ONE TALE OF TWO TIGERS

BY JOHN RICHARDSON IT WAS the double signing that went under the radar, as Hull City – then of the Premier League – got ready to fly to Slovakia for a Europa League qualifier in July 2014.

Having just a couple of months earlier lost in the FA Cup Final to Arsenal, Tigers boss Steve Bruce was bringing in Andy Robertson from Dundee United and Sheffield United’s Harry Maguire at a combined cost of £5.35million.

Even Bruce had to be convinced to take the gamble on 20-year-old Robertson, who only 12 months earlier had been playing for Queen’s Park – then an amateur side – in the Scottish fourth tier.

As for Maguire, then 21, he hadn’t been renowned for his speed on the turn as a central defender at Bramall Lane.

But super-spy Stan Ternent, Bruce’s trusted head of recruitment, was convinced of Maguire’s credentials and reminded the Hull boss: “Well, you were slow on the turn, but you did OK!”

On Robertson, Bruce recalled: “Stan told me he had just spotted Billy Whizz. He was adamant that we should sign him.”

Robertson did hit the ground running at Hull, but Maguire needed a loan spell at Wigan to spark his Tigers career.

Scottish international Robert Snodgrass, who was at Hull at the same time, never had any doubts about the pair, although initially his optimism wasn’t shared.

Snodgrass recalled: “One day I went into the physio’s room and said they were both going to the very top. That was met with laughter.”

Today, Manchester United’s Maguire and Liverpool’s Robertson (above, back in the Hull days) are in opposition, though Robertson said: “We gravitated towards each other at Hull and have remained friends.”

Maguire recalls having to convince a few Hull doubters, and said: “I knew it was a big step moving into the Premier League, but I felt I had the ability to deal with it.”