Away to Blackburn presents a tricky tie (as most will this season!). I’m not quite sure what to make of them. On the one hand, they went to Goodison and pulled out a 3-2 win last week, on the other, Ince hasn’t really convinced me as of yet. They will certainly be boosted by the news that Roque Santa Cruz signed a new four year deal. The Asuncion Assassin (made that one up myself, I swear) is pure class, and I really enjoyed watching him play last season, as boring as Blackburn could be at times. Hopefully he had some celebratory champagne or something. A lot of it.

It will also be interesting to see how Brownies boys do in their first away fixture in the Prem. Boa is an injury concern, which would be a shame if he missed out, as he has exactly the kind of experience needed to bring us through a match like this. Hopefully Mr. Myhill will recover from that last goal he conceded against Georgia on Wednesday, as he will be a busy man this weeked.

X-Factor:

The referee? Yes, the referee. According to the Beeb, the ref for Saturday’s match is none other than debutant Stuart Atwell of Warwickshire. Guess how old Mr. Atwell is?

25.

That is not a typo. Twenty-five-years-of-age. WOW. That is a lot of pressure their Stewie. Now lets get something straight here. I don’t care how old you are, if Marlon King bursts past a Blackburn defender in the box, who might be a little tired from playing a midweek international, and he gets taken down, and you DON’T give a penalty, as you might be afraid of giving a newly promoted away side a penalty in the cauldron of Ewood Park…..I will be very unhappy. And write mean things about you.

I like to think Mr. Atwell will have a subconcious affinity for the Tigers, as they are underdogs, something which I’m sure Stuart identifies with, being youngest ref ever blah blah blah.

So a few free kicks or a peno here and there Mr. Atwell if you don’t mind.

Geovanni was man of the match, great equalizer, worked hard, some lovely tricks as well.

Defense was frail at times but again, this was the first top flight match in our history. We now have won every single match in our Premiership history. Beat that anyone else.

It will be a long and tough road, but couldn’t have asked for a better start.

E-high fives welcome.

7th minute Seol Ki-Hyeon heads past Myhill from a Jimmy Bullard cross.

22nd minute Geovanni curls in an equaliser of off a cross from Sam Ricketts.

Geovanni is the best player on the park, second half should be interesting. Deano to come on as a late sub and lash in a winnner? Hey, they said we’d never be here and here we are, so why not?

ALSO- I forget how much I missed the BBC Humberside radio commentators. You’ll remember this gem from last season, and they’re still in good form:

“Geovanni is down injured, it looked like Pantsil got the ball (sees the replay), oh wait, nope, he got both of Geovanni’s instead”

and

1- “I wonder if the Fulham fans sing ‘HAANGEELLLLAANNND, HAANGELLLAANNND’?”
2- “Em, I don’t think so.”
1- “Well they should.”

Love these guys.

Myhill, Ricketts, Turner, Anthony Gardner, Dawson, Garcia, Ashbee, Boateng, Barmby, Geovanni, King.
Subs: Duke, Fagan, Windass, Mendy, Halmosi, Folan, Marney.

Fulham:

Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Davies, Murphy, Ki-Hyeon, Bullard, Gera, Zamora.
Subs: Zuberbuhler, Teymourian, Nevland, Stoor, Dempsey, Andreasen, Kallio.

First day at the KC, CMON YOU HUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

So before I send in my CV and some video highlights (I was always a better winger anyway) to the Hull backroom staff, let me ask, does anyone know a striker to lead the line for a Premiership club?

Currently we have the following senior strikers on the books:

- Dean Windass: Legend. Scored the winner in the playoff final. Also about 600 years old. He will score in the Premier League this year, just not many.

- Caleb Folan: Scored 8 goals last year, will need to improve that drastically this season if we’re to avoid the drop. Good targetman, holds it up well, just needs to be sharper in front of goal.

- Craig Fagan: Not even really a striker, more of a winger. Which isn’t good for this list. Loads of pace, can get a cross in, but again, will never score a ton goals.

- Nicky Featherstone: Young lad, will see limited time and have even less impact. One for the future.

So what is the wrong with the above list?

If you answered ‘no Frazier Campbell’, you are correct.

If you answered ‘Everything’ then you only get partial credit. I’m an optimist.

So what to do? Well Campbell is looking less and less likely at this point. Ariza Makukula is also out it seems, as Phil Brown has denied that was ever a possiblity. So if I was in charge, which thankfully I’m not, here would be my suggestions:

Manucho (Manchester United, on loan @ Panathinaikos): Currently unclear on what his situation is. Was on loan at Panathinaikos after the ANC in January, played well. United are currently trying to secure a work permit for him last I heard. If he can get it, then I would be delighted to have him. We’re already proven at blooding United strikers, so why can’t we take him on loan? It would be a good chance for him to get used to the pace of the Premiership, while getting regular match time. If you saw him in the ANC, then you know this guy is pure class.

Ched Evans (Manchester City): The young Welshman has drawn rave reviews in limited action at Eastlands and on loan. I watched him play for only a few minutes against Celtic last night and now I know why. Pacy, strong, and just has that instinct to get into positions to score. May find time hard to come by this season with the likes of Benjani, Jo, Vassel, Boijinov, Caicedo and Sturridge all competing for match time. Would LOVE to have him at the KC.

Other players I’d Like to Have (but might be a bit of a stretch):

Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas)
Theofanis Gekas (Bayer Leverkusen)
Joffre Guerron (Getafe)

So who would YOU like to see lead the line this season for the Tigers?

