City have eight games between now and the FA Cup third round weekend
And so it begins. The tree is up, the lights are on, and the unmistakable tones of Shane MacGowan are heard in every supermarket, shop and on every Christmas playlist.
December is open for business, and the Christmas period is in full swing. For Hull City, the next month is one to embrace, to look forward to and be excited about.
That’s because, over the course of the previous 18 games, Sergej Jakirovic, his staff and players have masterminded a superb start to the season, which sees them ninth in the league, just a point outside the top six and with a wonderful platform from which to build.
Not without its setbacks, frustrations and disappointments, the Tigers have laid the ghosts of Christmas past well and truly to bed and go into a frantic eight-game period looking up, rather than down.
When Enis Destan fired them 2-1 up at QPR, City were third for a time. Unfortunately, they went on to lose that game and the next one against Ipswich Town, which saw them fall to 11th before rising again on Saturday after a stellar response. The campaign has been gripping, fun and enjoyable.
After 18 games of last season, City were 22nd in the Championship, sitting on 15 points and would go on to spend Christmas just outside the bottom three after just a second home win of the season, but with significant worry. Game number 18 was a 3-1 defeat at Middlesbrough in the first outing following the sacking of Tim Walter. Ruben Selles came in and eventually kept City in the league on the final day, a story well-told since then.
As City now prepare to face Boro again, they are a different beast entirely. Saturday’s 2-1 win at Stoke City, who were second at the start of play, saw them fight back from a poor first half and a goal down to claim three points. It ended a run of successive defeats, which in turn had ended a six-game unbeaten run.
Only Coventry City have scored more than the 30 Jakirovic’s men have, and while they have the second-worst defensive record behind League One-bound Sheffield Wednesday, the Tigers remain in the play-off mix despite all their injuries, many of whom are edging closer to being available.
What happens between now and full-time on New Year’s Day will go a long way to deciding if City have what it takes to stick around at the top of the table in this, the most competitive league around.
From Friday night’s visit of Boro, they then host Wrexham. A trip to in-form Millwall awaits three days later. West Brom will be the pre-Christmas guests, and then there’s the small matter of a Boxing Day test at Hillsborough.
City then go to Teesside just after Christmas before welcoming Stoke City to the MKM Stadium on New Year’s Day, which should be quite an affair, given what happened in the final moments at the weekend. It’s hard to imagine there being too many New Year niceties between the two, though they could compare notes from their respective FA charges over a glass of bubbly left over from the night before. The manic festive period is rounded off by Watford coming to the East Riding, and then we can all pause for breath and see if the Croatian miracle-man can turn around the FA Cup hoodoo, too.
The Christmas period won’t dictate the outcome of the season, of course not, after all, there will be another 20-odd games still to go, but there’s a reason we all view it as such a pivotal period. Lots of games, lots of points up for grabs, big crowds and growing expectations.
Jakirovic has worked wonders so far. He’s got a whole City believing once again, but what happens over the next month will determine just how happy Christmas will be, and whether or not 2026 could be the year of the Tiger.
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