The Tigers (almost) completed a drastic squad overhaul
with four signings on transfer deadline day.
Markus Henriksen is still expected
to leave before the end of the transfer window which will mean eleven senior
players have left the club since the end of last season while ten have arrived
to replace them on permanent or loan deals.
The club have worked under severe, self-imposed
restrictions this summer. The last of the parachute payments from the Premier
League were received in January and as Jarrod Bowen wasn’t sold, as many
expected/feared, the club are operating on a severely restricted budget with no
large income from player sales save for the sell-on clauses on Daniel James and
Harry Maguire that will drip feed into the revenue column over the next few
years.
Long gone are the days when the Allams would gamble future
income on trying to achieve promotion – they’ve long since lost interest in
that and we have to accept it. I certainly won’t bleat about it. Assem Allam
made it clear when he couldn’t change the name of the club to Hull Tigers that
it would be run as a business for the benefit of two people going forward and I’ll
accept that level of pettiness over changing the name of our beloved club.
So with those constraints in place, how well have the new
manager Grant McCann and the recruitment team done? They’ve certainly achieved the
aim of building a squad solid in number while reducing the wage bill but is
there enough quality?
Few of the ten players who have arrived are established
Championship ready players. The sad truth is that we’re not in the market for
those players. They either cost millions in transfer fees or demand wages we won’t
pay. We’re also not in a position to win a squabble with other clubs over
players who are coveted. We saw in the straight fight with Barnsley for Mallik
Wilks how unattractive a proposition City are for one reason or another. So we’ve
had to, and sorry for using such a terrible phrase, “think outside the box” in
order to make a small budget go a long way. A big part of that has been signing
players well known to the manager from having previously worked with them or
being aware of them in League One last season. I’m not a huge fan of usurping a
recruitment strategy in this way but needs must. It does mean the manager will
have to take his share of the responsibility if it isn’t successful.
The first arrival of the summer was goalkeeper Matt
Ingram (QPR Undisc.). He’s come in to back-up George Long
who was being readied to take over as number one last season with David Marshall’s
impending departure. As with Fraizer Campbell, City just weren’t prepared to
stomach Marshall’s “Premier League wage”. Ingram isn’t a first choice keeper at
this level but he’s solid enough and has good experience at the levels below. Will
Mannion will be third choice and he’s still very promising. With an
array of very good young goalkeepers below them in Charlie Andrew, Harrison
Foulkes, Harvey Cartwright and David Robson, this is the least of our worries.
Defensively City struggled last season once Aston Villa
recalled Tommy Elphick. His “replacement” Liam Ridgewell was a huge let down
and he was released along with Ondrej Mazuch while Todd Kane returned after his
loan. None were a loss. They did leave us light on numbers defensively but that
has been addressed with the recruitment of Ryan Tafazolli (Peterborough
Free) and Matthew Pennington (Everton Loan) at centre half.
Tafazolli was managed by McCann at Posh but trialled over the summer. Pennington
has good Championship experience from loan spells at Leeds and Ipswich in the
past couple of seasons and will threaten the Reece Burke/Jordy
De Wijs partnership. He’s a player City have wanted for a couple
of years.
The signing of Aussie left-back Callum Elder
(Leicester Undisc.) could be particularly important as Stephen Kingsley
has rarely impressed and while Brandon Fleming is a useful back-up, he’ll
benefit far more from getting out on loan and playing regularly. Elder has
played briefly at this level in several loan spells having featured much more
in League One. On the right side, City will depend on new skipper Eric
Lichaj for his assuring performances and experience with Robbie McKenzie
as his able and versatile back-up. We’ll likely see both in other positions at
times as well as Burke and Pennington who can both cover full-back.
It’s a defence still lacking the veteran centre-half we
had, temporarily, in Elphick but it shows a lot of promise. Burke in particular
improved immeasurably last season and given Hull City is now a proving ground
for the best defenders in the country – he looks capable of joining some good
company in the future.
