Hull City were unofficially relegated from the Premier League today. For some clubs, that would be enough to spark scenes of tradgedy, weeks of mourning and, mentioning no names, shots of little kids with “We are Leeds” painted on their chest crying on the telly. It says a lot about Hull and its people that at the end of the game with Sunderland, the fans sang and cheered and gave the players a wonderful reception. We collectively shrugged our shoulders and thought “That was smashing that was, now what’s next?” Not people to feel sorry for ourselves, we’ve already taken it on the chin, got up and are moving on. I love Hull and I love Hull City.
Iain Dowie knew this game was “must win” and picked a team accordingly. Out went McShane, Kilbane and Fagan, all appalling on Wednesday night, and in came Mendy, Folan and Geovanni. A little unluckier, Cairney and Sonko made way for the guile of Barmby and Gardner. Altidore replacedthe injured Hesselink.
Dowie was probably regretting being so bold after a couple of minutes when Malbranque and Richardson exploited the acres of space behind our midfield but Malbranque crossed poorly. The same thing happened on the other side, Campbell crossing for Malbranque to blaze over and in between, Sunderland took the lead. A hopeful ball to the back post found big Kenwyne Jones up against Mendy; he outjumped him easily and headed across goal. Every City defender gave it up as a ball that was going out of play but Darren Bent didn’t and finished from a tight angle.
It was a very poor start to the game from a team that needed to win. For a team that had scored only once in the previous 4 games, it left us with a mountain to climb. We were disjointed in possession and Sunderland were dominant. They won plenty of corners, the threat from those being all too obvious to us, but crossed poorly. We started to claw our way back into the game. Nick Barmby was the catalyst with a couple of good old fashioned “rattlers” giving his teammates a kick up the backside too. Geovanni looked lively from the kick-off and he drifted across the pitch, played barmby in behind and his cross was almost turned in at the near post by Michael Turner. Turner’s name on the teamsheet was greeted with warm applause before the game and rightfully so. Fraizer Campbell was greeted with a mix of boos and applause. As the game went on and his constant whining, falling over and fouling led him towards a booking; the boos grew. There was a great chant to accompany them too. “Da da da-da, Fraizer Campbell” was recycled into “Da da da-da, Greedy person-with-questionable-parentage”.
The resulting corner fell to Folan at the back post but not for the first time, he was sound asleep, sucking his thumb and everything. We were on top and while Sunderland’s pace in behind was an occasional threat, we looked like equalizing. Boateng was everywhere in the midfield again. He’s been a revelation for months. His positioning when we don’t have the ball is incredible, his determination to support when we do is even better. Mendy gave us good support and even some of those driving runs he’s capable of and Geo and Barmby were neat around the front men. Altidore was anonymous for 20 minutes but then burst into the game, winning a pair of free-kick’s in good areas and a booking for Meyler who had no answer to his pace and power. Next up, Gardner’s powerful header from Bullard’s corner hit Craig Gordon square on the chest. Gordon made another fine save to deny Folan, who linked up well with Altidore and shot low from 18 yards. Folan was injured in making the shot and it appeared his game was up, Tom Cairney even stripped off to replace him. Folan soldiered on though and played a key role in creating our best chance of the game.
Folan, hopping and limping, challenged for a bouncing ball on the edge of the box. He appeared to have a tug at the defender but the game went on. Geovanni pounced on the loose ball, drove into the penalty area and was brought down. I’ve never been more confident in a City penalty taker than I was in Jimmy Bullard as he stepped up. That’ll teach me. Bullard swapped his trademark bullet into the top corner for placing it into the bottom left hand corner but he was two inches out and hit the post. It officially wasn’t our day. Things got worse before half time. Alan Hutton conceded a throw in near the corner flag and then for some reason decided to throw the ball at Altidore’s head as he was getting off the floor. Jozy should have rolled around clutching his face and got Hutton into trouble. Instead, being young, raw and stupid, he jumped up, grabbed onto Hutton and tried to nut him. The red card was inevitable. Lee Probert had an iffy game and gave Sunderland the benefit of any doubt on most decisions. He was excellent here because despite players jumping in to distract him, Steve Bruce turning up on the pitch to stick his bag-of-spanners like face into the matter and Hutton’s attempts to play hurt, he sent the defender off too. It was the correct decision. Not for any particular rule in the FA’s rulebook but because by playground rules “he started it”.
