Yesterday's Mendy

If there's one player who epitomises the lack of motivation that seems to be prevalent in the Hull City squad, it's Bernard Mendy.

Mendy is supertalented. He's also immeasurably frustrating. Sometimes he looks a world beater when set free on the right flank yet too often he simply doesn't show it. He has an air to him that fits a Gallic stereotype about offering a shrug of the shoulders and alleging by doing so that it doesn't matter.

Mendy is one big contradiction when he plays. Too many times he has been absent when the going has toughened and been unable or unwilling to reach for his terrific attacking talent when given the opportunity. He is a mega disappointment. But then he spends far longer after games applauding the supporters, as if he is trying to show how much he knows the pain and passion we feel.

If only his consideration for our feelings extended to the time the football match in question is actually going on, then we'd begin to get somewhere. Evidence exists in plentiful form of Mendy's capacity to destroy full backs - Liverpool away last season remains the yardstick, and yet he wasn't even on the bench for this season's visit to Anfield - but so far this season it simply doesn't wish to put in an appearance.

There were rumours about Mendy's future over the summer but the lack of substance, direct quotation or comment from the club suggested that the only source for these stories was Mendy himself, suggesting he wasn't happy. There was a family issue in France prior to the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the KC which meant he could only arrive at the game in time to sit on the bench, but other than that the impression remained that Mendy seemed happy.

And when he is on form, nobody looks happier than Mendy himself. His treatment of Andrea Dossena at Liverpool was one of the outstanding individual displays of Hull City's maiden Premier League season, and only injury to Paul McShane and consequent repositioning of Mendy prevented him from continuing this beyond the half hour mark. The Tigers were 4-1 down and heading for a serious thumping at Old Trafford when Mendy came on as a substitute, wearing club shop gloves with his kit, and promptly scored one goal and earned the penalty for another. Manchester United ended the match by kicking the ball in panic high into the crowd to waste time and hold on to their advantage.

Phil Brown seems to want to play Mendy but it's obvious that with the arrival of Kamel Ghilas, a fast-paced centre forward who can spread wide, he is beginning to lose patience with the Frenchman's brainstorms and is seeking a proper alternative. The Tiger Nation could enjoy Mendy's moments of madness last season as the campaign, until the post-New Year period at least, felt like a dream holiday and so his obtuse dive at Blackburn Rovers and his unsubtle assistance of Kieran Richardson's departure from the field at home to Sunderland raised belly laughs.

No such humour exists this season. It's serious business, and Mendy's absence from responsibility and negligible contribution thus far suggests he no longer wishes to take anything seriously. Perhaps the extra-long applause he offers City fans is now just in case he is sent off on loan somewhere the next day, never to return.

Player power

There's little left for a manager when he begins to, as the footballing soundbite would have it, lose the dressing room.

As far as Phil Brown is concerned, such rumours began, without foundation or proof whatsoever, when he gave that notorious, career-defining team talk on the pitch on Boxing Day at Manchester City.

Fortunately, Michael Turner gave some interviews at the end of last week where he categorically stated that the opinion of the Tigers manager, or belief in him, didn't alter at all that day. As he rightly points out (and as brain-dead, deeply unappealing rentamouths like Ian Wright feel compelled to ignore), City were 4-0 down and had to do something to stop the rot. For the purposes of this game, the unusual setting for the lecture worked - City drew the second half 1-1.

However, now Brown himself states that certain players are not responding to him at the moment. They are shirking their responsibilities, paying particular heed to Liam Cooper needing senior figures to aid and guide him on his Premier League debut at Liverpool and not doing so.

I do wonder which players Brown refers to. Of the starting XI at Anfield, five were new signings and three more were Brown signings from the year before. Only the remaining three - Boaz Myhill, Andy Dawson and Cooper - were inherited, and Cooper is the new kid - literally - who was still catching the school bus two years ago. Yet Dawson is renowned for his quiet, inoffensive demeanour and Myhill is a goalkeeper whose influence from the back of the action is thereby limited, and has just signed a new deal. So, assuming we can rule those three out, does this mean Brown's own acquisitions are coming back to haunt him?

Too much of the problems the manager talks about are either about himself or the fault of himself. If players aren't doing their jobs properly, then he has to take the rap for not only being unable to motivate them, but also for picking them in the first place and, in some cases, buying them. Yet by the same token, players shouldn't have to be motivated by anyone - playing professional football before a crowd to whom they mean the world and his wife should be motivation enough. Managers fall on their swords as much for player shortcomings as they do for managerial shortcomings, and players have to take some of the blame for that.

