So the Premier League adventure has reached its end, and many of us are rather relieved. Irrespective of the horrors that the financial situation may force upon us over the summer, there is too much about the top tier of English football that is unattractive to the kind of supporter who wants their team to achieve and compete.
Hull City made up the numbers, and did so quite badly. They weren't alone, and the reality is that while only three teams go down, as many as six probably deserved it. The gap is widening as big, rich clubs get bigger and richer and the smaller, poorer clubs get smaller and poorer. And getting poorer in the name of a meagre 14th place, stagnation, watertreading, free of ambition, simply does not make for football that will earn new supporters and maintain enthusiasm.
If the Tigers had achieved mid-table obscurity for a few years, then everybody from the East Riding who wanted to come and see the club would not have been there to support their local team. You only have to look at the evidence of the post-match pitch invasion on Sunday, as many ignored the likes of Steven Mouyokolo and George Boateng, two of probably only half a dozen players who can say they have performed this season, and headed straight for Steven Gerrard instead. A superstar he may be (albeit one who played with his fitness for South Africa in mind) but, the way football now is, smaller clubs are not able to create their own superstars.
Tom Cairney is a wonderful player, but he will only be a superstar if and when he gets the big move to a top half club that his early promise suggests will happen. Even then, at some clubs he would be a Carling Cup superstar only, and yet being that type of irregularly used player will earn him more money and plaudits thanks to the cockeyed view of the game that the Premier League has created than being a first team definite for Hull City, in either division, would ever manage. Fortunately, right now, it seems Cairney is one who will stick around.
The nature of last season's survival meant it was crucial for Phil Brown to invest wisely with what money we were told we had. It still seemed an adequate sum, for after a worrying delay with next to no activity, he brought in Jozy Altidore and Seyi Olofinjana and then later got Stephen Hunt and Kamel Ghilas. These were exciting signings, and certainly the arrival of Altidore and Ghilas eased a few fluttering hearts given that we were getting closer to starting the new Premier League season without a new centre forward that wasn't inadequate (Caleb Folan) or argumentative (Daniel Cousin).
Mouyokolo, who had been signed in the January but allowed to stay in France until the summer, also reported for duty at his new club and so five new players were in place. We needed a right back, as Sam Ricketts had most regrettably gone to Bolton Wanderers after a daft disagreement with Brown over the promise of a contract extension, and his unkind words about his former manager to Bolton's local paper provided the first of many critical words about Brown's ability to motivate and get on with his own footballers.
August arrived and the television dictated that we would start the season courtesy of a lunchtime kick-off at Chelsea. City were superb throughout, with Olofinjana showing real bite in the tackle and Hunt instantly becoming a hero thanks to his obvious lack of respect for anyone not on his side, and this against a team with more reason than most to dislike him. So there was poetry as well as sheer joy (not to mention surprise) in Hunt's opening goal, which he tucked away very smartly indeed. Chelsea equalised quickly and then, in a motif that would be repeated way too often through the season, robbed City of at least a share of the points thanks to Didier Drogba fluking a cross-cum-shot in injury time. A desolate feeling but my word, such performances would guarantee many an away win...
Tottenham Hotspur arrived at the KC Stadium for our opening home game three days later and played us off the park with an attacking display that could only be described as magnificent. Hunt scored again for City, and as it was an equaliser it was another goal we could count as crucial, but the eventual 5-1 scoreline did not flatter the visitors at all. Bolton Wanderers at home on the Saturday was more important, and indeed the brief but nippy combination of Altidore and Ghilas up front made the eventual difference, with the American teeing up the Algerian for a fine volley that produced the first win, the first points and the first clean sheet of the season.
The first glimpse of Cairney came in the Carling Cup tie against Southend United, and the youngster's touch was divine throughout the game against underwhelming opposition whose lowly status was exploited to the full. Altidore scored his first goal for the club with a smart free kick and Cairney chipped a marvellous second as City eventually won 3-1. But trouble was brewing as the transfer window's time was coming to an end and the speculation about star defender Michael Turner, our hero and talisman and the player whom every single member of the Tiger Nation adored unconditionally, was growing.
