Hull tigers

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Here we go then, possibly one of the toughest jobs in English football and certainly one of the toughest chairmen to work with.



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Hull were only promoted to the Premier League last season under the stewardship of Steve Bruce after just one season in the Championship. They beat Sheffield Wednesday in the play off final to secure and instant return to the Premier League, it wasnt long ago that they were in the bottom two division but now there back in the big time.


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On the face of it this is a very decent squad with an abundance of quality in midfield. The goalkeeper is definitely the position position we need to improve most as well another striker to help out Abel Hernandez who is bang in form from last season.


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We've got some competition at center half but Dawson looks to be first pick, if just for his experience. Dawson, Curtis Davies and Harry Maguire all look good but Dawson will be the one holding the defense together.

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Similar to Dawson, Huddlestone will be a vital player in the midfield. I'm still a little surprised he stayed with the club during there stay in the Championship. He's got 4 caps for England and brilliant technical ability, he needs an energetic partner though and thats where Jake Livermore will come in who will have to do all the running.

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The main man upfront this season will be Abel Hernandez, we're a bit short for options but Abel will be number one choice anyway. He struggled in his first season in the Premier League but looked a totally different player scoring over 20 games in the Championship as he led Hull to promotion.​
 
So with the season only a matter of weeks away, i put together my strongest side if no transfers were made:

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After looking at this I've decided that there's a lot of improvement needed!

The goalkeeper is a big concern with Allan McGregor current first choice and Dusan Kuciak his back up, neither of which are good enough for the Premier League.

The defence looks okay, I have a couple of doubts over Harry Maguire stepping up but hopefully he can prove me wrong in a 3 man defence with Dawson and Davies both of Premier League quality next to him.

I'm pretty happy with the wings back too, although I'm slightly concerned about their lack of experience with them both only 21 with very little Premier League experience between then. Moses Odubajo is also attracting interest from Watford so it may be difficult just to keep hold of him.

The midfield is our strongest area, Diame, Livermore and Huddlestone are all Premier League class with plenty of experience. In Diame and Livermore we also have the athleticism that Huddlestone doesn't offer us.

Up front i'd prefer playing two strikers but our lack of options means at the minute playing Shaun Maloney behind Abel Hernandez would suite us best.​
 
After meeting the players my next job was scour the world looking for the next world beater to join our team, with the emphasis on forward players and a goalkeeper.

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The first player we tried to sign was former Hull player, Hatem Ben Arfa on a free transfer. Unfortunately he wasn't even interested in talking to us after leaving Nice on a free transfer. His last spell with Hull was less than successful and maybe that had something to do with his decision but I was still gutted to miss out here.


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The next player to turn us down was Man Utd youngster, Marcus Rashford! It was only a loan deal but still Rashford would rather stay and bide his time in Utd's reserves than join us.

There's a pattern emerging here ...


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Another failed attempt and time Matt Phillips from QPR turning us down in favour of West Brom. I'm starting to get desperate now as we seem unable to sign anyone! All the players good enough to sign either have better offers on the table or simply dont want to join and everyone who does wan to join isn't good enough!


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This is getting stupid now! To be fair this transfer was a little ambitious and a really expensive one for us but yet again Fellaini turned us down. Even if he would talk to us I'm not sure we'd afford his wages but we have to start bringing players in with just a couple of weeks until the season starts.​
 
Finally !!

3 join Hull City

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First up is probably the most important, David Ospina signing for £4million from Arsenal. We seriously needed a goalkeeper as I've mentioned before so I'm delighted to bring Ospina in. He's bags of experience and has over 50 appearances for Colombia and is still only 26 years old.

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Another big money transfer came next with Andre Gray signing from fellow newly promoted side, Burnley. I'm surprised I was able to sign Gray with very little between us and Burnley but £8 million was enough to bring the forward to Hull. I'm hoping he can partner Abel Hernandez up front, however his lack of experience at this level makes me have a light question mark over this.


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The final signing for now was another striker coming in, Adam Armstrong joining on loan from Newcastle. With Marcus Rashford turning down our loan offer, I was keen to bring in a back up choice to both Hernandez and now Gray.

​


We also made a couple of outgoings to players I felt had no future at the club ...

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Ryan Taylor was the first to leave, dropping down a division back to the Championship. He'd only recently joined the club but I saw him way down the pecking order and really thought he'd struggle for game time.

