Hi there!
Last time I spoke to you guys Hull City had finally secured a return to the top flight after what was a very long Championship season and were to be joined even more surprisingly by Doncaster and Nottingham Forest in the worlds best football division.
The players had earned their break and the squad happily toddled off on holiday, but I had no such respite and began scouring the footballing world for top players (or at least the best available) that would fill the gaps I felt I had in my team. Before we delve into transfers however there is the matter of fixtures, I was eager to see who Hull would kick off the season with, I was hoping for a home tie and to avoid any of the big 6 (basically the big 4 plus Tottenham and Man City).
This is what I was handed…
We kick-off the season with a trip to Stamford Bridge to face League Cup semi-finalists Chelsea, it fails to mention that they are the current Premier League champions however! We also face Liverpool on Boxing Day and wrap up the season at Anfield, great! Here’s my first 3 fixtures for our return to the big time…
I’m thinking we should definitely be taking at least 4 points from these games. I’ve chalked off the Chelsea match for obvious reasons but Blackburn are beatable and Forest are definitely beatable. Another key factor in the future of Hull is the finances, and ours are a mess so that £40million in TV rights will help nicely towards our debt repayments.
Now onto my season expectations. Obviously since the finances are shot I wasn’t expecting a massive budget and in truth was making plans just in case I got no budget. In the end the extra TV money and the fact we’ll be debt free by the season end must have had an impact because this is what I was offered…
Since the club is £4million in the red I can only think that Mr. Assam (my chairman) has dug into his own pockets to supply what seem to be very reasonable budgets for the upcoming season.
In the end I told the board that I would keep Hull City in the Premier League and was given £6.5million to spend plus £50k a week extra wage budget which is good enough for me! And after that the good news just kept coming…
I’ve been tied to The Tigers for another 2 seasons since I only had 1 year left on my remaining deal. I also received a pay packet which has more than doubled from last year to £25k a week, makes you wonder, where’s this cash coming from?
Anyway, enough rambling about the boring pre-season stuff and let’s get down to the exciting part, transfers! And as the title suggests there were a lot of deals done both bringing and booting players to and from the club.
Transfers Out
Like I said in my previous post, the biggest problem for me in pre-season was going to be offloading the overpaid, older, and in some cases not so talented players who were returning from loans. They included Kilbane, Bullard, Gardner, Ghilas, and Olofinjana, who all together were earning almost £100k a week in wages! My first task was to offload these players which I did with relative success. Along with those players, a bunch of players were released on frees to lighten the load at the club and these included Folan, Duke, and Gardner. A more surprising exit was Tomas Horava who played very well last season and scored some important goals, he got upset after I brought in another midfielder and then called me a liar when I told him I was looking to offload players to free up space, out the door he went for a £2.15million profit to Crystal Palace. Robert Koren and James Harper also left the club as expected while Cooper and some other youngsters were loaned out for experience.
Transfers In
Now there’s a lot of these so I’m not going to talk about them, I’m just going to order them by position…
Goalkeeper
Defenders
Midfielders
Forwards
That’s all of them, quite a lot I know so hopefully they won’t take too long to blend and get the fluidity going on the pitch. All in all I think I moved quite well in the market but I always make at least one mistake and I’ll admit now that mistake will probably be Simon Cox. This is how my deals stacked up…
All together the club is only about £2million out of pocket considering the money that was brought in through sales. Albin and Toure have to be the bargain deals while I’m impressed that at £2.6million, Atila Turan was our most expensive signing (told you I’d get him). I would consider my coups to be Woodgate and Grenier, both very good players with large reputations that will figure a lot next season, especially Woodgate since he’s now my captain. I kind of raided Spurs as I captured Caulker on loan and signed their CB reject Khumalo for £2million also. Schmeichel will be Joe Lewis’ backup since I had no other good keeper, but the fans aren’t happy that he came from Leeds. My final 2 deals, Russell and Norwood were both signed for depth, but I’m yet to play Norwood because he’s been on international duty for 2 weeks since I signed him which seems to have boosted his stats a little.