Liverpool had taken a look but the big rumour was about Sunderland, and we had the worrying and infuriating combination of City's egotistical chairman Paul Duffen doing all the talking while Brown, presumably allowed to air an opinion, was deathly silent on the matter. Turner had started the season in largely the same impassable form as he had basically shown for the previous two and a half years - Tottenham permitting - but the Tigers seemed almost desperate to sell. Duffen claimed it was about player ambition and Turner's own desire to leave but the reality of both the circumstances, not to mention the fee, would be revealed later in the season. The suggestion that we would get £12 million for him, albeit with a small percentage heading to two London clubs as sell-on payments, could have acted as a minute consolation but ultimately the fee was undisclosed and Turner, after a last hurrah of iconic proportions in a 1-1 draw at Wolves, in which Geovanni's third minute header provided the only period when the Tigers looked capable of winning, applauded the fans who worshipped his every move and travelled straight up to Wearside.
The anger at this sale was further complemented by concern over how short the Tigers would be in the centre of defence. Anthony Gardner was freshly injured again, although there was an option to move Mouyokolo, who had been at right back, into his natural position once Paul McShane arrived from Sunderland in a deal that was entirely separate to that which took Turner the other way. McShane had been very good during his loan spell the previous year and his acquisition was initially proclaimed as good business. The rawness of Mouyokolo was deemed not suitable, yet, for the Premier League and so Ibrahima Sonko, a third choice (at best) defender at Stoke City, joined hastily on a season-long loan.
Days after the window shut, Brown signed Dutch centre forward Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who had been a free agent since leaving Celtic in the summer. Another goalscorer was now available for selection, although Vennegoor of Hesselink's experience was countered by his lack of Premier League knowledge. The great coincidence of the Turner farce came the following weekend when City travelled to Sunderland. Turner was warmly welcomed by the Wearsiders who won the game at a canter, with Kamil Zayatte's equaliser late in the first half proving little more than a consolation in a 4-1 loss during which, inevitably, Turner scored. To his gentlemanly credit, he offered a gesture of apology to the Tiger Nation as the ball hit the net before rightfully heading towards the Sunderland fans to celebrate, and looking around the Tiger Nation there were almost tears of frustration at the whole sorry business. Craig Fagan's imbecilic concession of a penalty early on put him in Brown's bad books, subsequently renamed his 'naughty step', and it wouldn't be the first time a player would be over-punished by a wayward manager for damage caused on the pitch.
Birmingham City then visited the KC Stadium and won an awful game with a late header, the first of many truly preventable defeats that would stain the Tigers' season as a whole. Everton then brought a far stronger than anticipated team to the KC to demolish City's non-existent Carling Cup ambitions by four goals, though Cairney again was impressive.
A visit to Liverpool followed, and it was a daunting enough prospect without the team news that filtered around before the game that the already struggling Sonko would be partnered by teenage defender Liam Cooper, who had looked tidy and not overawed in the Carling Cup defeat but did not seem ready to face Fernando Torres at his ridiculous best. Cooper, it emerged, was by far the most competent of the two centre backs as Torres ran riot with a hat-trick in a 6-1 win, Geovanni's sumptuous volley bringing only brief respite to the Tiger Nation when still only a goal down.
More 'naughty step' inhabitants emerged from that game, with Cousin's briefly good substitute appearance not being indulged further by Brown, while Boateng - one of several captains already during the campaign thanks to the long-term absence of both Ian Ashbee and anyone even remotely capable of filling the mighty skipper's boots - also took his leave, quietly seething. Wigan Athletic arrived at the KC the following week and Kevin Kilbane had to play at centre back to allow for Cooper's repositioning in the reserves, Gardner's continued absence through injury and Zayatte's deployment in midfield to cover the chastened Boateng. City won 2-1, with second half goals from Vennegoor of Hesselink and Geovanni proving enough as Wigan scored late in the match and threatened an equaliser to the end.
A long rest afterwards was ideally timed as City's trip to Fulham had been put back by 48 hours by television people. In the end it was as unnecessary as you could imagine, with such an abject display angering the supporters whose efforts to get to west London on a school night deserved far more than it produced. Fulham's 2-0 win was one of their easiest and only the sight of Jimmy Bullard warming up, to a mixed response from the fans he had left behind, offered some long term hope. He came on and immediately showed why he was our trump card, whose fitness and influence should turn our season around. But he couldn't get close to earning us a route back into the match.