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The only other outgoing transfer was Sone Aluko leaving for Burnely for £4million. Presumably signed to replace Andre Gray who joined us earlier! Aluko has been here a while and enjoyed some success but some way short of being prolific.



We also received a couple of offers for our first team players but these were quickly rejected ...

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First Swansea offered £6million for midfielder Jake Livermore.

With us really struggling to sign anyone, I didn't want to let anyone go, especially Livermore who I think will play a big part for us this season.

The £6million offer was rejected and we heard nothing else from them.


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The same offer came forward from Watford, this time for right back Moses Odubajo.

He's a new signing at the club and at only 21 still has plenty to offer and really could become a very good Premier League full back.


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And finally another big money approach, this time from Sunderland for Mohamed Diamé.

The money on offer wasn't too bad but similar to Livermore, I was worried about being unable to bring in a replacement. Diame's experience will also be vital with over 100 Premier League experience at three different clubs.​
 
With the season just about to start, it's time to see if the side we have is good enough to fight against relegation.

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We at least start the season with some favourable fixtures.

The first game against Tottenham (away) will be really difficult but after that we some very winnable games against sides I expect to be in the bottom 6-8 come the end of the season.

West Brom at home is a must win game, we have to be winning these kind of fixtures at home, the same applied for the Swansea game and to some extend the Bournemouth (away) fixture.

Out of the first 4 game I think we probably need to be picking up at least 7 points, 9 points would be brilliant!

​


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The experts have the 3 promoted teams as favourites to go straight back down, with nothing between the three of us.

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Fortunately the board recognise how difficult this season will be and therefore are just happy with us avoiding relegation. The board also don't look to place too much importance on the cups this season either.

​

This is the side I've decided on for the new season ...

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I really think this tactic suits our players the best with us playing 3 center half's wing back and two up front. Hull did use this formation at times last season during their promotion run so it should be familiar with a lot of the players.

The wing backs will be vital in this system as they need to get forward all game and put in constant crosses for the front two.

----------------------------​

David Ospina - The new signing starts in goal after his £4million transfer from Arsenal.

Curtis Davies - Starting his 4th season at the club after making nearly 100 appearances for the club already. His pace will be vital considering his two partners.

Michael Dawson - After captaining the side to promotion last season he now starts in a 3 man defence which Hull used on occasion last season. He's a no no nonsense defender who will still put his body on the line.

Harry Maguire - The one player I still have a doubt over whether he can play at this level. The good thing is his two partners are full of experience and should help him along. He's also probably the best defender we have on the ball.

Andrew Robertson - A brilliant wing back who loves to get forward. He has really good pace and is capable of getting up and down the flank all day long.

Moses Odubajo - Very similar type of player to Robertson, a little bit quicker and probably not quite as good on the ball as his partner on the other side. Again though capable of getting up and down the wing all game.

Tom Huddlestone - A brilliant technical player and someone who is capable of dictating and dominating the game. His physicals are brilliant but hopefully the players around him will compensate for this.

Jake Livermore - A really good player playing back in the Premier League, where he should be. A good box to box midfielder.

Mohamed Diamé - Possible the most important player in this midfield three. He's a player who can run all day long and is capable of bringing the ball forward, as seen in the play off final where he capped of his performance with the winning goal.

Andre Gray - The new signing starts up front after a brilliant year in the Championship. He's very unknown at this level but he's scored goals everywhere he's been so hopefully this is no different.

Abel Hernandez - Probably Hull's best player last season as his goals won them promotion. He was very disappointing during his last season in the Premier League though so he must improve on that.
 
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Here we are then, the first game of the season, away at White Hart Lane against Tottenham. A tough start against a side with ambitions for a top 4 finish but if we can avoid defeat here then the fixtures become easier over the next month or so.

This is how both sides line up:

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Tottenham line up pretty much how you'd imagine, apart from Hakim Ziyech making his debut after signing from Fc Twente for £8.5 million in central midfield.

Their midfield two really lack Premier League experience so is possible a position we can target with our midfield three.

We meanwhile line up as mentioned in the previous post, our only change is David Meyler coming in for Jake Livermore who failed a late fitness test. The three defenders are really going to have to be on their game today against a really good Tottenham side.
​


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10" - A very dull start with neither side really able to keep the ball nor registering a shot.

17" - The first chance of the match at Kyle Walker puts in a cross which Son Heung-Min reaches at the far post and forces a good save from David Ospina who tips wide for another corner.

