Hull City captain Lewie Coyle says it’s important that the flurry of new signings all buy into the special ethos that has been created inside the dressing room.
It’s expected City will completely reshape their squad over the next few weeks as they race to get ready for the Premier League, with more than 10 new players likely.
Owner Acun Ilicali has suggested that as many as 15 or 16 new players will have arrived by the time the transfer window closes on September 1, in what would be a major transformation from the group that won promotion at Wembley back in May.
City‘s biggest asset last term was the strength of their group, the willingness to put themselves and their bodies on the line for each other, and the badge, and they’ll need that in spades this season.
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Key to ensuring the Tigers can compete in the top-flight will be ensuring those new arrivals are prepared to fit in, and show the spirit and willingness to fight that characterised Sergej Jakirovic’s squad last term.
“For me, that’s first and foremost the most important thing. What type of values the people have that you bring into the club, they need to fit in with what we’ve created,” the skipper told Hull Live. “This isn’t something that’s been created overnight. It’s something that I have certainly tried to create since I’ve been at the football club.
“I feel like last year we were really at a point where we had a fantastic, fantastic group that all bought into exactly the same idea, the same goals, the same ambitions, and that’s what you need to bring people into this football club based on.
“Of course, you have to bring in incredible quality, and we’re going to need that in the Premier League. It’s a whole different ball game. The Championship’s a very, very tough league, the Premier League, I’ve not got any experience of it, but from what I’ve seen and from what you hear of the lads that have been there, it’s just a complete other level.
“So, of course, you’re going to need to bring in quality, and you’re gonna need to bring people in with levels of ability that’re going to really help us this year. Again, they have to fit in line for me personally anyway with what the core values are of this group.”
Just as they did last summer, the pundits will all write City off and give them almost no chance of avoiding an instant return to the Championship.
For Coyle, though, that negativity that will likely ramp up as the season edges closer will only add further fuel to their fire, not that they especially need any added incentive to succeed.
“We had that throughout last year, we had that at the start of last year, it’s just similar thoughts and feelings coming out of people’s mouths, which is fine, that’s football.
“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. We know what’s in this group; we know what we’re going to add, and, yeah, it’s a challenge. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s going to be easy, it’s going to be tough at times, of course it is, it’s the Premier League, but this is what we all dreamed of as kids, so we’re going to try and take this opportunity and enjoy every second while we are.”
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