Portsmouth, already in serious trouble off the pitch, came to the KC Stadium and the two teams fought out a depressing goalless draw. But then big news emerged off the pitch as Duffen, whose role in budgeting the Tigers' promotion had been severely hampered by his many subsequent acts that alienated supporters, announced he was leaving the club. It seemed the ultimate act of gallantry, in that he was taking responsibility for the team's lack of progress and was, in a nutshell, sacking himself in order to avoid having to sack Brown. The news that broke simultaneously was that Adam Pearson, the greatest chairman in Hull City history, had quit his position at Derby County, allowed many an excited supporter to put two and together and get their sums right.
Pearson attended City's game at Burnley amidst strong rumours that upon his official appointment the following Monday, he would dismiss Brown without a moment's thought. Despite the 2-0 defeat at Turf Moor, a game which genuinely went awry for reasons of luck than anything else (Geovanni's perfectly good goal from a free kick being disallowed, and his subsequent plot-losing actions that prompted a red card), Brown stayed put. Stoke City were due to visit the following weekend before a fortnight's break, so if any decisions were going to be made, it was sensible to make them when games were not on the horizon. And it allowed Brown the chance to impress his returning boss with the benefit of preparation.
The alteration was instant. Brown began exercising humility in interviews and some caution in the number of media appearances he gave. His safety blanket had been swiped off him and he knew it. Pearson had made it clear that a win against Stoke would keep Brown afloat for the time being, but behind the scenes the riot act had been read. For the visit of Stoke, Brown recalled Fagan and Boateng from their isolation periods and, as an extra fillip, was able to put Bullard in the starting XI for the first time ever. The transformation was immense, despite Stoke taking a first half lead. Olofinjana curled a stupendous equaliser and then, with Stoke suffering from a sending-off and then a ridiculous re-substitution of their own substitute, City won it in injury time courtesy of Bullard's shot being parried at the feet of Vennegoor of Hesselink. A crucial, deserved, enjoyable and, by now, rare win.
The two-week break brought Brown and his squad back to earth as Pearson's wise, blunt words steadied the ship and made it plain what was expected of the team. The unravelling of the club's finances had begun too, with Pearson immediately declaring the gruesome, depressing truth of the Turner deal, which stated that City received only £4 million from Sunderland in the end, which was further reduced by the sell-on fees that were due to Charlton Athletic and Brentford. Duffen had undersold our finest player and potentially ruined our Premier League hopes in doing so, prior to leaving.
Still, for all the financial issues that Pearson was still trying to understand, things were looking up on the pitch. Political struggles had been eased, fringe players had been sent out on loan and Bullard was, finally, beginning to show just how valuable he was both as a footballer and as an asset. West Ham United came to the KC after the football-free fortnight ended, and although they took a 2-0 lead, a Bullard-inspired fightback gave City a 3-2 advantage after a crazy first half. It ended 3-3 but was a genuinely thrilling game and put a little more character into the team.
Everton, already substantial winners at the KC in the Carling Cup, were next to arrive for a midweek fixture, and for this game Bullard was given a medically-necessary rest. It mattered not, as City destroyed their visitors in the first half to go in 3-0 up thanks to Hunt and first goals of the season for Andy Dawson and Dean Marney. Everton battled back to 3-2 but the Tigers clung on for a genuinely impressive scalp.
So Pearson returns, Brown winds his neck in and Bullard proves his fitness, and suddenly City have claimed seven points from nine, all at home. There was real hope now. A visit to Manchester City loomed, the scene of where it supposedly all began to go the shape of a pear the season before. City battled and scrapped as the hosts showed their overpaid arrogance in believing it to be a gimme, and Bullard's late penalty earned a fine 1-1 draw and prompted the single most memorable goal celebration in football, which drew Brown's approval.
Four games unbeaten now, but form and hope was ripped to shreds at Aston Villa when Bullard fell awkwardly and damaged his other knee. He left in tears with the whole stadium's sympathetic applause, and to the Tiger Nation, that felt like a resounding thump back towards square one. Villa won easily, with a Matt Duke howler leaving James Milner with an open goal for one of their three unanswered strikes.
