After a decade away, Hull City are back in the Premier League, and it all begins this afternoon when they host Manchester United at a sold-out MKM Stadium.
Written off as relegation fodder last summer, City defied the odds to win promotion via the play-offs at Wembley almost three months ago to the day, and now, they’ll hope to prove the doubters wrong once again.
Scoffed at by many for daring to win promotion, boss Sergej Jakirovic is relishing the chance to lead out the Tigers in a league watched by millions around the world, and along the way, prove the naysayers wrong.
The softly spoken Croatian, who grew up playing football with his friends as bombers flew over his head during the devastating homeland war back in the early 1990s, is relishing the chance to tackle English football’s elite, and knows he can sleep well having done all the best possible preparation for a campaign that gives the Tigers a chance they did not expect a year ago.
“It’s a dream come true,” Jakirovic told Hull Live. “It’s the best league, and I’m part of this, and I’m very proud of it. Of course, I’m sleeping like a baby. This is just sport at the end of the day. For me, I’m not so excited that I can’t sleep because I have to be fresh on Saturday.”
Since Jared Gillett’s whistle blew at Wembley in May, City have enjoyed their celebrations. From a tour of the city ending in Queen Victoria Square with 40,000 fans following their trophy parade, to holidaying with victorious owner Acun Ilicali, Jakirovic has loved it, and though he says he would love for those celebrations to continue, he knows football doesn’t allow for standing still and admiring past glories, as special and historic as that was.
“I’m very proud. I never want this period to stop,” he joked. “Maybe don’t start the season to keep this feeling. Of course, it’s a very big achievement, but this is football, and you know what happened yesterday doesn’t matter anymore.
“We want to improve, we want to show that we can develop our players so that we can play an even better team as a team, and I hope we will show this season. We also know that it will be difficult, but at least we can fight, and we will fight. We need one more miracle, of course. It will be an even bigger achievement, I think, if we stay up, so we need 40 points. Everything is very clear.”
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Keeping City in the Premier League will be a tall order. Everybody is writing the Tigers off before a ball is kicked, suggesting they’ll struggle to beat Derby County’s infamous 11 points in 2007/08. They came up last, have spent the least amount of money, and are odds-on to make an instant return to the Championship. Jakirovic, though, says City being written off will only add extra motivation to a group who know where they stand, and gives them a chance to prove the doubters wrong.
“It will mean everything (to keep City up),” he continued. “You can compete with the best teams, the best players, the best managers. We are not here just to participate in this season. We will try to do our best.
“Of course, it’s not easy. I saw all these predictions and everything, but it’s great motivation to prove them wrong if it’s possible. We have another plan if things are not going so well. You have to prepare everything for next year, next season. You have a lot of examples, so we will see. It will not be easy, but at least we can fight there. We can show for sure what the potential is in our team.
“It’s motivation, we don’t have anything to lose. It’s 11 v 11, and we know our pros and cons, so we will try to hide these cons and try to use our biggest strength.”
And finally, his message to the fans? “Just be supportive, like all of last season. I think there is no big expectation for this season like when we were in the play-offs. In the last seven games, I felt there was a lot of expectation and pressure on us. Just be supportive, and I know they will be. We will never surrender until the end of the game.”
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