Hull City’s dismal 2024/25 campaign did at least end on a positive note with the Tigers securing survival on the final day of the Championship season, albeit by only goal difference.
Attention now turns to the new season and what incoming head coach Sergej Jakirovic can do with the existing squad and some new arrivals throughout the summer.
Jakirovic must surely know what he’s walking into, assuming he’s carried out his own due diligence. He will be aware of the struggles of last season and the need for quality to be brought into the dressing room, especially in the top third of the pitch.
The latest supercomputer prediction reflects City‘s struggles last season, and it doesn’t make for good reading for Tigers fans, who had to endure a nightmare nine months and three different managers.
According to the Sun‘s supercomputer, it has City finishing bottom of the Championship and being relegated to League One with 48 points, one fewer than they mustered under Ruben Selles in the season just gone.
Going down with City, according to the early data, they’ll be joined by Derby County and Watford, with Oxford United and Middlesbrough surviving by the skin of their teeth.
At the other end of the table, Southampton under new boss Will Still are backed to secure an immediate return to the Premier League as champions, and fresh from their play-off final heartbreak, Sheffield United are predicted to go up as runners-up and banish those Wembley tears.
The other relegated top-flight teams Ipswich Town and Leicester City are placed third and fourth with Coventry City fifth and new boys Wrexham backed to snatch sixth on goal difference ahead of Bristol City.
Given the Tigers were the fourth-worst team in the Championship based on the final table, only staying up on goal difference, it’s perhaps no surprise to see the early predictions suggesting it will be another season of struggle, but Jakirovic will hope to prove the doubters wrong.
How confident are you going into the new season? Have your say in the comments below…
(Image: The Sun)
Here at Hull Live, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.