The diagnosis on Bullard wasn't as bad as previous injuries to befall his knees, but nonetheless he was out until at least the end of January. City battled to a goalless draw against Blackburn Rovers at the KC - a game as chronic as it sounds - and then gallantly performed against Arsenal at the Emirates despite the referee failing to notice Samir Nasri's appalling stamp on Richard Garcia that sent the rest of the Tigers team apoplectic. The Gunners led by just one goal by the time Geovanni saw a soft penalty saved and it ended 3-0.
Christmas came, as did Manchester United two days on. Wayne Rooney was marvellous in the visitors' 3-1 success as City made the best fight of it that they could, and Fagan's penalty offered hope as well as a long-awaited first goal of the season for City's most divisive performer. Better times would come at a below-freezing Bolton Wanderers in the Tigers' final game of the decade two days later, when some bad goalkeeping from the recalled Boaz Myhill put the Tigers two goals adrift, only for the superb Hunt to score twice in the second half and earn a valuable point. It also prompted the dismissal of Gary Megson as Bolton's manager.
The New Year began with a deeply unwanted trip to Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup which, despite taking an early lead, the Tigers lost 4-1 while football as a whole spat bile at both sets of fans for not turning up. City still took 2,000 which, considering the austere time of year, the freezing winter and the general unattractiveness of the occasion, was a decent following. Cairney and Cooper again used the necessary evils on the fixture list to impress, and by now many were asking why Cairney had yet to feature in a Premier League game, especially with Bullard out.
A daunting trip to Tottenham Hotspur was next, and we got one of those games that happens sometimes, when you are ritually destroyed and yet escape with a point thanks to a rearguard performance bordering on the insane. How Myhill managed to keep out every single chance Tottenham made for themselves is anyone's guess, but it was a welcome point and, in equal measure, brought out resigned plaudits from a bamboozled Harry Redknapp and dimwitted, spiteful criticism from Spurs fans who believed that a small club's role in the Premier League is to let the illustrious opponent win. No goalless draw, and no goalkeeping performance, will ever evoke the same sort of fond memories.
As valuable a point as it was, it was only the Tigers' fourth on the road all season, and still there had been no wins. The next away game was unlikely to alter that, and Rooney again dominated the proceedings with the full quota of goals in Manchester United's 4-0 win at Old Trafford, though it had been still only 1-0 until the last ten minutes, and we got an all-too-rare performance on the right flank from Bernard Mendy that reminded us just how good he is, and how annoyingly seldom he would choose to show it.
Within all this, the fightback against Duffen's regime, heavily criticised in the national press for its profligacy, was really beginning. A club statement announced that legal action was to be launched against the former chairman, and Pearson followed it up with details of the writ - namely that Duffen had used club funds for personal reasons and taken inducements from agents in return for using their services. The reputation of the man who chaired the club during its finest hour had gone from sullied to destroyed, even though no outcome had been reached. What Pearson says, goes. Simple as. Duffen offered denials but ended up repaying some money and settling out of court, increasing Pearson's star even more.
On the pitch, the game we were really waiting for was the next one. Bullard's return had been earmarked for the visit of Wolves to the KC but beyond that, it was the heavily highlighted 'winnable' game that followed the tough trips that January had given us thus far. Bullard wasn't ready to re-feature and Wolves had certainly failed to read the script, twice coming from behind to earn a 2-2 draw. Vennegoor of Hesselink was paired, for the first time, with Altidore up front and the partnership just clicked immediately, with the American setting up the Dutchman for the opening goal. Mouyokolo finally played in the centre of defence and immediately never looked back, while Cairney was also given the Premier League debut he should have had in September. For all the plusses, there was a big minus to the tune of two points. And now the future looked daunting.
January had prompted the much-needed departures of several fringe players while ex-Wigan striker Amr Zaki was brought in on a short-term basis. Chelsea were on the way to the KC and little expectation was placed on the team's shoulders. As if to prove that pressure might have been welcomed, City fought out a superb 1-1 draw against their mighty opponents, with Mouyokolo scoring the opening goal while his defensive counterpart John Terry, fresh from lurid allegations, had his name chanted for wholly less flattering reasons.
