Assessing Hull City's summer signings

Hull City signed ten players last summer. Last week I lamented the fact that it is December and we still haven’t seen them play but what impression have they made through the mediums of TV and occasionally wonky streams?

Pic: Hull Daily Mail

There’s a loose order to this list - from best to worst - but its fair to say that even the “worst” have been far from disastrous. I’ve not included Mallik Wilks and Festus Arthur, who both joined City permanently whilst we were still playing Championship games in June and July, in this list as Wilks isn’t a “new” signing and Arthur isn’t a first team player.

1.       Josh Emmanuel

Who saw this coming? Big Josh left Bolton at the end of last season after their relegation to League Two and joined City as (right-) back-up to marquee signing Lewie Coyle. Bolton fans said he was exciting going forward but defensively weak and they were half right. Emmanuel has been City’s best attacking weapon in open play. His speed and desire to get forward and support has been crucial but he does so responsibly and makes excellent decisions. Even if you’ve only taken in this strange season in highlight form, you’ve seen a lot of Emmanuel marauding down the right wing and putting in tremendous crosses. His ability to cross on the move is unmatched in Tigers’ full backs despite the outstanding ones we’ve had in the past couple of decades.

There has been nothing wrong with his defensive work either. Playing 27 games for the worst team in League One would not have been fun for him last season but it will have improved his game immeasurably. I don’t like to heap too much praise on players this early into their City career because we’ve seen many fall off a cliff recently but Emmanuel can certainly step up at least one level. He’s a complete modern full-back who has size as well as speed. If he keeps making good decisions and improving his reading of defensive situations, he’s going to be a top player.

2.       Richie Smallwood

The Tigers have been crying out for a leader in midfield for years and Smallwood’s experience along with the revitalised George Honeyman has made the team unrecognisable from the garbage we saw in the first half of the year. He’s a functional footballer but he’s an excellent reader of situations and a good leader and communicator. Ian Ashbee will be the benchmark in this position until many of us are very old men and women but Smallwood has a lot of his qualities at this level. He doesn’t complicate the game and he has no pretention. He’s an honest grafter but he really understands the game which is an asset we were badly missing before. 

3.       Alfie Jones

City signed Jones after letting Ryan Tafazolli join Wycombe and it made sense to balance out the centre halves as we had three left-sided and only Reece Burke on the right. Not only has it balanced it but it’s been an upgrade. Jones is a good footballer, schooled at Southampton, and has shown his versatility playing in midfield and centre-back and would have no trouble at full-back either. He’s another player with League One experience having spent last season on loan at Gillingham and is another win for the much maligned recruitment team. Unfortunately, he’s just picked up an injury after making himself a first choice at centre half and that being such a blow shows how quickly he’s grasped his opportunity.

4.       Greg Doherty

We’ve not yet seen the best of Doherty since he arrived from Rangers for a good fee in the summer. He’s a busy midfielder who is quick and always on the move. I like that he’s generally looking to play forwards or carry the ball into spaces and hurt teams. He hasn’t got into the box as much as I thought he would and his quality around the area, passing, crossing and shooting hasn’t been up to his previous standard. He scored an excellent goal last week which should give him a boost and there is a suggestion that he’s been playing hurt which won’t have helped. I’d like to see more goals from him and getting into the positions he did so easily against Doncaster recently will help him do that.

5.       Lewie Coyle

Coyle is the biggest surprise of the eight signings listed and it’s nothing to do with him and everything to do with the form of Josh Emmanuel. City paid good money for Coyle, around £350,000, with the expectation that he would be a first choice at right-back and a real leader in the team. There’s no doubt about his quality, we’ve seen that in cup games particularly the disappointment at Stevenage when he was by far our best player. Emmanuel has just made himself undroppable to this point.

I wonder if McCann has considered trying to get them both in the team. City are wedded to 4-3-3 which rules out them playing on the right together so that could only happen if one played left-back. Given their quality going forward, that would stifle one of them somewhat but it does remain a shame having such a quality player in reserve.

6.       Hakeem Adelakun

Adelakun is the biggest disappointment of the summer signings to date. That’s not a major criticism as none have been bad but considering how long City have chased him and the reputation he joined his parent club, Bristol City, with, we expected far more from him. There are flashes of excellence such as his debut goal against Plymouth but they’re rare and it’s not been a surprise that he doesn’t have many 90 minutes under his belt. He allows games to pass him by and rarely looks likely to go and start dictating the game, he’s just either in it or he’s not. It’s easy to see why he’s not stepped up to the Championship because the level of consistency just isn’t there.

At the moment, he looks the definitive “luxury” player. When all of Wilks, KLP, Magennis, Doherty and Honeyman are fit, he doesn’t make my team which is a surprising thing to say about a player City have coveted for so long.7.       Regan Slater

Slater is a signing that with hindsight, seems unnecessary. I like him, he’s another mobile midfielder who works box to box, passes neatly and likes a tackle. He seems like a really good kid too. However, he was never going to play ahead of Smallwood, Honeyman and Doherty and he’s not an upgrade on Batty. The use of Alfie Jones as a midfielder and emergence of Callum Jones was perhaps unforeseen and he’s unlucky there but so far it’s a signing that hasn’t done much bar limit opportunities for Max Sheaf and Billy Chadwick.

8.       Thomas Mayer

Mayer was a bit of a gamble on a free transfer. The Austrian joins a line of similar punts like Martin Pusic, Tejani Belaid and David Milinkovic and like those, hasn’t pulled up any trees - so far. His debut was promising, creating the winning goal against Crewe for Mallik Wilks with a tremendous cross but in the other games he’s played, we’ve got seen the same quality. Games he’s started have passed him by and when he’s appeared in league games as an “impact sub”, he hasn’t got into the game at all. I’m not really sure what he is. He doesn’t have pace or a trick and doesn’t see a pass others wouldn’t. He feels like just another body in the squad.

 

It would be interesting to get some feedback on whether others see it the way I do. Use the form below or let me know on Twitter what you think!