The best thing Brown can do, if at all possible, is go bland. He has never been thus, but the best managers in the business are capable of sorting out problems in-house while issuing meaningless chunterings to the media. It would do no harm also for Brown to accept his culpability. He is a vain man, perceived as arrogant by those who don't know him, but he has to develop a sheen of modesty and let the world fall on to his suited shoulders. If the same players whom he has been unable to inspire can be allowed to observe a man backing them to the hilt rather than blaming and criticising them, they may just give him what he needs. Again, it shouldn't take a climbdown from an employer to provoke appropriate action from his charges, but in Brown's case it could be all he has left.

07: Liverpool 6 - 1 Hull City - 26/09/2009

Let's get one thing out of the way quickly - Fernando Torres is the finest centre forward in the world. Nobody can or should take anything from his brilliance, a brand of striking brilliance which was on devastating show against the Tigers.

But the City defence is its own worst enemy, and Phil Brown said so afterwards. The back four, one containing essentially three brand new players, was a mess, a disorganised, unmotivated shower. And the manager needs to take responsibility for it.

Yes, players have to do what is necessary once they cross the white line, and certainly the back four should, when assessing parts of their performance on Merseyside, be prepared to indulge in some self-flagellation. But they were on a hiding to nothing in any event.

Only Andy Dawson, at left back and the most blameless of the culpable quartet, has any real familiarity with the team around him, even though his six years at the club has seen goodness knows how many defenders go through the revolving door while he sturdily carries on with his job. But even he yesterday must have looked at what was going on next to him and wondered how all would cope.

Ibrahima Sonko, a sluggish loanee considered not good enough for Stoke City (but considered good enough to captain Hull City); Liam Cooper, a youthful and bouncy streak of eagerness making his Premier League debut; and Paul McShane, a fine defender but adamant that his main function at Anfield was not to stop the ball reaching Torres, or even our net, but to fight with anyone dressed in red kit. Thiwas all Torres had to deal with. All his birthdays had gathered together.

Cooper made errors but human decency alone means he has to be excused, and indeed for a fair chunk of the game he was City's better defensive performer. But one has to question the wisdom of throwing him in alongside Sonko, a player expected to guide the teenager through life repelling great centre forwards when evidently he hasn't the ability or nous to look after himself.

The rest of the team was almost as expected, though a collective groan could be heard around the away-friendly pubs surrounding the ground when the name of Kevin Kilbane appeared ahead of Dean Marney or Tom Cairney in the midfield. Clearly once a fine footballer, Kilbane simply isn't any more. Perhaps picking the raw but enthusiastic Cairney in midfield would have been going too far with Cooper also drying his ears for the occasion, but he would still have been better than Kilbane.

A boisterous away crowd added some much needed noise to the stadium of quiet reflection that is Anfield, though it seems really difficult to debunk football's great myth that Liverpool fans are amazing supporters. They may love their team but, well, we don't actually hear the evidence of it very often.

Steven Gerrard tried to send Torres clear from the kick off, but Boaz Myhill was alert to the danger and plunged on to the ball before the Spaniard could get close enough. It didn't take very long for Liverpool to take the lead, however, and way too much space was given to Albert Riera as he reached the line and found Torres with a cute lay back. The Spaniard made room with his first touch and placed a perfect shot wide of Myhill with the second.

So, an early goal had been conceded and everyone held their breath. It could become one of those resistible afternoons where City, still pretenders and upstarts to the many, are given a footballing lesson and told exactly where they belong. But not a bit of it. Three minutes after going behind, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink headed McShane's cross back across goal and, after Kilbane failed to connect, the late arriving Geovanni approached the loose ball with real purpose and smacked a low volley into the corner.

An excellent equaliser and a hopeful sign that the heroics of Anfield the season before could repeat themselves. Certainly there was a decent spell for City afterwards, though opportunities to take the lead were nil and soon Liverpool recovered their composure.

Riera's shot was deflected wide by Sonko after a swift counter attack by the hosts, then Myhill held a low Lucas shot well and Dawson stepped in to clear calmly as Dirk Kuyt approached a Torres pass with a shot on his mind.

