Rival Lines
This week we had the chance to speak with Booth Ferry to Wembley and to find out what is going on up at Hull City as the Tigers have dispensed with a manager that was not given the January window to put things right, while the club still sits bottom of the table. Will the visit of AFCB rekindle Hull City's fortunes?
CC: Hull City fans have had a rocky ride ever since promotion. Who is the real villain for most of the club's problems?
BRTW: The blame lays squarely with Ehab Allam. His father Assem, the club chairman, has lost interest in Hull City since his name change failed and has left it to his son to run. He’s doing a good job of running it into the ground. He’s managed to alienate the supporters who weren’t already furious about the name change with a new membership scheme that removed concessions for children and seniors. He then fell out with Steve Bruce over his inability to implement the managers plans and left us without a manager and a threadbare squad.
CC: What do you make of the appointment of Marco Silva as the new manager and the sacking of Mike Phelan?
BRTW: Phelan was never given the opportunity to be successful. He had that threadbare squad and his recruitment was done on the last two days of the window with most signings being low-budget. That said, he’s not been able to get results with the squad recently, so the club had to do something if they have any intention of trying to survive. That clearly wasn’t going to be spending money so plumping for a coach with different ideas is the only way to go. I’m more excited by a modern coach who’s been successful than I would have been by a “roundabout” manager like Pardew.
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CC: Has the League Cup been a good distraction as you have got to the semi-final or would you have rather had Steve Bruce still in charge and say five more points in the table, but still under the same ownership?
BRTW: We had good cup runs under Steve Bruce, so I don’t know that it would have been all that different. We’ve had good draws and fringe players have done well in all the games. It’s been the highlight of our season – the win over Leicester on the opening day apart.
CC: The FA Cup third round win against Swansea should be a new start, but many Hull fans stayed away in protest, but was it important to make a stand about what has been happening at the club?
BRTW: Our attendances have been embarrassing for most of the league games too. Especially when you consider that when they announce crowds of 16,000, the actual attendance is far less. As fans, I think we had to do something to highlight the problems. Because we’re in the Premier League, there is no sympathy with our plight. Fans of clubs outside the PL would give their right arm to be in it. Things like the name change and the removal of concessions don’t hit home until they happen to your club.
CC: Are you resigned to losing Robert Snodgrass if Hull don't stay up and are there any other players who you think might even leave in this window?
BRTW: Snodgrass will definitely go but it’s vital that we keep him until the summer. He’s not going to sign a new deal with these owners and especially not if we go down so we’ll have to cash in eventually. We’ve got a good squad so I could see interest, but I think the money on offer from staying in the PL trumps anything another club might offer to buy someone.
CC: Are Hull City linked with any strikes in January and do you see the owners willing to invest with Silva now at the helm?
BRTW: I think we’ll just get loans and maybe a cheap right back. There’s no willingness from the owners to gamble on investment. We’ve been linked with Oumar Niasse who’s flopped at Everton, but was hot before he went there.
CC: The match at Dean Court went very wrong, very quickly for Hull City, but do you feel confident that your players have something to prove in this game that they are a better side than they were on that day?
BRTW: We were really poor in that period and the losses at Bournemouth and Middlesbrough were particularly poor. We’ve picked up since and although we’ve only got 2 points from the last 7 games, we’ve played pretty well. With the new manager and some tweaks to the way we line up and press the ball, hopefully we’ll be more competitive.
CC: Dawson went off with a shoulder injury in the FA Cup game against Swansea. How do you think you might set up if you are without him for this game?
BRTW: We’re struggling badly in defence. I’d be surprised if we don’t have Jake Livermore as a makeshift centre-half again and lord knows who’ll play right back!
CC: In your last two league games Hull City have scored first and yet only come away with on point from those games so can you point towards why you have been conceding goals so regularly, i.e. set-pieces, losing possession in wrong areas of the pitch, goalkeeping/defensive errors?
BRTW: We’ve conceded a lot of soft goals from a combination of individual errors, giving away penalties and poor marking at set-pieces. That will be key for the new manager to improve. Some of it you can work on, some of it, you’ve got to rely on players to learn quickly.
CC: Marco Silva says Hull City needs a miracle to stay up, but With the fixtures remaining can you see Hull City surviving?
BRTW: We’ve got half a chance. The fixtures after Bournemouth are horrendous for a few weeks but then we’ve got 6 of 7 home games against teams in the bottom half. That’s where the miracle will have to occur!
CC: I kind of have a bit of sympathy for Hull City fans more than most in the Premier league as they have seen it all before and every time they win promotion they look like a side that is destined to go straight back down. Their new manager may well prove to be a good appointment given time, but he needs to be given the cash to try and build something up at Hull. AFCB probably play the Tigers at a fairly good time as they are coming back off of a 2-0 defeat in the League Cup Semi-final, but I have seen improvements in their team over the last few weeks. Make sure you have a read up of their recent results on Booth Ferry to Wembley.
