Liam Rosenior is making decent progress with the tricky situation he inherited at Saturday's opposition Hull City, with just two defeats in ten games and a notable tightening at the back, according to our contributor there Nathaniel Whittingham.
Hull were the toughest one to call in the season preview given the scale of the turnover, several months on how do you assess the season?
After a promising start under Shota Arveladze, winning the first three home games, City fans were getting excited. However, away form was not so great and after the 3-1 defeat to QPR at the end of August everything went wrong — that started a run of seven defeats from eight games. Goals and clean sheets were hard to come by and deservedly Shota was sacked. Results improved under Andy Dawson acting as caretaker and then have improved again under Liam Rosenior. The rest of the season should be focused on perfecting this new system.
Hull in the league so far…
Hull 2-1 Bristol City Tufan pen 72, Seri 90 — Weimann 30
Preston 0-0 Hull
Hull 2-1 Norwich Estupinan 43, 62 — Nunez 72
Burnley 1-1 Hull Rodriguez 34 — Tufan 25
West Brom 5-2 Hull Elder og 37, Swift 48, Furlong 55, Grant pen 70, O’Shea 85 — Estupinan 77, 90
Hull City 3-2 Coventry Estupinan 11, 42, 56 — Godden pen 29, 69
QPR 3-1 Hull Chair 9, Laird 15, Willock 38 — Smith 85
Hull 0-2 Sheff Utd McBurnie 20, Berge 75
Hull 0-3 Stoke Baker 25, 64, Wilmot 45
Swansea 3-0 Hull Manning 61, Cundle 64, Piroe 85
Hull 0-2 Luton Jones og 6, Lansbury 44
Hull 2-1 Wigan Pelkas 21, Estupinan 65 — Keane 14
Huddersfield 2-0 Hull Coyle og 29, Helik 51
Hull 0-2 Birmingham Deeney pen 14, Bacuna 47
Blackpool 1-3 Hull Dougall 31 — Longman 26, Docherty 45, Slater 79
Rotherham 2-4 Hull Barlaser 45, Kelly 89 — Greaves 44, Christie 52, Longman 59, Tufan 85
Hull 0-1 Blackburn Szmodics 15
Hull 1-3 Middlesbrough Christie 60 — Akpom 30, Figueiredo og 63, Christie og 80
Millwall 0-0 Hull
Cardiff 2-3 Hull Robinson 47, Whyte 62 — Pelkas 4, Slater 75, 77
Hull 1-2 Reading Greaves 9 — Meite 32, Longman og 90
Watford 0-0 Hull
Hull 1-1 Sunderland Tufan 82 — Stewart 74
Hull 1-1 Blackpool Estupinan 77 — Carey 28
Birmingham 0-1 Hull Estupinan 77
Wigan 1-4 Hull Broadhead 63 — Greaves 15, Estupinan 78, Smith 85, 90
Hull 1-1 Huddersfield Estupinan 90 — Helik 21
Sheff Utd 1-0 Hull Jebbison 4
Arveladze didn't last long, but he had a hell of a lot of injuries to contend with, so was that harsh or justified? Where did it go wrong for him?
Shota never really had a fixed best 11 or much tactical prowess. That could work for someone more experienced in England. Unfortunately for him he couldn't find anything to turn around the terrible form. Even with the injuries we should have been better.
What did you make of the Liam Rosenior appointment? How's he done so far? What's he changed?
Unlike a lot of City fans I was not totally convinced by the appointment especially considering what other high calibre managers had been linked with the job. Nevertheless, he’s had a big impact. We're much stronger defensively and have controlled most of his ten matches so far.
A lot of draws of late, what sort of form are Hull coming into this game in?
We have only lost twice under Rosenior so we are hard to beat, but at home we have one win since August. We are still inconsistent but we won't be too dispirited after playing well against Sheffield United despite losing.
January transfer activity so far/still to come?
Malcolm Ebiowei and Aaron Connolly have signed on loan from Palace and Brighton respectively, adding some needed pace on the wings. Goalkeeper Karl Darlow will likely join soon after Newcastle play their second leg against Southampton in the cup. Solid additions to an already packed squad.
Summer Ins >>> Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, 21, CF, Fenerbahce, £4m >>> Dogukan Sinik, 23, LM, Antalyaspor, £3.6m >>> Ozan Tufan, 27, CM, Fenerbahce, £2m >>> Ryan Woods, 28, DM, Birmingham, Undisclosed >>> Jean Michael Seri, 30, CM, Fulham Free >>> Oscar Estupinan, 25, CF, Guimares, Free >>> Benjamin Tatteh, 25, CF, Malatyaspor, Free >>> Tobias Figueiredo, 28, CB, Forest, Free >>> Nathan Baxter, 23, GK, Chelsea, Loan >>> Cyrus Christie, 29, RB, Fulham, Free >>> Thim Lo-Tutala, 19, GK, Spurs, Free >>> Vaughn Covil, 18, RW, Forest Green, Free >>> Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand, 19, CM, Arsenal, Loan
Summer Outs >>> Keane Lewis-Potter, 21, LW, Brentford, £17m >>> Richard Smallwood, 31, CM, Bradford, Free >>> Tom Eaves, 30, CF, Rotherham, Free >>> George Honeyman, 27, CM, Millwall , Undisclosed >>> George Moncur, 28, CM, Orient, Undisclosed >>> Mallik Wilks, 23, RW, Sheff Wed, Undisclosed >>> Harvey Cartwright, 20, GK, Peterborough, Loan >>> Tom Huddlestone, 78, CM, Released >>> Festus Arthur, 22, CB, Halifax, Free
Winter Ins >>> Aaron Connolly, 22, CF, Brighton, Loan >>> Malcolm Ebiowei, 19, RW, Palace, Loan
Winter Outs >>> Randell Williams, 26, RW, Bolton, Undisclosed >>> Andy Cannon, 26, CM, Wrexham, Undisclosed >>> Dogukan Sinik, 23, LW, Antalyaspor, Loan >>> Brandon Fleming, 23, LB, Oxford, Loan >>> Billy Chadwick, 22, CF, Boston, Loan
Stand out players and weak links in the team?
The standouts are obvious. Oscar Estupinan is the second top scorer in the division with 12 and has four in his last six. He is in fantastic form as is Seri in midfield. Jacob Greaves has also been a revelation at left back. The weak link is finding that clinical edge in front of our home fans.
Revised expectations for the rest of the season?
I stand by my prediction of 11th. Under Rosenior we could finish the season strongly. Any chance of the playoffs is probably gone after the recent draws.
Links >>> Official Website >>> Hull Daily Mail — Local Paper >>> The Amber View — Blog >>> Reciprocal interview - Blog >>> Tigerlink — Blog >>> Amber Nectar — Blog and Forum >>> Not606 — Forum >>> Ground Guide >>> Hull City Live — Blog
The Twitter, @NathanielWhitto, @loftforwords
Pictures — Action Images