Midfield is interesting. City’s signings in this area George
Honeyman (Sunderland 400k) and Leo da Silva Lopes (Wigan Undisc.)
were both maligned by supporters of their previous clubs when leaving. Neither
had a brilliant last season with Honeyman part of a Sunderland side that failed
to get out of League One and Lopes joining Gillingham on loan after his big-money
move to Wigan didn’t work out. In some ways, it’s irrelevant. Both can play.
Lopes is a 20-year old with over 100 league appearances. Honeyman is still only
24 and has scored 12 goals from midfield in the last couple of seasons.
Importantly, both have been signed for their stamina and athleticism to play in
a team that presses high to win the ball back. Lopes is very well known to
McCann and Honeyman is an “outside the box” signing that others weren’t looking
into.
There’s a very good question to be asked of how many of
the recruits will actually start games. On the face of it, City are solid
enough in midfield with Jackson Irvine being one of the first names on
any team sheet and Daniel Batty and Kevin Stewart looking a
reasonable defensive axis. Jon Toral being fit again brings flair to the
team playing off a striker or at the front of a midfield three. Aside from the indefatigable
Irvine though, there is a lack of athleticism in that group. Honeyman and Lopes
will certainly solve that problem and bring competition for places. Toral has
been particularly unreliable in fitness terms too.
That just leaves the front line and you’d hope this is
where City will cause other teams problems. Jarrod Bowen and Kamil
Grosicki are our best players and amongst the best in the league. It’s a
miracle that they’re still here and we need to enjoy what will surely be their
last year (or half a year?) in black an amber. Josh Bowler
(Everton Loan) looks a very addition on the early evidence and will provide a
good back-up or alternative to Grosicki and Bowen.
Through the middle, Tom Eaves (Gillingham
Free) is an exciting signing. I’m still stinging from the departure of Fraizer
Campbell who would lift this team to another level but I’m equally thrilled
that we’ve brought in a striker who gets on the end of crosses and scores goals
with his head. We’ve not had that for so long and when your strength is in the
wide areas – it makes a lot of sense. Josh Magennis (Bolton Nominal)
will be a decent back-up. He’s also a threat in the air, is used to playing on
his own up front and can play wide. His goal record is reasonable if
unspectacular but there aren’t many better available for pennies. Both look a
far better prospect than Nouha Dicko who it’s easy to forget cost
us the thick end of four million quid.
I’ve (harshly) failed to mention Angus MacDonald
and David Milinkovic. MacDonald has been missing for so long through
injury that its hard to remember his strengths. Milinkovic has been a waste of
everyone’s time so far. Youngsters Max Sheaf and Jacob Greaves
going on loan to Cheltenham Town is really good news for their development.
Hopefully Keane Lewis-Potter and Fleming will find suitors too.
I don’t know if the recruitment will be good enough – no-one
does. Everything about this squad from the manager down is 50/50 at best. It
could easily punch above its weight like last season and could easily get
sucked into a relegation scrap. But given the financial constraints in place
along with the overall feel of a club with owners who aren’t interested and
fans who are dwindling in number - they’ve certainly made a good fist of
things.
I particularly like the look of things in midfield.
Again, there’s no obvious leader and a quality on the ball is a slight worry
but it’s a young, vibrant group who could be far more effective unit than the
sum of its parts. That is what we’re looking for. No matter what the cost of
putting them together, that’s what all successful Championship teams are.
Excellent analysis. It will be a roller-coaster of a season - no change there then! We need to get behind the lads and try and forget our toxic owners. Would still like to see some form of protests, particularly at televised matches. Come on City.
ReplyDeleteProtests, grow they are not working.
ReplyDeleteGreat article. I for one am excited, its a fighting team with youth and energy. No expectations and everything to prove. Looking forward to some big scoring matches (probably both ways).
ReplyDelete