Hull City - fan's 2008/09 Premier League preview
Friday, 08 Aug 2008 13:01
Hull City - fan's 2008/09 Premier League preview and predictions
A supporter's views and expectations for the 2008/09 season.
Last season
Premier League: 3rd - P 46 W 21 D 12 L 13 GF 65 GA 47 GD +18 PTS 75
FA Cup: Third round - lost 3-2 to Plymouth Argyle
League Cup: Third round - lost 4-0 to Chelsea
The manager
After leading Hull City into English football's top flight for the first time in their history, Phil Brown will not become a hate figure no matter how the Tigers fare in amongst the big boys.
Brown is a personable bloke and would seem unlikely to make any enemies in the Premier League, least of all his own fans.
Any amount of success against the top teams is bound to be celebrated and if Brown and Hull could triumph with a top-half finish in the same manner as newly-promoted Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic or Reading in Premier League seasons gone by, he will be in with a good shout to receive the Freedom of the City.
Chances of managerial change?
It would take a lot for the Hull board and fans to turn on Brown. Only if the Tigers become marooned in last place early on in the season would Brown be under serious threat, as was the case with Derby County's Billy Davies last season.
The players
Exits
Although Jay-Jay Okocha lit up the Premier League during his time with Bolton, limited appearances during Hull's play-off push last season revealed that although Nigerian sorcerer has not lost all his magic, the 36-year-old legs may have trouble coping with the demands of what is considered by many to be the most physically-demanding league in world football.
Unfortunately for Michael Bridges, a series of injuries have thrown his career off track and after a loan spell in Australia he has been sent to Carlisle United in a year-long deal. Bridges had been a member of the Leeds United side that scaled the upper reaches of the Premier League in the early part of this century.
But other than Okocha's departure, Hull have managed to keep the vast majority of their promotion-winning squad together.
New arrivals
For a man planning his first season in the big time, Phil Brown's choice of signings appears extremely shrewd. He has covered all the elements that a newly-promoted side needs to give them a chance of staying up.
The experienced - in former Middlesbrough captain George Boateng.
The man with a point to prove - in Tottenham's bench-warmer Anthony Gardener.
And of course the unpredictable - in the Brazilian Geovanni, who exploded onto the Premier League scene with Manchester City last season but unfortunately faded with the club's downhill campaign.
Geo could provide Hull with the same inspiration Benito Carbone gave Bradford City in their route to survival during the 2000/01 season.
Needs
A blend of fearless youth and assured experience must be the formula needed for survival but just as vital is a regular supply of goals.
Hull City's 20-goal-a-season man is unfortunately the property of the domestic and European champions. Manchester United's Frazier Campbell has impressed Sir Alex Ferguson sufficiently in pre-season to convince the Scot to keep him at Old Trafford.
And with Dean Windass in the twilight of his career, Brown needs a proven goalscorer at the top level to show the veteran, Craig Fagan and Caleb Folan the way to goal.
The fanbase
Hull City fans are strapping themselves in for what promises to be a turbulent Premier League ride.
While the fans are fully aware of the mammoth task facing them, fourth from bottom will be good enough to guarantee another season in the top flight.
With a stadium fit for the division, Tigers supporters will be hoping to follow the examples of Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic in achieving a degree of prolonged stability at the top of the pyramid.
Prediction for 2008/09
Relegation battlers.
A 17th-place finish would represent a very successful season for the Humberside outfit. Survival would undoubtedly be the foremost target of any level-headed Hull fan, but with a stadium fit for the top flight, supporters would hope to follow the example of Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic in achieving a degree of prolonged stability at the top of the pyramid.
Hull are likely to be involved in the end-of-season agony that is the annual relegation battle, but with leaders such as Windass and Boateng in the ranks, expect a whole-hearted struggle.
Richard Garside