Match Preview: Hull City v AFCB
Blogger Interview: Booth Ferry to Wembley
Blogger Interview: Booth Ferry to Wembley
CC: Hull City fans have had a rocky ride ever since promotion. Who is the real villain for most of the club's problems?
BRTW: The blame lays squarely with Ehab Allam. His father Assem, the club chairman, has lost interest in Hull City since his name change failed and has left it to his son to run. He’s doing a good job of running it into the ground. He’s managed to alienate the supporters who weren’t already furious about the name change with a new membership scheme that removed concessions for children and seniors. He then fell out with Steve Bruce over his inability to implement the managers plans and left us without a manager and a threadbare squad.
CC: What do you make of the appointment of Marco Silva as the new manager and the sacking of Mike Phelan?
BRTW: Phelan was never given the opportunity to be successful. He had that threadbare squad and his recruitment was done on the last two days of the window with most signings being low-budget. That said, he’s not been able to get results with the squad recently, so the club had to do something if they have any intention of trying to survive. That clearly wasn’t going to be spending money so plumping for a coach with different ideas is the only way to go. I’m more excited by a modern coach who’s been successful than I would have been by a “roundabout” manager like Pardew.
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BRTW: We had good cup runs under Steve Bruce, so I don’t know that it would have been all that different. We’ve had good draws and fringe players have done well in all the games. It’s been the highlight of our season – the win over Leicester on the opening day apart.
CC: The FA Cup third round win against Swansea should be a new start, but many Hull fans stayed away in protest, but was it important to make a stand about what has been happening at the club?
BRTW: Our attendances have been embarrassing for most of the league games too. Especially when you consider that when they announce crowds of 16,000, the actual attendance is far less. As fans, I think we had to do something to highlight the problems. Because we’re in the Premier League, there is no sympathy with our plight. Fans of clubs outside the PL would give their right arm to be in it. Things like the name change and the removal of concessions don’t hit home until they happen to your club.
CC: Are you resigned to losing Robert Snodgrass if Hull don't stay up and are there any other players who you think might even leave in this window?
BRTW: Snodgrass will definitely go but it’s vital that we keep him until the summer. He’s not going to sign a new deal with these owners and especially not if we go down so we’ll have to cash in eventually. We’ve got a good squad so I could see interest, but I think the money on offer from staying in the PL trumps anything another club might offer to buy someone.
CC: Are Hull City linked with any strikes in January and do you see the owners willing to invest with Silva now at the helm?
BRTW: I think we’ll just get loans and maybe a cheap right back. There’s no willingness from the owners to gamble on investment. We’ve been linked with Oumar Niasse who’s flopped at Everton, but was hot before he went there.
CC: The match at Dean Court went very wrong, very quickly for Hull City, but do you feel confident that your players have something to prove in this game that they are a better side than they were on that day?
BRTW: We were really poor in that period and the losses at Bournemouth and Middlesbrough were particularly poor. We’ve picked up since and although we’ve only got 2 points from the last 7 games, we’ve played pretty well. With the new manager and some tweaks to the way we line up and press the ball, hopefully we’ll be more competitive.
CC: Dawson went off with a shoulder injury in the FA Cup game against Swansea. How do you think you might set up if you are without him for this game?
BRTW: We’re struggling badly in defence. I’d be surprised if we don’t have Jake Livermore as a makeshift centre-half again and lord knows who’ll play right back!
CC: In your last two league games Hull City have scored first and yet only come away with on point from those games so can you point towards why you have been conceding goals so regularly, i.e. set-pieces, losing possession in wrong areas of the pitch, goalkeeping/defensive errors?
BRTW: We’ve conceded a lot of soft goals from a combination of individual errors, giving away penalties and poor marking at set-pieces. That will be key for the new manager to improve. Some of it you can work on, some of it, you’ve got to rely on players to learn quickly.
CC: Marco Silva says Hull City needs a miracle to stay up, but With the fixtures remaining can you see Hull City surviving?
BRTW: We’ve got half a chance. The fixtures after Bournemouth are horrendous for a few weeks but then we’ve got 6 of 7 home games against teams in the bottom half. That’s where the miracle will have to occur!
CC: I kind of have a bit of sympathy for Hull City fans more than most in the Premier league as they have seen it all before and every time they win promotion they look like a side that is destined to go straight back down. Their new manager may well prove to be a good appointment given time, but he needs to be given the cash to try and build something up at Hull. AFCB probably play the Tigers at a fairly good time as they are coming back off of a 2-0 defeat in the League Cup Semi-final, but I have seen improvements in their team over the last few weeks. Make sure you have a read up of their recent results on Booth Ferry to Wembley.
Hull City fans have campaigned for The Allams to sell the club (which they have been trying to do for years) and smashed up the owner's roller and attacked his house. They are then surprised when the owners want their money out of the club and are not continuing to be the biggest spending owners in the club's history. Blame The Hull City Supporters' Trust. A group with tiny membership the media always goes to for "the fans' viewpoint". Hull City have been blighted by this neanderthal element amongst fans since "Tigers 2000" welcomed David Lloyd to Hull City. Some people prefer protesting to supporting.
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