nonsense, spite, inadequacy and hatred of the Hull and East Yorkshire people whom you had cajoled into investing so much of their hopes in you. We want your spectacular failure to haunt you to the end because your wretched and tyrannical reign will never be forgotten, nor forgiven, by Hull City supporters.
Another good article. Hull City Fan View: City’s ‘Band of Brothers’ attitude is a breath of fresh air in the modern game Greg Whitaker on how the players' new-found team spirit is uniting the fans behind the team 28 August 2016 16:09Greg Whitaker please log in to view this image . View gallery Hull City fan view: City’s ‘Band of Brothers’ attitude is a breath of fresh air in the modern game Hull City’s remarkable unbeaten run came to an end yesterday, with Jose Mourinho’ Manchester Unitedperforming an Alex Ferguson-esque last minute smash and grab at the KCOM. However, despite a feeling of frustration that we weren’t able to hold on for just a few minutes more, I, and I would imagine thousands of other Hull City fans, left the KCOM yesterday evening feeling a hell of a lot more positive about the season ahead than I did just three weeks ago, thanks the to the depleted squad’s extraordinary desire to carry on fighting for the club. First and foremost I have to talk about the match. What a defensive performance from the men in black and amber. As a well-known Hull City fan and blogger commented on Twitter last night, “[I’ve] often though ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ at #hcafc down the years. [I’ve] rarely held the opposing view so strongly as the last 3 weeks.” I could not agree more. City’s siege mentality in defence yesterday evening was a pleasure to watch. Led by the quite remarkable performance of captain Curtis Davies, to a man, every player on the pitch gave absolutely everything they had for the shirt and for the fans, and as a Hull City fan, I can tell you now, that’s all we ask for in the stands. Since Alex Ferguson left Manchester United three years ago, the club have spent just short of £450m on strengthening their squad. Their starting XI yesterday contained the World’s most expensive footballer, England’s record-breaking goal scorer, and an international striker that has scored 231 goals in just 303 matches in the space of ten years for some of Europe’s biggest clubs. Yet it took them until the 92nd minute of the game to beat a Hull City side who currently have only 14 fit first team players, and no permanent manager. This is why the Hull City faithful are so proud of their team. Curtis Davies’ performance was one of the finest individual performances I have seen in recent years. The 31-year-old was handed the task of keeping Zlatan Ibrahimovic quiet, a task which has not been successfully achieved by many of Europe’s best defenders over the last decade. However, the former Villa and West Brom man had, to use a bit of cliché, Zlatan in his back pocket from the first to the last whistle. Davies’ defensive partner Jake Livermore, who it is worth noting is still adapting to his new defensive position, also had a fine game, and with the new England assistant manager, Sammy Lee, sat in the stands last night, could we soon be seeing both Davies and Livermore receiving a call-up as part of Sam Allardyce’s ‘fresh-look’ England squad? I certainly hope so. Individual praise must also go to City’s goalkeeper, Eldin Jakupovic. Despite being with the Tigers’ since 2012, the Bosnian-born Swiss ‘keeper has only played 13 games for the club, and was relatively unfancied by former City manager, Steve Bruce, especially after a memorably bad performance against Sheffield Wednesday during his debut season. However, after last season’s first team ‘keeper Allan McGregor was ruled out for at least two months with a back injury last month, and with no new signings at the KCOM, Jakupovic was given his chance by Mike Phelan, and he has grabbed it with both hands. It seems quite ironic then that it is now looking increasingly likely that City’s first signing of the summer will be that of a new Goalkeeper, in the form of Cardiff City’s David Marshall. Whether this happens or not, ‘the Jak’, who has become somewhat of a cult hero in recent weeks, would be very unlucky to find himself dropping out of the first team after his blistering start to the season. News off the pitch was equally as pleasing for Hull City fans on Saturday, as in the macthday programme hated current chairman Ehab Allam, son of owner Assam, admitted that it appeared the match would be the family’s last in charge of the club. With speculation that the deal to sell the club to Chinese-based brother and sister business partners, the Dai family, is set to be completed on Tuesday, it could be a whirlwind 24 hours for the club ahead of the British transfer window closing at 11.30pm on Wednesday night. Transfer rumours continue to do the rounds on social media, however, moves for Cardiff’s David Marshall and Tottenham’s Ryan Mason do appear to have legs, with deals for both apparently agreed ahead of contract discussions this week. While Marshall and Mason would undoubtedly strengthen the squad, even just in terms of bulking up the smallest squad in the Premier League, City fans are praying more will follow. A striker and centre-half must surly also be on caretaker-manager, Mike Phelan’s wish-list, as he also looks to secure a permanent contract with the club himself. New-owners, new players, and hopefully a permanent manager in Mike Phelan, the week ahead looks as though it’s going to be a busy one for the club. Matches are easily forgotten in football, especially when your side has lost. However, if, against all odds, Hull City manage to stay in the Premier League this season, I for one will certainly be looking back at our opening three games where the hunger, desire, passion, and general togetherness shown by my side’s horribly depleted squad, which was written-off by everyone before the season started, showed that a ‘band of brothers’ mentality can take you a long way. This is a mentality that is rarely seen in the mercenary-driven, money-orientated world of modern football. For this, Mike Phelan, his staff, and the whole senior squad (all 14 of them), deserve a hell of a lot of credit. https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/hull-city-fan-view-citys-band-of-brothers-150944020.html
And again... 10. One final note for the departing Allams: good riddance. You took over full of wild promises about community, philanthropy and togetherness; you blew it with your self-importance, dictatorial nonsense, spite, inadequacy and hatred of the Hull and East Yorkshire people whom you had cajoled into investing so much of their hopes in you. We want your spectacular failure to haunt you to the end because your wretched and tyrannical reign will never be forgotten, nor forgiven, by Hull City supporters.