The sending off would kill us really. Altidore was our best outlet and though we dominated the second half’s possession and territory stats, we didn’t have it in us to break them down. Dowie hauled Bullard off for Cairney and the young man showed why everyone thinks so highly of him with an assured performance. Mark Cullen came off the bench and also gave a fine showing. Folan and Fagan should be ashamed that they watched an 18 year old kid make intelligent runs, battle for the ball, win headers and get crosses in while they wandered around with all the heart and presence of a corner flag.
Mr. Probert wasn’t finished with his odd decisions, he booked Geo for diving. There’s no doubt that Geo did the old kick-the-defender-and-fall-over routine which I personally hate but it’s frustrating when the ref books a guy at one end for diving and yet ignores blatant cheating from Bent and Campbell at the other.
We had lots of the ball in the half. We passed OK, we got Dawson and Mendy into good positions and we put plenty of balls into the box but we didn’t translate that into shots on goal. A couple of blocked efforts from Geo and a pathetic slice from Fagan after good work by Cullen and then Folan were about all we managed. After Turner had gone off injured, the game was made for Big Jan, especially with Geo and Cullen’s movement but that obviously wasn’t an option. I felt a little sorry for Dowie half way through the second period. He was deep in conversation with his staff, he knew he had to change something to try and convert the pressure into chances but when he looked around, there was nothing bar a raw teenager to turn to.
So, despite a spirited effort, the game died out in much the same way as the game with Manchester United did a year ago. There was no reprieve this time. It’s all over. All that was left was for the fans to stay behind and give the players a wonderful reception that their efforts this season have not merited. Andy Dawson was close to tears and you can see why. He’s come all the way with the club. Sentiment aside though, he’s not a Premier League left back. He is occasionally but nor 38 games a season.
That is the problem all over the pitch. We have 2, maybe three players who are Premier League players every single week. Steven Hunt has been one of our best three players this season and is one of the few who will attract bids in the summer and he’s an average player. He works hard, has an eye for goal and has a really good game in every three. Every player in the squad is flawed in some small or large way. There was evident of it all over the pitch today. We made poor decisions time and again. Barmby trying to shoot over his head from 18 yards instead of playing Folan in. Fagan failing to take a touch and trying to shoot first time with his left foot, a skill I don’t think he’s managed in his life. Folan failed to anticipate any situation at all. Bullard didn’t have the legs to track back. Dawson couldn’t get into a decent crossing position, not once. Altidore lost his head.
Adam Pearson is going to be a busy, busy man in the next few months and he needs everyone’s support. His first job is to clear some of the total wasters who are draining money from the club every single day. The place is in a mess. The seven years of seriously hard work that Adam Pearson put in to making the club stable and putting it in the second tier has been thrown away. We’ve taken one step forward and now we’ll take at least three back. Paul Duffen is an utter disgrace. His running of the club has been nothing short of incompetent. Its pure mathematics at it’s simplest. Even worse though, Russell Bartlett has stood by and allowed everything to happen. The man is a fool. It’s about time he found the balls to step out of the shadows and explained why he allowed the mess to happen and how he intends to sort it out. That Adam Pearson is getting stick from fans when he just has to act as a spokesman for our useless mute owner is disgusting. The best thing Mr. Bartlett could do now is give the club back to Adam on Monday morning and write off the money he has put in/borrowed/shuffled to this point. All 10 pence of it.
Ratings: Duke 7, Mendy 7, Dawson 6, Gardner 7, Mouyokolo 7, Barmby 6 (Fagan), Geovanni 7, Boateng 8 (Cullen), Bullard 5 (Cairney 7), Altidore 4, Folan 6.
The support today was phenomenal. Get out on Monday and get your season ticket for next season. This club needs you now more than ever. The players will come and go. We are here forever. City ‘til I die.