In squads gone by, City has always had a good leader on the pitch who commanded the respect of the crowd even if they haven’t been exactly top quality players. Just their presence and personality have galvanised them into the gelling agent required to grind out results or put up a spirited effort in defeat.
Brian Marwood was one such player who we could rely on to get a goal or two when it mattered, Billy Whitehurst would be City’s one man tank battalion, not exactly fleet of foot but a battering ram of a player who give as good as he got and a good deal of it when the referee was looking the other way.
The player who stands out as one of cities greatest generals is Ian Ashbee who was the epitome of a player who rolled his sleeves up, put his shoulders into the plough and rallied the team around him to drag us up step by step from the fourth division into the Premiership.
Dean Windass, Nick Barmby, Michael Turner, all players who bled black and amber and the footballers every fan looked for to be the first names on the team sheet and somehow had endeared themselves and were wove into the fabric of Hull City.
Now in 2014 we already have a number of new players who are yet to start a full season in Long, Jelavic, Ince and Snodgrass with a number of other players still on the transfer radar who are all players who can take the battle to the enemy.
So who are the most influential players who carry supporter’s expectations and can dig City out of a hole when our backs are to the wall? Of course every man must do his duty but there are natural born leaders who rise to the occasion above others.
We have to accept that the oncoming season will be reasonably ugly. Regardless of some great business by the Allams and Steve Bruce, some good quality recruits, Hull City do not have the capability of the likes of Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal on a long term campaign. The top four clubs are slick, fast and clever able to perform surgical strikes and outwit most seasoned tacticians.
Hull City, along with 10 or so other teams will be involved in close combat trench warfare and it will be our key captains generals that will deliver small victories as we advance up the Premiership table hoping to hold a position of 10th place which would seem a very respectable position given the size and capability of our platoon.