Hull slipping down.
View attachment 279864Hull City in free fall down the table.
At the end of January, Hull were in 10th with a game in hand, looking good for a top half finish. Now, two months later, things look a lot more grim. Steve Bruce seems to be losing the plot, and needs to sort out the defence, or we may well be forced into a relegation battle in the remaining games.
Game 1: Stoke - Hull 2-2 (Aluko, Blanco)
A poor defensive performance against bottom of the table Stoke. Still, a point earned. Bolasie missed a penalty as well, so we were lucky in the end to get a point.
Game 2: Hull - Rotherham 6-5 (Snodgrass x2, Aboubakar, N'Doye, Lucas, Chester)
In the most crazy match of the season, in all competitions, we eventually managed to sneak through to the 5th round of the FA cup. We took the lead after 5 minutes, then 25 minutes later, we were 1-4 down. ***** Caballero had an absolute shocker. We were 5-3 down at half time, but turned it around in the 2nd half. James Chester scored the winner in the 83rd minute, when we had been reduced to 10 men. This was truly not for the faint of heart.
Game 3: Hull - Man Utd 1-2 (Blanco)
A rough result to take, as we were well in the game and may have deserved at least a point. Caballero had another shocker, which he got a fine for. He is still sulking about it at the end of March.
Game 4: Aston Villa - Hull 2-1 (Aboubakar)
Another narrow loss that could have gone the other way. We just can't seem to edge these type of games at the moment. In-form Villa played well and are climbing the table.
Game 5: Hull - Leeds 2-2 (Huddlestone, Aluko)
We were forced into another replay by a team from a lower league. Not pleasing, giving the fixture list congestion during these months.
Game 6: Hull - Tottenham 1-2 (Aluko)
I can't but help thinking we would have gotten something from this game earlier in the season. We absolutely hammered Spurs, having 10 shots on target to their 2. We created 4 clear cut chances, they had 0. Still we manage to lose. The only positive note is that Aluko has been a positive surprise, managing quite a few goals.
Game 7: Leeds - Hull 0-4 (Aboubakar, N'Doye x2, Lucas)
After the impotent showing against Tottenham, this was a welcome relief. We took our chances and bagged a 6th round meeting with Man City.
Game 8: Everton - Hull 3-1 (Aboubakar)
Yet another poor showing. We were 2-0 down after 3 minutes, and never looked like getting back into it. Digne got sent off after 2 bookings, leaving us with no good cover on left back.
Game 9: Hull - Newcastle 2-1 (Blanco, Aboubakar)
FINALLY! 3 very welcome points, as we had 1 point in our 5 last games before this one. Williamson getting 2 bookings in the first 25 minutes helped us out, but we were already 1-0 up at that point and fully deserved all the points here. Aboubakar seems to be hitting his stride.
Game 10: Hull - Man City 1-0 (N'Doye)
What a performance from the boys. A highly polished defensive performance sees us through to the semi finals where we have to face Arsenal. We limited Man City to 1 shot on target, as Chester and Lucas had great games.
Game 11: QPR - Hull 1-0
This was the first game of a tough couple of months where we haven't scored. A Taarabt penalty ended up deciding the game. A disappointing result once again as we keep sliding into the bottom half.
Game 12: Hull - Swansea 1-3 (Jelavic)
Fatigue is really starting to take its toll on the squad. In an even game we had 4 shots on target to their 3. However, ***** has really not been up to par and let all of their shots in. N'Doye being injured and Chester being sent off didn't help us either.
Review
8 league games, 4 points. What a horrendous couple of months. We just can't seem to get a reward for our efforts. We played quite well in a few of the games, but we keep conceding soft goals, and dropping points from winnable games. Steve Bruce now has 7 games and a deep FA cup run to redeem the season. Things could indicate that winning the FA cup could be the only way of keeping his job.