The double signing of Jozy Altidore and Seyi Olofinjana brings to an end a most frustrating period of transfer inactivity for Hull City, which has frustrated the management and worried the supporters.
Whether it was Fraizer Campbell asking to go on holiday first, or the execrable Darren Bent telling the world via Twitter his plans, the Tigers' inability to get new signatures on contracts over the summer had become its own soap opera, and not one that looked like having any happy endings.
Indeed, it was the absence of any fresh blood more than any other reason that has made the pundits and observers predict relegation for City this season. You can expect that anyone whose opinions on Premier League football are deemed worthy of publication will have said the Tigers will fall in 2010. The wretched run at the end of last season and the continued myth about Phil Brown's influence over the players following that team talk are incidental factors now.
But, while more bodies are still needed, the arrival of these two players is a start. A protracted start, but a start all the same. Altidore, who has joined initially on loan, is an unknown quantity to many but his performances in the summer Confederations Cup for the USA are as good a place as any to begin the exultations, and he is a good finisher. Whether he can find the time and room against some of the world's finest defenders to get those finishes in is something we can only wait to find out. But at least now Hull City have a centre forward to select who may, through his newbie status as much as anything else, garner a level of expectation which Caleb Folan can only dream of.
Olofinjana's signing from Stoke City was as vital as Altidore's, if not as exciting, although a four million pound deal isn't to be sniffed at. With the considerable influence of Ian Ashbee missing from the middle of the park for the first few weeks of the new season, the Nigerian's arrival at the KC is timely and reassuring. Should Brown decide, until Ashbee and Jimmy Bullard are fit, to revive the 4-3-3 squeezy midfield system that worked so exquisitely last autumn, then Olofinjana can provide the bite and grit that Ashbee contributes so naturally, allowing other midfielders to run with the ball (Dean Marney) or carefully distribute it from an authoritative position (George Boateng). The Ashbee-Boateng-Marney axis worked so immaculately for so long last season, and may be allowed to do so again with Olofinjana's acquisition. This may be especially so given that our three right-sided midfielders are in disposed - Richard Garcia and Craig Fagan are injured, while Bernard Mendy still seems likely to replace the departed Sam Ricketts at right back. Brown may decide to adopt a narrower formation because he has, directly via his squad, no width to speak of.
The chairman and manager promise more signings before the window closes, and one hopes an orthodox right back and another centre forward is among them. With these new faces in place, and important figures to come back from injury as the autumn approaches, maybe the future isn't as bleak as some, if not most, had begun to make out. A start has finally been made on building a team that seriously needs it.
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