Hull City 2 Bristol City 1 - The 2022/23 season opener!

New kit. New sponsor. New faces. New, and old, fans. New season. New hope. New Hull City.

Bristol City were the first visitors to the MKM Stadium after Acun ilicali’s summer evolution and with so many new players to integrate into Shota Arveladze’s squad and mixed results in pre-season, there was much anticipation rather than expectation amongst the majority of the 16,667 in attendance.

Hull City fans walk to the MKM Stadium in the July drizzle.

 

City: Ingram, Coyle, Jones, Figueiredo, Greaves, Sayyadmanesh (Elder), Seri, Slater, Tufan (Docherty), Estupiñán (Tetteh), T. Smith (Covil).

An injury to Brandon Fleming and Callum Elder being unwell meant a start at left-wing back for striker Allahyar Sayyadmanesh. I’ve no idea how familiar he is with the role but he was great. He conceded about 150 free-kicks and struggled to deliver anything on his left foot but he ran all day, made dozens of tackles and whipped in some useful balls when he could cut in on his right. Hopefully the calf injury that ended his afternoon isn’t too serious because the electric Iranian is popular for a reason amongst the City support. 

City eventually grew into the game but were struggling early on. Our high defensive line was exploited with excellent long passes and great movement from Weimann, in particular. The Tigers conceded numerous free-kicks with just-too-late challenges. An early set piece was cleared but when the ball was returned into the box, James headed powerfully towards the bottom right-hand corner only to be denied by a superb hand from Ingram. City established a foothold as the half went on enjoying plenty of possession but not really harming the visitors being slow to pass the ball forward and lacking options in midfield. Regan Slater was clearly hanging out much wider than he normally would to protect Allahyar at wing-back and it left Seri as the only outlet most of the time.

Seri’s a tremendous player, as his pedigree suggests. The chairman suggested he’s Barcelona quality in the press conference yesterday and he’s certainly got some Barca qualities. He was on the edge of the 18-yard line with a man up his arse telling Ingram he’d happily have the ball. He’s always looking for it, moves it quickly and effectively and moves to get it back. His range of passing didn’t always come off but the array of things he tried was spectacular – and this is just the first game. His set-piece delivery, corners particularly, wasn’t great but that’s all you could criticise him for. This was some first impression.

Greaves went charging into their box to connect with a throw-in, was nudged and went down looking for a foul. The ref waved it away but from the clearance, the ball was swung in towards Estupiñán who got a clear push in the back and went down but the ref didn’t want to know again. He didn’t want to know quite often throughout the half and it felt like we weren’t getting the rub of the green. A feel exacerbated when a soft free-kick awarded against an over-eager Seri was swung in, evaded several flailing defenders and was headed back across for Weimann to score [0-1].

City responded well to going behind and were building up a head of steam before half time. Estupiñán had a decent chance, but the keeper smothered his left footed shot after Seri slid him in and then a Greaves knockdown was scrambled away for a corner. A goalmouth scramble from the subsequent delivery ended the half.

Estupiñán, and Tyler Smith, had little of the ball, but both made numerous intelligent runs that either weren’t spotted or weren’t found. The Colombian ran the right channel and held the ball up well at times but runners from midfield weren’t forthcoming. He did well though and looked far more dangerous than the, admittedly meaningless, appearances in pre-season.

Half-time: City 0 Bristol City 1

The second half was a completely different story as City established not just possession but a level of control. Bristol City are a well-drilled, typically Nigel Pearson, side who have plenty of threatening players and are good enough to find them. But they reverted to type after the break an showed no ambition whatsoever. Their rare forays forward were halted by the head of Figueiredo and some sensational tackles by the magnificent Jacob Greaves.

Ten minutes in, Alfie Jones turned up on the right and cut the ball back, Seri stepped over it and Ozan Tufan curled a beautiful shot from the edge of the box against the outside of the post. A terrific effort from City’s first ever Turkish signing who looked much, much better for the recent friendly outings. He looked more mobile, hungrier for the ball and showed glimpses of his ability to link play and his goal threat.