Sorry for such a long post but I’m almost there now, I’ll get through this as quickly as possible since I know people have things to do and my fingers are starting to hurt. ;) My pre-season was a walk in the park but it did allow me to make a profit for the first time in 12 months.
Pre-season Results & Goal Scorers:
All of these games were intense and my team showed good attacking instinct, however, what worries me is that it takes 10-15 minutes for us to get into gear, by which time we could be 3-0 down in the Premiership, we leak goals, and can’t defend set pieces at all! No matter what I do, just like last season, my defenders lose the player in the box and for some reason the keeper just freezes, it’s really frustrating but at least we seem to have the score 1 more than you philosophy down.
Some amazing things happened in pre-season too, Abeid scored 3 goals, all 3 of them were lobs from outside the box, seems this kid has talent and I’ve had to beat Lyon and Roma off with a stick! Also Kieftenbeld showed his striking ability by scoring a 35 yard pile driver against Charlton, the German has impressed me and seems much better than Rosenior, plus he is versatile and can play in midfield as well as his native right back position. Also this happened in pre-season…
You may be thinking, oh well, you beat Sydney FC, great…
Well look at the goal times, we were 2-0 down after 25 minutes thanks to a Thompson double for the Ozzies and to be honest my strikers couldn’t hit a barn door with a machine gun. But then I decided in the 74th minute to bring on Jay Simpson, Johnny Russell, and Juan Albin up front and I think I may have found my first team strike force! They were like robots and seemed wired into each other, Simpson slotted home, before Russell scored from 25 yards, and Albin completed a great comeback by smashing home a Russell through ball on 88 minutes to stun the home team.
Well that’s all for now! All in all I think pre-season has been a massive success, some solid players arrived, some deadwood left, and bar our poor finances, everything is looking good for the upcoming season!
Thanks for reading!
Johnny Karp
10 сентября, 2011 at 20:21
The signings are very good mate, Turan and Albin in particular but all the new lads seem good enough to get good results. Best of luck mate!
Dan
10 сентября, 2011 at 20:47
Thanks Johnny,
I’ve wanted Turan since I got him on loan, brilliant left back :) Albin will hopefully thrive in the trequartista role this season too since Fryatt hasn’t got the pace for the Premier League.
Macca Steven Davidson
10 сентября, 2011 at 20:40
hi im from hull and i just get sacked by xmas every time i use them
Dan
10 сентября, 2011 at 20:49
Hey Macca
In my next post I’ll be posting my tactical setup so your welcome to copy it and see what results you get that way. I found that 4-3-3 works very well for Hull :)
Darren Smith
10 сентября, 2011 at 21:57
Some good signings there Dan and I especially like that you secured Turan long term. I also think Grenier will add some much needed creativity and should be looked at as a future permanent purchase. All in all a great pre-season and you spent rather wisely. Aim for survival and then next season can be used to establish Hull like they should have been two years ago.
Dan
11 сентября, 2011 at 14:00
Hey Darren,
Survival is my only goal this season and anything else is a massive bonus. Grenier is someone I’ll look to secure in the long term but that all depends on whether or not Lyon would be willing to sell for a reasonable price.
Birdy
10 сентября, 2011 at 22:01
Very nice work dan and good luck for the rest of the season hope you can go well.
Dan
11 сентября, 2011 at 14:01
Thanks Birdy,
I’m expecting a rollercoaster season full of ups and downs!
Kevin
10 сентября, 2011 at 22:16
Great pre season results and some very nice signings too. Albin seems to have a lot of creative talent and flair so maybe that accounts for those special goals? Hope he gets more of them for you in the regular season. good luck!!
Dan
11 сентября, 2011 at 14:04
Hi Kevin,
Albin is probably my favourite signing, more so because I got him for so cheap! :) I’m expecting him to be our leading scorer this season and hopefully his creativity will give us some extra cutting edge up front.
Martin - F.M.J.S
10 сентября, 2011 at 23:08
Hi Dan
Good pre season and nice come back. Good luck with the rest of the season.