22" - Mo Diame wins the midfield battle against Dele Alli and shifts the ball to his midfield partner David Meyler. Meyler plays a ball forward to Andre Gray but both he and Jan Vertonghen misses the ball which allows Abel Hernandez in on goal ... he finises calmly past Lloris to make it 1-0.


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30" - Very little to report as Hull continue to defend well and frustrate a Tottenham side who can't find a way through.

45" - Christian Erikson whips in an in-swinging corner only for Michael Dawson to be adjudged to have handled the ball and the referee signalling a penalty. New signing Hakim Ziyech sent Ospina the wrong way to level things up seconds before the half time whistle.



HALF TIME

46" - Hull start very brightly with Andrew Robertson making a run down the left and putting in a good cross only for Abel Hernandez to head wide.

57" - More good play from Hull allowed Abel Hernandez to play in Andre Gray who has an effort from a wide position and forces a good save from Lloris. If anything Hull are looking the more dangerous this second half.

72" - A first decent effort by Harry Kane, he horribly drags his shot wide though to sarcastic cheers from the traveling Hull fans.

90" - Good play from Tottenham as the play the ball through the midfield and onto Chadli on the left wing, he cut infield and has an effort on goal from 25 yards ... only to see his effort hit the bar and bounce clear.

FULL TIME


​


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A very decent point here against a side who will more than likely be challenging for the title this season.

It was a slow start but we managed to take the lead when Hernandez fell lucky to latch onto a loose ball and slot past Lloris in the bottom corner.

Just as I was planning my half time team talk, Michael Dawson gave away a stupid penalty just seconds before half time, new signing Hakim Ziyech tucked away the penalty and made it 1-1.

The second half was again dominated by Tottenham in terms of possession but hitting the bar with just 5 minutes to go was as close as they came.

​
 
August 2015


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We backed up the draw at White Hart Lane with a very good win against West Brom here.

We weren't brilliant and we know we'll have to perform much better later in the season but Abel Hernandez claimed all three points here with a late winner, which makes it 4 points from the opening two games.


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Another win but another game which could have finished very differently.

Andre Gray scored his first goal for the club after finishing off a brilliant cross from Andrew Robertson from the left hand side. We really had to thank David Ospina for our second clean sheet in a row, he looks a really good signing already after a great display here.


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Our first break from league action saw us take on Championship side Nottingham Forest in the first round of league cup.

It turned out to be our worst performance of the season so far. We went 1-0 just after half time and after going too attacking late on we then conceded a second with 5 minutes to go.

It may become a blessing this defeat as we can now fully concentrate on the league.



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Our best performance of the season so far!

3-2 doesn’t give us justice after being 3-0 up with less than 10 minutes to go. We raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Hernandez (2) and Livermore, we looked brilliant in a game I had worried about.

We were coasting before Fernandez scored a brilliant header from an out swinging corner late on, then minutes later, another corner and similar to the first game, we gave away a penalty from it. This time Mo Diame conceding the penalty and giving Swansea a lifeline, fortunately we still eld on for the win.

​

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A brilliant start to Premier League football but a real disappointment in the cup!

The draw against Tottenham was a brilliant result and gave us real confidence going into the other 3 league games. We weren't great in the next two games, against West Brom and Bournemouth but still managed to get 6 points from them with the two strikers in the goals already.

The cup loss against Forest was disappointing but it does mean all our efforts can now go into league football.

The final game against Swansea was a near perfect performance, it was perfect for about 80 minutes anyway. If we play like this every week then relegation won't be a concern.


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Early days but we find ourselves in 4th spot with 10 points from the opening 4 games.

Our target was 7 points from the first 4 games so to come away with 10 is really pleasing! We need to continue this form though with the big games coming soon.

​

Player of the month:

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Abel Hernandez

The frontman has been in blistering form with 4 goals from the opening 4 games.

I was a little surprised he wasn't mentioned for the player of the month award but Zlatan beat him to that with 5 goals.​
 
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TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY


After a very impressive opening month of the season, i was desperate to keep hold of everyone, I wasn't that interested in splashing anymore cash but i would do if something came up.


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With just hours of the window left however, Stoke come in with an offer for full back Ahmed Elmohamady.

It wasn't an awful lot of money and I was keen to keep Elmohamady as back up to Moses Odubajo who is still very inexperienced.

The offer was rejected and we heard nothing more from it.