If the ref had favoured the visitors, that started to swing as first Dasilva and then Weimann were left complaining that they hadn’t been given free-kicks for strong but fair challenges. City’s decision making in the final third let them down but the play generally was much better, quicker and forward thinking. Just when you wondered if the momentum would go anywhere, skipper Lewie Coyle lofted a cross to the far post and substitute Benjamin Tetteh took it on his chest, cut inside, had another touch that foxed a defender and was clipped before he went down about three weeks later. Regardless, it was a foul and even this ref gave the penalty. He did then take an absolute age to allow Tufan to take it, fussing over the spotting of the ball and the players gathered on the edge of the box. Tension grew in the crowd, but Tufan was utterly nerveless smashing the ball high into the net beyond the despairing dive of Daniel Bentley. [1-1].

Greg Docherty and Callum Elder were stripped and ready to come on before the penalty award. If it had been a couple of minutes later and Tufan wouldn’t have been on to take it, so the timing was fortuitous. Bristol City suddenly found some ambition after the equaliser and their impressive left-back Dasilva had a good strike across goal before Weimann forced a decent save from Ingram at his near post. It looked for all the world a game that neither team wanted to lose and was petering out as Nigel Pearson brough on Timm Klose at centre-half just before the six added minutes went up on the board.

Tetteh then won a throw-in on the left-hand side. Elder lobbed it into the box, Klose headed clear and Seri took it down before hitting a good strike that took a massive deflection and looped over Bentley and into the top corner evoking a monstrous reaction from the home crowd, packed in behind both goals [2-1]. There was no coming back from that and everyone knew it.

Full-time: City 2 Bristol City 1

It’s only the first game but it was a great turnout from the home support and a fantastic atmosphere. The players striding around the pitch afterwards socked in the adulation. Seri stood, adored by the packed North Stand and “I can’t help falling in love” blared out. The hurt is over.

It was, obviously, a great opening day win for a side that looked like it had a LOT of work to do in the warm-up games. Going in with a striker at left wing-back just compounded that. But there were positives all over, aside from the three points. We looked as solid as we did last season. Figueiredo is basically a hooligan and Chris Martin is still looking for one of his ankles, but he’ll head anything and controlled possession. Greaves and Jones were excellent either side. Jones’ contribution wasn’t as obvious as Greaves who makes covering round and taking everything an artform, but we are a much better team with Jones in it. McLoughlin is a very capable fourth option but he’s not as good as some try to tell us and this is definitely the best three.

Tufan’s performance will have cheered everyone who was worried that he was another Bullard and he linked well at times with the indefatigable Seri. Slater took one for the team today but also used the ball incredibly well in the second half. Young Vaughn Covil, who came in as an U21 signing from Forest Green this summer, got an unexpected debut off the bench but he’s impressed everyone in the training camps and it won’t be a one-off.

Tyler Smith had a quiet day, as he often does when he starts, but he put in a lot of unseen work. He’s a proper striker and on another day, his constant movement would have got some reward. Big Tetteh looks a bit clumsy. My 8 year old said he looks like  basketball player and she’s not wrong. But he showed good composure to win the penalty and the throw-in that led to the inner so he was a very effective substitute. The forward options certainly look much better with Longman and Sinik still to come back and more signings sought. There are goals in this team. That was a big worry beforehand.

I can barely recall the last occasion as great as this one at the MKM Stadium. I’d have to go back to the height of Marco Silva’s reign. Perhaps the win over Watford with 10 men when Sam Clucas scored an incredible volley to seal it. That was the last time there was this level of optimism, support, atmosphere and just outright love for City. It’s been far, far too long. But it’s back. City are back.

