Hull City’s contingent of Championship heroes are fully deserving of their chance in the Premier League, according to the 1904 Club podcast panel.
Eight of the players who played their part in City‘s stunning promotion started the 2-2 draw with Everton on Sunday afternoon at the MKM Stadium, as Sergej Jakirovic continued to keep faith with his stalwarts.
Only goalkeeper Kostas Tzolakis, defender Nobel Mendy and winger Sorba Thomas were the summer additions named in the starting line-up, the trio costing close to £50m between them.
Two of last season’s heroes, Joe Gelhardt and Mo Belloumi, scored the goals that earned the Tigers a deserved point against David Moyes’ men.
Some supporters have suggested that Jakirovic should make wholesale changes to his side and bring in more of those summer signings, but the panel disagreed on the basis that the Tigers have claimed an impressive nine points from their opening six games.
It was also pointed out that a host of players, including Tim Iroegbunam and Hidemasa Morita, have not been fit enough to start every game. The likes of Semi Ajayi, John Egan, Lewie Coyle, Regan Slater and Ryan Giles have all performed well since promotion, and though Oli McBurnie is yet to get a goal, his work hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“They look the part, they’re competing at the level, and you know, people rush to change, we’re getting messages saying should we go 4-3-3, what they’re doing at the moment is working, and the personnel are working and not everybody’s gonna be fantastic every game and you’ll have a little spell or a mistake in the game, but overall for me they’re making a contribution,” David Burns said.
“I use 08/09 as a reference point,” added James Fletcher. “Myhill, Ricketts, Turner, Dawson, Ashbee, and then you have people like Barmby, Hughes, who were ever present in that 08/09 side, and then you change the forward line a bit with Geovanni, Marlon King, Daniel Cousin, players like that.
“The start of the season was built on the players that carried them into that division in the first place, so they’re there on merit because they’ve achieved what they’ve achieved by getting them promoted. They’re completely galvanised together and there’s a unity, and that’s one of the things that you don’t see on a piece of paper when you look at things like attributes, that’s just something that we can’t see day to day, where on the training pitch, they’re obviously going to be very well bonded, and then you see that on the field as well.
“One defeat in six games, and they haven’t really looked like they’ve had a shaky performance yet at all, and I sincerely hope they don’t have a shaky performance.”
You can listen to the latest episode of the 1904 Club via the links below….
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