​

We still had a few million left though and it was burning a hole in my pocket, so i looked for a new recruit and quickly found a suitable player ...

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We offered £4 million for Emanuel Mammana from River Plate.

He's only 19 but looks to be able to grow into a commanding center back over the next couple of years.

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As it turns out there was plenty of interest in this lad, Benfica and Porto also having offers accepted as well as reported interest from Arsenal.

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Fortunately Arsenal saw sense and realized they couldn't compete with Hull, Arsenal withdrawing their offer which just left us and the two Portuguese sides to battle it out.

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Well we won the battle, it must have been the pull of Premier League football which was the deciding factor.

He's only on small wages so it isn't a huge gamble. He'll be battling it out to start but he's certainly an improvement on our current fourth choice center back, Alex Bruce.


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September 2015

After a brilliant start to the season, we were keen to follow this up during a very short September with only 3 league games being played.

Before we got into action though we had some disappointing news ...

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Our player of the month for last month was ruled out for 4 weeks with an ankle injury. The chances are, he'll miss the whole of September and will miss all three league games. The obvious replacement is loanee, Adam Armstrong.

This just puts further pressure on Andre Gray to continue his goalscoring form.

​



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Not the start we had in mind!

Our first loss of the season and worst performance to go with it.

It all started so well as well with Adam Armstrong scoring his first goal for the club, he only started due to the injury to Abel Hernandez.

Diouf then equalised for stoke when he headed in from a Marko Arnautovic cross. We then fell behind, again thanks to our inability to defend corners. Once again Diame fouling inside the penalty area and giving away a penalty, which Marc Wilson cooly finished.


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Back to winning ways with another good performance here.

Andre Gray continuing his decent form with a brace here, his second being a wonderful looping header from the penalty spot. It was vital we got the win today with Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal being the next 4 fixtures.

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We were beaten by the better side here today in the first of 4 really tough games coming up.

Chelsea took the lead fairly early on when their new signing Papy Djilobodji headed in from a wide freekick, once again conceding from a set piece!

We offered very little in truth, however Adam Armstrong did equalise late on, only for his effort to be ruled offside.


​


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We drop down slightly into 7th place which was kind of expected during this month really.

The only disappointing result was the 2-1 loss away to Stoke, especially after going 1-0 up so early on. The defeat to Chelsea was always expected and we put in a brilliant performance to beat Watford.

We needed at least one win this month though with October's fixtures looking like:

Man Utd (home)
Liverpool (away)
Arsenal (home)
Crystal Palace (away)

In all honesty we'd probably do well to come away with 4 points from those games.

​

Player of the month:

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Andre Gray

2 goals and an assist in 3 games is about as good as you can ask for in just 3 games.

There was added pressure on Gray this month due to the injury to Abel Hernandez but he coped brilliantly and single handedly won us the game against Watford.​
 
October 2015

Now before we get into the games we have some injury news to bring you ...


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Fortunately, the injury news was all positive.

First up Abel Hernandez resumed full training after being out for 3 weeks or so.

He's started the season really well too with 4 goals from his first 4 games, he also started to link up really well with Andre Gray so I'm keen for him to get back into the side.


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The other bit of good news was the return of a forgotten man, Robert Snodgrass,

It’ll be like a new signing this after he’s been out for 4 months with a damaged kneecap. He’s a good player Snodgrass but prefers to play out wide, with our system not using wingers I’m not quite sure where he’ll fit in.

He isn't ready for first team football yet but it should only be a few weeks from now.
​


With that all out the way, it was time for business with a busy month full of tricky fixtures coming up ...

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Without doubt our best win of the season so far against a brilliant Man Utd side top of the league having only lost once.

We had Andre Gray to thank for the win with a goal in either half for the new signing.

His first goal was something special too, a wonderful strike from 25 yards out right into the top corner. Man Utd threatened after this but couldn’t find a way past David Ospina.

Gray then made sure of the points with his second of the day 7 minutes from time.


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I feel fortunate to come away with a point here against a struggling Liverpool side who really battered us today.

James Milner was presented with a guilt edge chance to score from the penalty spot but his effort went the wrong side of the post. We defended well but once again had David Ospina to thank for the clean sheet.


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A pleasing draw here which meant we came through the difficult few fixtures with just one defeat, against Chelsea last month.

