1: We’ll do the Burnley performance first, and then its grisly consequences. They froze. When confronted with both the most important and most winnable fixture of the entire season, almost every single City player froze with fear. Gone was the swashbuckling display at Crystal Palace or the tenacious overcoming of Liverpool, replaced with a feeble, terrified, abject offering. 2. We must sadly conclude that our failure this season is caused by mental weakness. On paper – where football is obviously not played – we possess a squad patently capable of having secured safety weeks ago and able to possess loftier goals than mere survival anyway. But repeatedly this season, in big games, or winnable home fixtures, or tricky away fixtures, the side has collectively failed to show up. Are the players bottlers? Is the manager incapable of motivating them? Barring a miracle (about which more shortly), we’re going to spend a long, unhappy summer of recriminations, which are sure to focus on the pitifully soft nature of our side. 2a. That MOTD graphic showing that we’d outspent the 6 other sides that constitute the bottom 7 was grim reading wasn’t it? A reminder too, that you can buy talent and potential, but not heart and pride. 3. Barely any of the side who slunk from the field on Saturday escaped without a severe dent to their reputation. Quinn was busy, though in a midfield that also contained the idle Huddlestone and the hopeless Livermore, he could scarcely have looked poor. Jelavić looked full of running when he came on, if patently unfit. And that’s about it. What a rotten time for almost everyone to completely fail to turn up. 4. At the moment, we aren’t terribly interested in excuses. All sides get injuries. Everyone benefits and suffers from patchy refereeing. Sunderland’s brace of deflating deflections earlier on Saturday afternoon cannot mask a season of underachievement. And so on. At this stage of the season, the table doesn’t lie. 5. Of course, there’s still scope for the table to be adjusted in our favour – but that is going to require something we frankly don’t think our side is capable of. Tottenham may be mentally on the beach by now, but that seems of little immediate use when our side is in the equally unhappy situation of cowering in a corner. Meanwhile, there’s not much to suggest that even a Manchester United side with little to play for won’t overpower us on the final day. We probably have to win both of those games, though a win and a draw might just see us collapse over the line if other teams have an accommodating disaster of their own. However, the bookies’ price of 1/3 on City to go down doesn’t feel especially unfair right now. 6. And then what? The club has promised (stop laughing) that a review of prices will follow relegation. But can you seriously imagine Assem Allam doing anything remotely supporter-friendly? Armed with the knowledge that four extra fixtures will be played, he’ll probably think prices should go up. Meanwhile, few will renew until relegation is confirmed or miraculously avoided; at which point, those who covet the Premier League will decide to spend their £500+ on something else, leaving only a disaffected and embittered hardcore that the club is in any case doing its best to drive away. 7. Who’ll go? Who’ll stay? It turns the stomach a little to think of indolent millionaires skipping away from the club towards the latest fat contract without a single backward glance, but the avaricious nature of the game makes that inevitable. 8. However, we still have two games left to go before that all unfolds. A quirk of the fixtures means that City can’t actually be relegated at White Hart Lane, though another significant stride towards the Championship can be made. That means no-one will have the opportunity to make themselves look silly on the television by affecting distressed tears next weekend. 9. How would relegation impact upon Assem Allam’s idiotic attempts to change the club’s name? He’s said before that it’d be pointless in the Championship, as though it was somehow a fabulous wheeze in the Premier League, but then he’s said a lot of things before and his word is a currency possessing minimal value. 10. Hull Tigers v MK Dons next season. Try to imagine that without wanting to vomit. http://www.ambernectar.org/blog/2015/05/things-we-think-we-think-186/
On point 2a. That was a gross figure, not net, which I think is pretty misleading when it comes to us, considering we sold 15m of players.
If you go back to the summer window and remember deadline day when you brought in Ben Arfa and Ramirez on top of the other business that you'd done. It looked like a tremendous summer for Hull and a season full of promise beckoned. To end up where you have is poor from Bruce imo, I'm a big Steve Bruce fan, but with what he had available you shouldn't be on the cusp of relegation. Yes, he was unfortunate with the injuries to Snodgrass, Diame and Jelavic, but you should have had enough in reserve to see you through.
Snodgrass was injured when we signed him, he's said as much himself, and it was a stupid decision to go through with it. I'm assuming that wasn't Bruce's fault though.
The fat lady is getting ready to clear her throat, and based on Saturday she's got more air in her lungs than the whole 11 who wore a City shirt! How the hell Brucey couldn't get them fired up for that also highlights the failings of him and his team last Saturday!
If it was anywhere else he would have been sacked. Spending all that money on players who can't be arsed.
Snodgrass said: “My knee had taken an absolute beating. “People who have cartilage injuries get through them and, when you are in a relegation battle and fighting for your lives, you don’t put your hands up. The physios at Norwich helped me a lot and really got me through things. “When I had the summer rest before going into Hull for pre-season, I thought it had made a huge difference. “However, straight away in pre-season I felt a pain but never expected what happened next. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/robert-snodgrass-injury-hell-put-5146943
He also had injuries to Chester,Curtis, Rameriz,and Aluko,( Ben Harfa what a waste of a great talent). Players had gone out on loan and he could n't get them back , Other premier sides also have decent U21's, we don't, and Bruce is trying to sort that. I believe Bruce is the right man for us, and possibly the best we've had, I can not think of anyone better who would come to us.
Seema unlikely that it led to his entire kneecap popping out doesn't it? Genuine question I have no idea if they can be linked.
I've no idea either but clearly from his own quotes there was something wrong with his knee cartilage for ages, he tried to muddle through, we signed him, then his same knee - which he said wasn't right - became ****ed. Did his knee pop immediately? I seem to recall him trying to carry on / run it off at DQPR rather than coming off immediately. Could he even do that if it wasn't in?
I don't think a dislocated knee has anything to do with a knee cartridge problem(though I'm no expert), I think it might just be an unfortunate coincidence. Kneecap dislocation - Kneecap dislocation occurs when the triangle-shaped bone covering the knee (patella) moves or slides out of place. The problem usually occurs toward the outside of the leg. Causes - Kneecap (patella) dislocation usually occurs after a sudden change in direction when your leg is planted. This puts your kneecap under stress. Dislocation may also occur as result of direct trauma. When the kneecap is dislocated, it can slip sideways to the outside of the knee.
I'm no expert either - I'm not even a novice - but surely an already injured, weakened knee is more susceptible to slipping? If not and there's no link at all it seems odd for him to even reference that the knee wasnt right during the summer. Why bring it up and not just say he was unlucky and it couldve happened to anyone?