Hull City: Six Months Of The Acun Era

It has been six months since Hull City were taken over when Turkish businessman and TV personality Acun ılıcalı, though his Acun Media Group, purchased the club from the Allam family. Acun was paraded on the pitch ahead of his first game as owner, the 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers at a buoyant MKM Stadium on the 19^th January 2022.

Pic: @acunilicali

The sale brought an end to the Allam’s 11+ year stewardship of The Tigers, and not before time. The club was run down, worn out and unambitious  - though financially secure – before the takeover but is already unrecognisable. The years of warring between the fans and the former owners are a thing of the past.

Whether the ideas come from Acun, his right-hand man Tan Kesler and CEO Jim Rodwell or from the brilliant but long-suffering staff already at City - they’ve clearly torn up the copy of “How not to run a football club” they inherited. They have set about creating a harmonious and exciting environment for fans to return to the MKM Stadium as well as repairing the relationship with the local media outlets to ensure widespread coverage of the club and access to games for fans who can’t go because of age, health or financial restrictions.

The much maligned membership scheme has had an overhaul to revert pricing to a zonal system. There is fair pricing based on the best views in the stadium, a fantastic offer of free memberships for children under 10 and outstanding pricing for the young adults who are the lifeblood of the club’s future. They were also the ones who suffered most from the removal of concessions five years ago and attracting and retaining them is, rightly, a major priority.

After several successful discounted games last season, the new permanent match day pricing is as attractive as the membership pricing and that also rewards the young fans as well as making City a great prospect for opposition supporters and the thousands of students and visitors to the City who can only pick and choose their games. Unfortunately, moving away supporters back to the northeast corner of the ground means the fans in those blocks have to move seats AGAIN but the move has been well communicated and is well meaning and hopefully most understand the need.

The “CITY” in Hull City is no longer a dirty word and has been embraced by all marketing. That’s not just locally but widely in Turkey, where Acun has introduced City on primetime TV shows and secured impressive sponsorship deals with Correndon Airlines and TOMYA but throughout the world thanks to Correndon’s Hull City emblazoned plane. It’s far from lousy now.

Most importantly to many, the ambition being shown on the pitch is where the difference is most stark. The January transfer window was quieter than many predicted, most probably because relegation was still a very real threat, but the signings this summer have been higher quality, bigger risk and larger investment.

Nathan Baxter and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh impressed on loan last season and bringing them back was a no-brainer. Baxter returns for another temporary spell from Chelsea (with an option to buy him) and Allahyar has joined permanently from Fenerbahce for about £3m.

Tobias Figueiredo and Jean Michaël Seri were Championship standouts last season. They were promoted with Nottingham Forest and Fulham respectively back in May and are a level of signing we haven’t been in the market for in years. While both were free transfers, they’re on contracts we haven’t offered since the summer of 2017.

Turkish international midfielder Ozan Tufan has cost £4m from Fenerbahce. Colombian striker Óscar Estupiñán came in on a free from Vitoria Guimaraes, where he finished as the 5^th top scorer in Portugal’s top flight last season. Soon to be confirmed are the arrivals of winger Doğukan Sinik, another Turkish international, from Antalyaspor and big Gahanian striker Benjamin Tetteh from Yeni Malatyaspor. These are all exciting but riskier deals. They’re the result of Acun and his team’s contacts and scouting network in Turkey, are unknown quantities in England , save for Tufan’s unsuccessful loan spell at Watford, and require big fees. They feel like the sort of signings who will either set the Championship alight or will be returning to Turkish clubs on loan in January, with little in between. It’s has certainly brought more anticipation than hoping free transfers from League One and Two will bear fruit but obviously brings higher financial risk – and reward.

The length of contracts offered to these new players, and existing squad members, has been another welcome shift with three and four year deals being given to secure highly prized assets. The club were financially stable before but watching tens of millions of pounds worth of players walk away free defied that cautious approach. The new arrivals are generally tied down to 2025 and beyond alongside existing assets like Matt Ingram and Brandon Fleming.