Things could have been so much better though with Andre Gray carrying on his good form by opening the scoring just before half time. After a brilliant performance Gray then had a chance to double the lead just after the hour mark, but he smashed his effort over the bar from close range.

We later came to regret this with Mesut Ozil stealing a point late on which I don’t think they deserved.


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A bit of a wasted opportunity here in a game I really felt we could have won.

Connor Wickham grabbed the opener after beating Curtis Davies at the near post to head home. Abel Hernandez equalised though with his first goal back from injury.


​

After this we had a bit more injury news, this time so no positive ...

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Mohamed Diamé was ruled out for just over a month with a knee injury.

Diamé has been brilliant for us so far this season and really has been one of the unsung heroes. He'll be a big miss with David Meyler the only real replacement we have.
​

We then had some more worrying news ...

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There had been some talk over a possible takeover with our current chairman looking for a way out.

The news that David Beckham was the leader of the new consortium really gave me belief that it would be run properly, however despite our brilliant form in the league, if Beckham is successful the report is saying he'll turn to Roberto Martinez to replace me as manager.

On one hand I really want a takeover to happen so I don't have to deal with Assem Allam ... but on the other hand if a takeover does happen I could be out of the job!

​


Anyway, back to football ...

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Another good month for us in a really testing period here!

I'm really pleased to have stayed unbeaten throughout all 4 games, especially given that included 3 of the divisions top sides.

The only slight disappointment was the draw against Crystal Palace but the win against Man Utd more than made up for it.

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We move up one place and into 6th, just behind Watford and Arsenal in 5th and 4th.

Really pleased with our early position but plenty of football yet to be played.


​


Player of the month:

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Harry Maguire

A brilliant month for the young defender here as he was instrumental in us getting the results against the top sides.

I had doubts about Maguire at the start of the season but he’s proved me wrong and is keeping new signing Emanuel Mammana out the side at the minute.

Andre Gray also had a good month with a further 3 goals meaning he’s now the clubs top goalscorer but this month was more about defensive performances and Maguire was vital in them.​
 
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November 2015


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The talk of this takeover just won't go away!

There's now talk of David Beckham and his team not having the sufficient funds to complete the deal!

I wouldn't be too disappointed if they did end up pulling out, especially after the talk of them replacing me with Roberto Martinez. I just want this issue resolved now with the club still under a transfer embargo and the January transfer window opening soon.

​

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Back to winning ways here after a succession of draws.

We played really well today too and thoroughly deserved this. After applying pressure late on after a fairly slow start, substitute Adam Armstrong grabbed the winner late on. Abel Hernandez will come away disappointed not to be on the scoresheet after missing several chances.


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Without doubt my worst day as Hull manager!

We got off to a shocking start and Middlesbrough had things all their own way for large parts of the game. We stormed into a 3-0 in a 15 minute spell where I thought we were playing Barcelona, they were that good.

Andre Gray got a late consolation goal but it was far too little too late as we suffered our first defeat in 5 games!


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We bounced back from that defeat really well in a game we found much harder than I thought we would.

Burnley are bottom of the league without a win all season but they took the lead against us as we struggled to really create anything. Once we were 1-0 down I threw on Adam Armstrong to play in behind the strikers and it worked a treat.

Abel Hernandez set him through 1v1 with the keeper and he finished like a true striker. He’s really putting pressure on me to start him now.

Then, just as I’d settled for draw, Andrew Robertson galloped forward and put in a cross which beat everyone including the goalkeeper to put us 2-1 up and into 6th​ in the league.


​


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Well the deals off!

Beckham and his mates failed to show up with the money so the chairman pulled the plug! i'm just happy to get this resolved for now but I'm sure someone else will come up soon.
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Just in time for the January transfer window, I'm relieved that's it come to an end in time for January.

​


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Back to the playing side of the game though and we finish a decent month once again as we go into the Christmas period.

The only disappointment was the heavy defeat to Middlesbrough where we just didn't show up at all. The win against Leicester was tight but probably just edged it and the win against Burnley was probably expected.

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We go into December clinging onto 6th place!

December is a really busy period with us playing 6 games and some of the bigger sides too, if we can keep hold of 6th by the start of the new year we'll have done really well.

​

Player of the month:

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Jake Livermore

Some really good performances from Livermore this month and a man of the match award against Leicester just topped it off.

Similar to Harry Maguire who won this award last season, Livermore has been an unsung hero this season, the two lads upfront have grabbed all the headlines but he's been just as important.​
 
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