Dan
11 сентября, 2011 at 14:04
Thanks Martin,
I’d like to see a couple of those comebacks in the Premier League :)
Lye Kuek Hin
11 сентября, 2011 at 04:18
Hi Dan,
Atila Turan is real good and this is an excellent signing. The other players look solid enough to help you build a foundation in the Premiership. Good luck.
Dan
11 сентября, 2011 at 14:07
HI Lye,
I’m really looking forward to seeing what Turan can do in the Premier League, hopefully I’ve got my left back for years to come. I also think the rest of our defence looks much better now too. Our midfield was already top quality but I’ve still got question marks over my attack since none of them are proven Premiership strikers.
Laxeyman
11 сентября, 2011 at 11:12
Albin is the bargain of the summer, you did well to get him so cheaply Dan. The rest of the signings are good too, and I reckon you’ll finish comfortably in mid table. Good luck!
Dan
11 сентября, 2011 at 14:08
Hey Laxeyman,
I’ve got Albin’s agent to thank for getting him so cheaply, and the fact that Getafe’s finances are worse than mine!
George Dobson
11 сентября, 2011 at 11:46
well done dan very good pre season I think you will stay up the signings are very good
Dan
11 сентября, 2011 at 14:08
Thanks George,
I’m pleased to get some good signings on board after struggling last season to attract quality players.
Sears
11 сентября, 2011 at 13:30
Great signings Dan, Albin is amazing and it’s great that you got him so cheap. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble avoiding relegation, hopefully you can finish in mid table or thereabouts. Good luck!
Dan
11 сентября, 2011 at 14:10
Hi Sears,
Seems people like Albin! :) Me too! I think he’s got a massive part to play up front, just as Cairney has a massive midfield role and the same for Woodgate at the back. I’d be more than happy to finish 17th by goal difference to be honest but I’m aiming for 15th-10th place realistically. :)
vaibhavc
11 сентября, 2011 at 19:08
Hey Dan
What kind of a start is that? Chelsea away. It’s kind of hard to get a result there. Albin is so good, and for that cheap he will be really good. The squad looks good, I am expecting at least mid-table.
Dan
11 сентября, 2011 at 20:53
Hi vaibhavc,
Chelsea is a bit of a rough start but it gets easier for a while after that before it gets really hard when we play Arsenal and Man City. Albin is great and I’d love a mid-table finish but I’m determined not to get carried away, like I said, I’m predicted 18th so 17th place by goal difference would be a good final position.
celticman
14 сентября, 2011 at 18:35
You’ve signed a whole team! Here’s hoping they gel in time for the EPL start. And by the way
«in the worlds best football division»
erm — arguably? The Spanish league is pretty damn good too.
I can’t believe you got £40m in TV money. How about certain TV companies start paying a wee bit more up here? Celtic got £760k in my game :(
Dan
15 сентября, 2011 at 14:28
Hey celticman,
I’m still pretty convinced that the Premier League is, if not the best, the toughest league to play football in worldwide. Probably down to the number of difference nationalities and playing styles. Spain only really have Barcelona and Real Madrid (and the latter is overrated anyway).
Hopefully my team will gel and it does seem a little bit ridiculous the amount of TV rights I got and even the Championship teams get £5million of TV rights which is still more than the SPL…
celticman
15 сентября, 2011 at 22:42
Not to continuously dig at the EPL but when did someone other than Man Utd or Chelsea win the league? When you think of it like that you’ve got to be honest and say there’s only two teams that can win it, the same as in Spain and Scotland. In other leagues I think we are starting to see the top teams push away a little more now and compeition decrease. It’s a problem the whole of football has to find a way to fix.
Dan
16 сентября, 2011 at 17:12
Don’t worry about having a dig, I prefer to call it a debate ;) but Blackburn won the Premier League in 94/95. Plus you’ve got things happening like Manchester City becoming a powerhouse of football, Arsenal and Liverpool suddenly unable to keep up the pace and Spurs having an incredible rise to become on of England’s better teams. We also had Portsmouth win the FA Cup a few years ago. You’re right though, it seems the only way to challenge at the top now is to be owned by a billionaire from Russia or Qatar.
Dan
16 сентября, 2011 at 17:12
Arsenal won the EPL too, forgot about them :)