Manchester City's visit four days later was equally as daunting but the Tigers went one better. Altidore, now a popular and strong adaptation to Premier League life, finally opened his Premier League account with a smart goal before Boateng also got his first for the the club with probably the best goal of City's season, his stunning shot from the edge of the box hitting the sweet spot of his left foot and finding the net in the blink of an eye. The visitors hauled their way back into the match but it ended 2-1, and so four points had been gleaned from a pair of games expected to yield none.
Suddenly, there was expectation to go with the hope that blind loyalty brings. If City could produce displays and results like that against the clubs with the real money, then there had to be equivalent displays against teams more comparable to the Tigers. However, in typical manner, the next two matches were calamitous. Boateng was unjustly sent off at Blackburn Rovers but it had little effect on a putrid display as the home side won 1-0, then at West Ham United a rancid, negative Tigers side were completely destroyed while Fagan had another of his red mist days and got a suitably coloured card for his trouble.
A third consecutive awayday followed at Everton, and Bullard's return and Cairney's stunning equaliser offered some forlorn hope before the home side romped to a 5-1 win, leaving City with an 11-2 deficit from two trips to Merseyside. This was unacceptable stuff and Brown knew it, and with Arsenal's trip to the KC next, he realised a change was needed. He ditched the defensive mindset and played 4-4-2, with Cairney's brief contractual struggle providing a timely sacrifice that allowed the still-recovering Bullard to operate in such a system.
Arsenal took a first half lead but City equalised through Bullard's penalty after Vennegoor of Hesselink avoided an offside flag and was fouled in the box. Then Boateng was sent off, this time entirely correctly, for a high challenge and a subsequent spot of eye-poking that was more conducive to the oval ball game. With ten men, a 1-1 scoreline and the fact that it was Arsenal, the second half was hardly anticipated with eagerness. But what followed was a Herculean display of fight and spirit that was only ruined when Myhill misjudged a swerving injury time shot from Denilson and batted it straight to Nicklas Bendtner for a heart-shattering 94th minute winner. Yet even in defeat, the praise for City was long and adulatory and much-deserved. There seemed to be little doubt that this sort of performance against smaller teams, were the motivation in place, would get the points required for survival.
Then on the Monday, Brown was fired.
Put on gardening leave, to be precise. On a national level, the decision was scorned and criticised to high heaven for its dual sense of mistiming, coming as it did with only nine games left of a relegation-threatened season and immediately after a quite stunning act of defiance against Arsenal. Bendtner's goal probably made Pearson's decision easier, as had the game ended in the morally correct 1-1 draw that seemed to be its destiny, firing Brown would have exuded an even more explosively derisory response.
Put simply, Pearson had been researching the dreadful financial state of the club further and knew Brown had to be out of the club before any kind of authority began to do its own research. That was the received wisdom from what was, on the face of it, a baffling decision. Brown's overall record and demeanour since October 2008 had been dreadful, but there did seem to be a change in his attitude and his treatment of the players since his pal Duffen had left the club. Naturally, the media-hungry Duffen declared himself available as a talking head to all and sundry upon the news of Brown's release from duty. Meanwhile, Pearson needed to get his new manager in place.
And so in came Iain Dowie, an articulate and intelligent man but not a coach or motivator with a record that suggested he was a better option than Brown. What he did have was a lack of ego, a realisation that he was fortunate to be asked and no baggage at all on a personal front, though the part he played in a number of relegations in his previous career did not warm his choice to the Tiger Nation. He brought his own coaching team with him, jettisoning the unlucky Brian Horton but keeping Steve Parkin, largely due to Parkin's own dogged refusal to take a pay-off.
Dowie prepared his squad for an enormous trip (and not just in mileage) to Portsmouth, a club long since doomed and playing for sympathy and FA Cup progression only. His first double-take act was to put Folan in the team, a player who had returned crocked from a loan spell with Middlesbrough and whose relationship with Brown was untenable even beyond Pearson's mediating stance. Folan hadn't played for City since the autumn and hadn't scored since the opening day of the whole Premier League adventure, and yet managed to score twice as City led 2-1 with five minutes left. A brilliant free kick robbed us of all three points; a horrific Garcia mistake moments later gifted the home side all three. It was beyond all satire to see City lose from such a glorious winning position.
