Players have to stand up and be counted for City
BUT CLUB’S MEDIA ‘STAND-OFF’ DOES NOT HELP THE SITUATION
Defeat at Luton Town was not entirely unexpected for Hull City, given they’d already racked up eight defeats since they returned to the Championship. But for Derby County’s 12-point deduction, the Tigers could have been bottom of the league after 14 games had Barnsley lost to Sheffield United on Sunday.
We can try and find positives all day long, but the cold, harsh reality is there in black and white.
Here, City reporter Barry Cooper looks back on another poor away day.
Ehab’s big decision
For the second successive Saturday, the vice-chairman trooped out of an away stadium contemplating another dispiriting result.
Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Luton Town follows on from the 2-0 reverse in Huddersfield a week ago plus the 2-1 home loss to Peterborough United last Wednesday, it’s now nine defeats in the opening 14 games.
Based on what we’ve seen in the season to date, City are set for a battle against relegation, though at the moment, it’s not so much of a battle, more of a tame departure unless there’s a seismic shift.
Just as he did in midweek, Allam heard calls grow louder for him to act swiftly and make a change in the management office and that decision is getting ever closer.
Ultimately, the Allam family - if they do genuinely have a desire to sell the club - will want to get the best value for it.
Unfortunately, it’s careering back towards League One and therefore worth a lot less money than as a Championship outfit, but then we’ve been here before, haven’t we? Groundhog day, you could say.
Something needs to change, and quickly, and it feels like the time has come where that needs to be in the manager’s office.
Mccann looks a forlorn character, one at his wits end and out of ideas of how to get this team, devoid of ideas, so fluid and confident on the road last term, to find something that promises hope for the future.
This is a team that were so energetic last term, yet now so one-paced, lethargic and lacking the nous needed to carry any genuine threat.
Yes, Mccann and his players will argue that they are creating chances, but the bigger problem is that they just don’t look like taking any of them, and by the time they create them, they’re usually behind.
Mccann’s long goodbye at Kenilworth
Road was a fascinating moment, clapping the away supporters to be greeted by jeers and the determined wagging of fingers.
He stuck at it long enough for those supporters to turn their jeers into what were more likely to be claps of pity, pity for a manager with the weight of the world upon his shoulders and clearly coming to the end of a difficult tenure.
Moving on a manager is never an easy decision, and it’s not one the Allams do too often as history shows, but to give this club its best possible chance of staying up this season, you can’t help but feel a change is needed, it almost feels inevitable.
Brittle confidence
Mccann’s men look bereft of confidence, to a point where you almost sense a fear before the game has kicked off.
As Mccann explained after the match, his players were warned about the quickness of Luton’s start - it wouldn’t have come as a shock to any City fan in the crowd, so the players should have been prepared.
Prepared they may have been, but unfortunately they never once looked at ease in the opening 20 minutes and, frankly, were fortunate to be only a goal down.
It was coming and was only a matter of time when Adebayo - the tallest player on the park - was unmarked at the back post after Onyedinma’s cross came in unchallenged.
Those two defeats to QPR and Derby County have had a severe impact on City’s confidence, and they must find a way of believing that they belong at this level because before they know it, all last season’s hard work will have drained away and they’ll be back in League One.
Relationships disintegrating
City’s relationship with the media is as brittle as the confidence within the dressing room, possibly even more so.
At a time when the club could benefit from some close relationships, Mccann is out there on his own, forced to conduct his post-match radio interview with a BBC reporter from Three Counties after refusing to speak to the BBC’S local Hull reporter, a decision we’re told has been made by the manager and his players.
Statements from BBC Radio Humberside on Friday only further highlighted the strained relationship between City and its principal supporters in the media, both the Hull Daily Mail and local radio. The Hull Daily Mail have been banned since June 2020.
None of the local media present at Kenilworth Road was allowed to speak to the manager or his players, and ask those questions the supporters want answers to. It is a perplexing situation all of City’s making, and only they can get themselves out of this hole.
At a time when the club should be encouraging everybody to pull together and try to turn things around, it’s unwillingness to operate with those closest is self-defeating and perplexing, and only further creates a negative atmosphere and distance around the place.
City, to a point, got away with it last term because of their success on the pitch and these issues were largely brushed aside.
However, when things start to go south the focus turns and the pressure cranks up.
Banning reporters from press conferences and games is a sign of weakness, and looks even more so at times of crisis like this.
As always, the fans are the ones that miss out and the club are in danger of alienating them further than they already feel, and that’s as disillusioned as in recent memory.
The club and supporters need each other, stop showing contempt for your supporters and become human again - supporters - the clue is in the name, use it.
A week to wallow
There’s now a full week for Mccann to get his players back on the training ground before the home game with Coventry on Saturday, to somehow lift spirits and instil belief.
Having lost three games in a week, it is imperative City find a way to win just as they did against Middlesbrough.
This season is not lost, there’s still 32 games remaining and 96 points up for grabs.
City have not been woeful in terms of performance level, they may have been woeful in both boxes, but that’s something which can be corrected with the right guidance, coaching and players taking responsibility.
Speaking of responsibility...
Greg Docherty spoke in the week about players needing to take responsibility, to put their head above the parapet and carry out Mccann’s instructions.
Unfortunately, his calls fell on deaf ears. Too often throughout the 90 minutes, City’s players in the key moments were found wanting, and that’s something that simply must change.
This is a tough league, we know that, but City are making their own life far more difficult than it needs to be.
For all the talk of managers, systems and the like, it is the players who now need to stand up and be counted.