Good stuff as usual. Number 8 is very interesting, I hadn't previously considered that regarding the Viking broadcasting rights, however knowing how spiteful and vindictive the Allam's have been every time some has said, in their opinion, out of turn, it makes perfect sense. I, for one, will continue to tune into Radio Humberside! Number 10 cannot be repeated and emphasised too much, not ever!
Given the complaints about the Humberside coverage, and the sadness when the, IMHO, superior coverage on kc fm stopped, it's a shame they seem to have put such a negative spin on the Viking deal before it's even had a chance to run.
Great article that, this forum goes to prove though that whatever happens the fans will never be completely united though. You have oddbods on here saying we should be attacking Man Utd, crying for the return of a spent manager Bruce etc.etc.. I reckon 95 percent are behind Phelan and the lads now anyway which is probably as good as it gets for us
I agree, seems a totally OTT attack on the Viking deal that, I'd rather just hear the match by itself anyway and don't need a long blathery buildup, and dont mind missing the numpties ringing up afterwards like you get on Humberside.
Another thing wrong about that analysis of the Viking deal is his comment on the reception you get on the radio, at least with Viking you know it will be on AM or DAB, with Blunderside its a guessing game with the Grimsby and Scunny matches also their reception is similarly ****e and the same could be said for all radio stations on occasions
It's not much of a guessing game, if we're away it's always on FM and if we're at home it's usually on AM and very few on here will be listening to it on the radio.
Aye, there are sometimes coments on the match day thread trying to track down coverage. That won't change, so what's not to like about an additional alternative?
You will never get 100% of fans happy, but as you say the vast majority are behind Phelan and they way he is setting up the team.
**** it - and again: 10. One final note for the departing Allams: good riddance. You took over full of wild promises about community, philanthropy and togetherness; you blew it with your self-importance, dictatorial nonsense, spite, inadequacy and hatred of the Hull and East Yorkshire people whom you had cajoled into investing so much of their hopes in you. We want your spectacular failure to haunt you to the end because your wretched and tyrannical reign will never be forgotten, nor forgiven, by Hull City supporters.
I can guarantee it will be on the wrong frequency when I need to listen on radio or Grimsby or the other South Bank team will be on, the trouble with DAB/FM radios is that anything comes up on AM you are screwed
I didn't read negativity about the deal to broadcast on Viking. I read negativity about the motives behind it. More choice is generally always good.
I think the way in which the Viking deal was criticised was negative; any motive of the Allam family is best ignored. JAK'S BODY OF WORK? One howler of a game, some hesitancy when not in full match preparedness, other excellence (at best) and steady competence (which seems to be a continuing trait). Goalkeepers make mistakes, but some spectators won't accept that and want whipping boys. The inconsistency between the JAK and Davis comments was very fairly pointed out: The comments in the article are an opinion; I accept that. Unfortunately my opinion is they are unnecessary, unfair and disappointing in their critical negativity of a player with renewed confidence.
Oh go on then, even though much more polite than I would ever be: 10. One final note for the departing Allams: good riddance. You took over full of wild promises about community, philanthropy and togetherness; you blew it with your self-importance, dictatorial nonsense, spite, inadequacy and hatred of the Hull and East Yorkshire people whom you had cajoled into investing so much of their hopes in you. We want your spectacular failure to haunt you to the end because your wretched and tyrannical reign will never be forgotten, nor forgiven, by Hull City supporters.
