Electric chair

Following the badly-spelled club statement last week which just came across as a spot of blind panic from within the KC's boardroom, there was some intrigued (though not eager) anticipation of Paul Duffen's programme notes on Saturday.

The chairman took up a double page in order to put his viewpoint across, but succeeded only in patronising the fans, blackening the name of Michael Turner and trying to cover bad news with good.

"I have heard much talk of so-called 'second season syndrome' and the importance of avoiding it. There are differing opinions about what exactly constitutes SSS but one manifestation is surely when a section of the club's supporters lose their sense of perspective and start to believe that just because it is their second season in the Barclays Premier League they can expect to behave and perform like a top four club."

No, no, no. Aside from the syntax anomaly which suggests that fans want to behave like a top four club, whereas in fact fans can only behave like the fans of a top four club, this just adds more fuel to the fire. We know we're in the bottom half of the Premier League pecking order. We're not stupid, nor should we be treated as such or written off as such. However, exactly what is it that means Hull City should sell off their finest defender - whose absence has been sorely noted during the defensive shambles which occurred within the two subsequent games - when there was seemingly no financial pressure to sell?

This leads us to...

"Whilst Michael's departure is disappointing, we cannot deny the rights of a player to move on when they believe the time is right and Michael has been very honest in admitting that as soon as he heard of Sunderland's interest his heart was no longer at the KC."

So, let's get this straight. Even though Liverpool made enquiries about Turner, his head wasn't turned, but when Sunderland did, it was. So essentially he would have rather played for mediocre Sunderland than Champions League regulars Liverpool? What utter hogwash. Also, how can it be that Turner alone made the decision to leave when there was never any attempt by the club to close the door on a deal as speculation grew? And if he was so desperate to go, why didn't he ask for a transfer? Lastly, if his heart was no longer at the KC once the interest from the north east was made plain to him, how come he put in one of the finest performances of his magnificent Hull City career at Wolves, two days before his departure was sealed? No player with his heart somewhere else could have played like Turner did that afternoon, ultimate professional he nevertheless is. This is a scandalous effort to rid the club of blame in the hawking around of Turner's services and place it all on his shoulders.

(It is further notable, by the way, that Phil Brown's far briefer programme notes make no mention of Turner at all, even in passing)...

And finally, heading towards the end, we have...

"One of the key factors in securing the future of the club is the development of a new training ground and youth academy to ensure that we can both attract and produce the best talent. Consequently, I am delighted to announce that this week we have secured 93 acres of lands at Melton which, subject to planning permission, will become our new home."

The expression 'subject to planning permission' is interesting, as one wonders cynically if this announcement was going to be delayed until such permission was secure, but the desperate need to find some good news to bury all the bad meant that it was brought forward. And, given that we still haven't produced a homegrown first team player for a dozen years, and the current peripheral bunch of Featherstones and Atkinsons only get seen when we're desperate to exit one of the cups (and don't even get sent out on loan, which remains one of the most baffling things about the deluxe edition of Hull City), one wonders why we bother with an academy at all. Of course we should have one, but it would be quite nice for it to be successful. Giving a bunch of 21 year olds to North Ferriby United each summer surely does not constitute a successful academy.

Sifting through the chairman's column gives us no insight into the reason why publication of the accounts has been delayed, though this blog is not economically literate and therefore is less bothered by this, and we still don't know exactly how much we got for Turner. I suspect we won't until the day the 09/10 accounts are published - assuming they ever are.

Mr Duffen has been an excellent chairman, especially so when you consider some of the morons, charlatans and crooks who have run our club in the past. But he cannot continue to keep supporters in the dark and underestimate our importance, nor can he get angry when we exercise our democratic right to question and request honesty and transparency. He wants us to stay in our box. The way things are going on and off the pitch, however, suggests that we are going to get only louder.