So far so g…well, mediocre. As a manager, Phil Brown doesn’t put too much stock in preseason, which can be evidenced by the fact that our stiffest opponent this summer will be Basque side Osasuna.

A few easy wins against non-league competition was followed by a draw with Belgians KV Oostende (love the double O’s), a 3-0 cruise by Chesterfield and then……a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Crewe Alexandra. No that is not a new way of spelling Manchester United. That’s Crewe, of Cheshire erm ‘fame’ who were relegated from League One last season.

Now lets talk about this. Fair play to the Railwaymen for coming out and giving us a bollocking from the word go. But seriously. Bernard Mendy. What are you doing mate.

Lets review his first half contribution:

2 min: Doesn’t clear a back post cross, Calvin Zola buries it, 1-0

3 min: Zola picks up ball 25-30 yards out, entire D backs off, missile into bottom corner, 2-0

15 min: Barmby wins penalty, up steps Monsieur Mendy, saved by Crewe keeper Steve Collis, 2-0

(Now this would be a horrific enough first half, but now it just gets comical)

40 min: Fouls Eugen Bopp in the box, penalty, goal, 3-0

43 min: Fouls Nicky Maynard in the box, pealty, goal, 4-0

45 min: Finds a shovel, digs himself a hole, crawls into it.

You can’t make this stuff up people.

I still stand by my comment that he will be a good signing. Sometimes you just have a bad game. And other times you have the worst 45 minutes in football history. But hey, there is always tomorrow.

Back later for analysis on Hull’s upcoming friendlies with Hearts and Osasuna.

We kicked it off with signing Craig Fagan from Derby, who of couse played in the tiger stripes from 2005 to 2007, and was on loan with us last season. I always enjoyed watching Craig, plenty of pace, and he certainly can get his fair share of goals when put in the right positions. His pace should be an asset out on the wing for us in the premiership.

Next up was Geovanni, the Brazilian from Man City. He scored seven goals for Barca while there, and also had a gem vs United last season. Hope he still has some of those up his sleeve, but I am feeling very good about Geo roaming behind the two strikers this season.

George Boateng, the ex Boro midfield workhorse is also set to sign on Monday. Tremendous addittion, will bring nothing but leadership, experience and class to the center of the park. He has seen it all before, and when he’s on his game he can be an absolute destroyer in the middle, while calmly leading the side out of the back. Should bring a level head to side playing in their first ever top flight match on 16 August.

Bernard Mendy, the ex-PSG and Bolton fullback is also signed up. Again, good experience, no complaints here about this signing.

So far so good in my opinion, especially considering fellow newbies Stoke City have signed no one, and West Brom haven’t made any massive signings to date.

Soooo…Nothing to do with Hull but your loyal Tigers blogger (me) is heading to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain this weekend. Hopefully I can make the half mile and into the ring without getting gored, trampled etc.

So have any other Offsiders (readers, writers, friends, enemies) participated in this mayhem before? Any tips are welcome.

In Hull related news the new home kit was released, which is below. Not too bad. We will certainly be the most striking team coming out of the tunnell, Petr Cech and his flouresence be damned. Well done Umbro I like it.

So just some quick updates as the off-season progresses.

1. Jay-Jay Good-Bye

As most well now know, Jay-Jay Okocha, our absurdly talented Nigerian midfielder, has left the KC. I’m sure most Tigers supporters would agree with me when I say its a true shame he was only able to play 11 matches before his departure. An absolute legend.

2. New Kits

New home kit from Umbro isn’t set to launch until the 4th of July, while the new away kit is here. The hints dropped so far seem to be that the home kit will be a return to the black and orange stripes, most recently used in the Diadora kit from the 06/07 season. I trust Umbro to produce a sharp kit, although the away one is kind of ‘meh’. Looking forward to it anyway.

3. Transfer Targets

A number of names have been linked to the KC as of late, most recently Abdi Meite (Bolton) and Seyi Olofinjana (Wolves) (not as hard to pronounce as it looks). I wouldn’t mind either to be honest, haven’t seen too much of the latter, but Meite seemed a strong player while at Bolton. And somewhat comically, as we all know Phil Brown is a classy dude, he has taken a page from the Alex Ferguson/Harry Redknapp/Roy Keane school of transfer targeting, saying “Olofinjana could play in the Premier League and I would be interested…..But there’s been no contact and to say any more would be disrespectful as I’ve not talked to Mick McCarthy.” Right. At least it seems like he’s learning how to play with (like) the big boys of the EPL. Other current targets: Peter Halmosi, Bernie Mendy, and Stelios Gian…yeah the Greek/Bolton lad.

4. Preseason Friendlies

Now no disrespect to anyone I am about to mention, but Hull’s preseason schedule is currently highlighted by matches against KV Oostende and North Ferriby United. Hands up if you ever heard of either? One? Oh you just were fixing your hat? So none? Seriously Phil. I know NFU is somewhat of a tradition so fine, but if we are legging it to Belgium can we at least get Club Brugge or Anderlecht or someone?!? Not second division KV Oostende!?! (Will wear new shoes the day of that match in case they beat us, which will result in foot-in-mouth)

Back later for some additional updates.

COYH!!!!!!!!

What better way to go up then through a screamer from Deano, brilliantly setup by Frazier Campbell. No question that the doubters will soon start dismissing our EPL stay as temporary, but who cares, we’re going up, and we’re going to enjoy it.

Great day, great result, great upcoming season for a team and city that deserves it. Back later for more.

COYH