Early Season Recap

By: Matt | October 22nd, 2008

The Season So Far

As we enjoy the Champions League fixtures of last night and tonight, one can’t help but wonder….will we be watching the Tigers on Tuesday and Wednesday nights this time next year?…..No. We won’t be. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy our surreal position (3rd) in the league table.

When the fixtures for this season came out, I circled the period from the 21st of September to the 1st of November. In that month and a bit time period the fixture makers had gifted us Everton, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Yoo, with some lesser weights (WBA, WHU) mixed in. My first reaction was ‘OH C’MON, give us a chance!’ Four matches into that stint we have three wins and a draw. I think I would have taken six points in the whole month, much less 10 from the first four matches. Obviously with Chelsea and United to come it won’t be easy to keep the pace, but what at one stage looked like an easy three points for opposition managers has now turned into a nightmare. Brilliant.

Why?

Simple. Phil Brown. Nobody can do so much with such limited resources, and a mustache. Let’s not kid ourselves here, Hull City does not have even close to the talent that the rest of the top 10 in the league have. What we do have is a manager who can make the absolute best side from the players available to him. By melding experience, ability and work rate, he has turned the Tigers into a buzzsaw for literally anyone else in the league (expect Amr Zaki). When looked at on an individual basis, our team sheets week in and week out would be far from impressive considering our Premiership company; but players like Dawson, Folan, Myhill, etc continue to put in performances which win us matches.

Saturday

This weekend the Tigers head to West Brom, who, if it weren’t for Hull’s can’t-make-this-stuff-up start, would have earned a lot more attention at this stage in the campaign, where they sit in 11th spot, and have played quite well when tested. Even if they don’t have a shirt sponsor. These are the types of matches that ‘Ull will have to win if they’d like to retain their league status, because while win’s over Arsenal (and everyone else at the moment) are fantastic, its consistent wins over the the potential relegation sides that keep teams up.

So off to the midlands we go, hopefully to make it four on the bounce.

COYH!!!!!!!!!