Feeling let down by everyone at the club, the Tiger Nation contemplated relegation but there was still a game in hand to consider and other teams were still losing with similar regularity, if not as comedically. Fulham, refreshingly chasing European silverware instead of points, brought a second-string squad to the KC and City won 2-0 thanks to Bullard's penalty and Fagan's looping header. Dowie had dropped Folan, despite his two-goal haul, and recalled Altidore, while also bringing back Sonko from months in the cold (deservedly) because of severe defensive shortages. City played cohesively and with some optimism and deserved the win and clean sheet.
That this worried relegation rivals was obvious as West Ham made a self-important complaint to the FA over Fulham's team selection when their own house needed to be put in order first. Dowie had his first win and punched the air for the Tiger Nation to acknowledge it.
A trip to Stoke City was next and Dowie fatefully put the long-underperforming McShane at centre back to account for Sonko's ineligibility and, worse still, dropped Altidore for the wretched Folan. McShane made a child-like error to gift Stoke a very early opener, and although City huffed and puffed through the rest of the game, an equaliser looked most unlikely and Stoke got a second in injury time.
Still, it was only Burnley next. They, like the Tigers, had not won away all season and were in far greater trouble than their hosts although by now all the smart money suggested that both of these sides would join Portsmouth in the Championship the following season. But a City win, widely predicted, would give West Ham and Wigan some real food for thought. Naturally, the team with no away wins came to the KC and won, and won easily too. The 1-4 reversal was the lowest moment by some distance within a season made up of plenty of low moments, and nobody doubted City's fate now. Kilbane had scored after three minutes to give the Tigers the advantage; the subsequent showing suggested that they believed 87 minutes against Burnley when a goal to the good would be a doddle. Burnley walked it.
Dowie's negativity continued at Birmingham City, whose excellent season had rendered them more than safe and despite their own thoughts of a summer holiday, they were able to keep out a City side that stuck with 4-5-1 even with substitutions. It was a glorious chance that was completely squandered. The arrival of Aston Villa and their particularly grotesque cynicism ruined the debenture of City's game in hand that had existed since Villa's appearance at the Carling Cup final had prompted their trip to the KC to be rearranged, and their 2-0 win was achieved at half-pace with some City performances - McShane, Kilbane, Fagan - bordering on the criminal.
So it was all, probably, down to Sunderland, who were next at the KC and would effectively relegate the Tigers if they won and West Ham did likewise. An early Darren Bent goal and a penalty miss from a now scandalously disinterested Bullard made sure that was the case. Goal difference issues were preventing the mathematicians from relegating the Tigers on a technicality, but City were down. And they thoroughly deserved it.
The season ended with a 2-2 draw at Wigan Athletic, with Will Atkinson and Mark Cullen both scoring on their full Premier League debuts but an injury time equaliser robbing the Tigers of their final hope for an away win. The 0-0 draw against Liverpool at the KC that completed the fixture list served merely to show how good Cairney and Cullen could be in the Championship next season, and how much some of the mercenaries needed to be shipped out of the club for ethical as well as financial reasons. Burnley's last day win over Tottenham meant that the Tigers finished below them in a sorry 19th place, with £800,000 or so lost as a consequence.
A lot of players will leave in the summer and a lot of managers will be discussed before Pearson make his decision. He ultimately has to either prevent administration or, at worst, guide the club through a short period of administration before any decision on who will pick the team next season will be made. Instinct dictates that Dowie probably doesn't deserve it but may yet be the best of a bad bunch, and anyone who thinks Brown will return is not appreciating just how much he and Pearson will struggle to work together again.
Many players deserve to go, some because they are worthy of Premier League football, some because they cost far too much for what they (don't) provide, some because they aren't good enough as footballers, whatever their status as human beings or earners. The Premier League adventure is over and there are a lot of people, this blogger included, who simply will not miss it. You expect your club to lose touch with you when things are rough in the lower reaches of football, but when it happens during its most high-profile period, you know the game has gone wrong somewhere.
Bring on the Championship, the seven (so far) local derbies, the gifted kids, the inexpensive clubmen led by Ashbee and backed by Myhill and Dawson, and the chairman (now Head of Football Operations, for reasons of potential administration) who, this time, will know that bankrolling the club is not what he is there for. There is more trouble ahead but even if we are skint and ten points down come the first Saturday of August sunshine, it'll feel far better on that day to be a Hull City supporter than it has for any of the last 18 months and more.
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