Pic: @bazdjcooper

While there is clearly much to be excited about so far, plenty is still unknown about the new ownership. We have no idea of the finances available to Acun, any backing he has or any intentions beyond the very admirable ones he talks about as a football fan like any of us – Acun being a huge Fenerbahce supporter. Most of that is none of our business either, but no fan of a club that has been in receivership, administration and varying degrees of financial meltdown as often as ours would not worry, even just a bit.

Despite some of the hysteria amongst the arse-kissing sociapaths on social media, the new owners are not beyond fair criticism for their decisions. The sacking of Grant McCann, given the job he was doing on a tight budget, was ruthless. I credit the owners for their honesty in the statement given after McCann left, and they did clearly always want their own man, Shota Arveladze, in charge but it was a very harsh decision. As was the decision to release some key personalities in the squad this summer, such as former club captain Richie Smallwood. It’s hard to argue against the strategy to upgrade key positions but they have to get the decisions right when letting go of people who were more than capable of doing a job and were well respected and liked in the dressing room.

Similar could be said of the sale of George Honeyman who has been our standout player for the last two years. It’s unclear how committed Honeyman was to staying given mixed messages in media interviews given before and after he left for Millwall, but it’s clear that while Arveladze valued him, it was only to a point, and the contract offers made reflected that. New contracts are being offered to encourage players to commit to City, which is great, but the offers aren’t always to the level required. At least one other first-teamer has rejected offers because they’re nowhere close to what they could earn elsewhere. I hope that is just teething problems.

Fans will have noticed that while City have been linked with every player who has ever been to Turkey on holiday, there are many other rumours linking the club with domestic players who aren’t quite in the same ballpark. Such as the suggestions of Rotherham striker Matt Smith or AFC Wimbledon midfielder Jack Rudoni. This is mainly because the club’s original scouting team are working pretty much the same way they always have while Tan Kesler’s team have established knowledge of players in and around the Turkish top flight. It’s a curious set-up that needs work, as does the public nature of the transfer business. It’s refreshing to see the club and media working harmoniously but all transfer targets being named in the press well before the club have them secured is a harmful trait.

The biggest negative so far has been the departure of Keane Lewis-Potter to Brentford for around £20m all-in. It was inevitable. He was going to join the Bees last summer before a late change of mind from the club and Brentford sniffed around again in January. The fee is a good one for the club and the move is good for the player but Acun was desperate to avoid losing KLP and his public comments that he wouldn’t sell even for £30m were ill-advised. The club have made the best of the situation though, securing that near club-record fee and re-investing it in fees and wages for international players.

The departure of big personalities like Smallwood, Honeyman and Tom Eaves and the ultra-talented Lewis-Potter has created gaps we hope will be filled by Seri, Figueiredo, Tufan, Sinik, Estupiñán and Tetteh. While the latter group have more talent, their ability to settle in Yorkshire and to unify in the dressing room and on the pitch are huge unknowns. Both Arveladze and Tan Keslar have spoken this week about the need to concentrate on gelling this group now rather than on how many more signings they need to make. That’s comforting to hear because it’s going to be a challenge. The closest comparison for City is probably 2001/02 when Brian Little’s squad, fresh off an unlikely push to the Division 3 play-off semi-finals with players who weren’t being paid and transfer restrictions was ripped up and replaced with players who were probably better but lacked the same experience and fight and fell away quickly after a strong start. Arveladze, still an unknown quantity himself, has a huge task to avoid the same fate but he’s well aware of it, that’s clear.

In all, it’s been a whirlwind 6 months for Acun ılıcalı’s ownership and there have been far more positive changes than gripes. On the field, there is ambition that has been missing since Steve Bruce left us six years ago. Off it, there is a level of interest that’s been missing for nearly a decade and real hope of challenging again.

Bring on Bristol City on July 30^th. The Tigers are back.