The Irishman joined City in January 2014, and helped keep the Tigers in the Premier League
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic masterminded a sensational promotion at Wembley(Image: Paul ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Former Hull City forward Shane Long believes the strength of the Tigers’ squad will prove to be a huge factor when the Premier League season gets underway in mid-August.
City’s players are still celebrating their remarkable promotion after beating Middlesbrough at Wembley last weekend, returning to the top-flight after a decade away.
Attention will now turn to ensuring City are able to compete with the rigours of the Premier League, and the challenge that goes with it.
Sergej Jakirovic’s squad is packed with vast experience of the Championship, which was crucial in getting them promoted, while Oli McBurnie, John Lundstram, Paddy McNair, John Egan and Kieran Dowell have all got plenty of top-flight games under their belt, but Long feels more will be needed.
“Having that experience would be massive. Getting that experience into the dressing room will be huge,” he told BoyleSports. “When the tough part of the season is coming, and you want to be able to lean on someone who has been there and done that before. I don’t think many people have high expectations of Hull next season, so they’ve got a free pass to just go out there and give it all they’ve got. Adding a bit of experience to the dressing room would be massive.
“I don’t know much about the squad up there, but watching their football, what they’ve done in the Championship, and coming through the play-offs, is no easy thing. There will be a lot of celebrating. I’m sure they’re not fully focused on the Premier League next year, but after a nice breakaway and by just adding to the squad they have, they will be fine.
“They look to have good unity in that dressing room, which goes a long way in any league.”
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Like many pundits already writing off City, just as they were at the beginning of the campaign, Long feels it will be tough going for the Tigers, but believes the way Sunderland have adapted to the top-flight and qualifying for the Europa League in their first campaign can be a source of hope.
Play-off winners can struggle, but look at Sunderland, teams can surprise you, but looking at the squads as a whole, you would worry for Hull,” he continued.
“Coventry look very, very good. Ipswich, they’re a bit of a yo-yo team. The thing about Coventry is that their stadium is around 32,000–33,000, and they will sell that out.
“This will give them a boost to the income to be able to buy decent players to keep them in the league. I’m sure they’ve also had new owners over the last two or three years who are reinvesting into the club.
“They’ve got a good manager and have dominated the Championship this year, so the confidence is there. I fancy Coventry to do well. But when you look at the league table and have to pick three teams, you’re automatically going to go to those three promoted teams, as it’s hard to see other teams struggle.
“Sunderland might find that Europe is not a good thing for them. They might struggle in the league because of the relentless Thursday-Sunday schedule, which takes a lot out of the squad. They might have that ‘second season syndrome.’ It’s hard to see what’s going to go around. Surely Tottenham can’t finish seventeenth again.”
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