Sonko got unwittingly but effectively in the way of a Martin Skrtel volley as City desperately tried to see it through to the break, but eventually Torres got the better of the whole defence - literally - by waltzing through a succession of legs and even whipping the ball around Myhill on the edge of the six yard box before prodding into an empty net. It was class at work and nobody can argue, but he should have been taken out at the expense of a penalty long before Myhill had to dive at his feet. Defenders shouldn't stand and admire, they should do what's professional. A penalty is missable, an open goal when Torres is hugging the ball is not.

The whistle for half time did, nevertheless, offer some optimism for the Tiger Nation as they enjoyed Anfield's facilities, which mainly seems to involve being thrown out of the ground by uber-zealous stewrds if you consider standing up to go use them. Stewarding is a hot topic, and ground safety is something Liverpool will always have to observe to the letter when recalling a sad history. But there's a difference between ensuring crowd safety and just victimising people. The stewards at Anfield are a total disgrace.

So, keep it tight in the second half and then see what's available on the break. That must have been the instruction for the team for the game's resumption. Instead, Torres completed his hat-trick with depressing ease as he ventured in from a flank, exploited the space given to him with demoralising respect by the City back four, and thundered a shot beyond the helpless Myhill.

All hope for a rescue act gone in an instant, and now a very long half of football awaited us. If Liverpool felt the inclination, they could cause our team, our confidence and our goal difference some serious damage. And they really did feel the inclination.

Gerrard got the fourth with some fortune, getting the ball back from his own cleared corner and despatching a second cross which became a shot as Myhill stretched to reach it and failed. Torres and then Gerrard both then departed, their work done with still a very long period to play. It was too easy for Liverpool. They would have expected this, their fans certainly would have demanded nothing less, but we gave it to them as much as they forced it upon us.

If City did gain possession, it didn't last. The only time Liverpool looked lightly rattled was when Skrtel shoved an elbow in Vennegoor of Hesselink's face and seemed a little fortunate to only see yellow. Geovanni's consequent attempt at goal from the free kick was diabolical. Later, Jose Reina rushed out of goal to clear as Kamel Ghilas chased, but didn't get the ball into Row Z and Stephen Hunt had thrown the ball to Ghilas' feet with the Spaniard miles out of goal. However, his attempt to find the empty net from distance was poor, to put it charitably.

Liverpool proceeded to batter the City goal for the remainder of the game. Glen Johnson put a curler wide, subs Andriy Voronin and Ryan Babel both sent shots over and George Boateng cleared from under his own bar from a Riera centre.

Eventually, the fifth did go in and it was too easy for words, with the towel long thrown in by City's alleged rearguard. babel sent Kuyt down the right and then deftly and flamboyantly flicked the return ball past Myhill. In four minutes of purgatorial injury time, Babel got in the way of Riera's fizzing shot to claim a fortunate second since his introduction and Liverpool's sixth.

This was thoroughly depressing. Few could sanely expect anything other than defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, but last season against this and other teams of top standing we enjoyed glorious losses. The heart, the spirit, the organisation, the fight, the technique - it's all gone. But for a blinkered, simpering chairman and the fact it was Liverpool away, not Wigan at home, the manager would be collecting his personal belongings, even though most City fans would prefer to have a fresh chairman rather than a fresh manager.

But next week it really is Wigan at home. No hiding places behind exceptional Spaniards at this one. This should be Brown's make or break game. It won't be, whatever the result, but it should be.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua, Lucas, Gerrard (Mascherano 74), Benayoun (Voronin 77), Riera, Kuyt, Torres (Babel 67). Subs not used: Cavalieri, Aurelio, Kyrgiakos, Ngog.

Hull City: Myhill, McShane, Dawson, Sonko, Cooper, Boateng, Kilbane (Marney 64), Hunt, Ghilas, Geovanni (Altidore 83), Vennegoor of Hesselink (Cousin 63). Subs not used: Warner, Zayatte, Olofinjana, Barmby.

Despicable, pathetic ... and still here

Phil Brown did indeed get us promoted. And yes, we are only half a dozen games into the new season. Two statistics which Paul Duffen elected to quote when summarily dismissing Hull City supporters as "despicable" and "pathetic" this week as question marks get broader over the manager's continuing suitability for the job.

However, this is a selective use of history. While one doesn't choose to argue with facts of which the chairman seems to think we need reminding, there is one other stat gaping in between - three Premier League wins in 35 games.

Three wins in 35 Premier League games.

It isn't a lot, is it? It's not something to be proud of at all.

And, given that we are constantly told that the squad is strong enough, our best ever, a sign of an excellent investment strategy and all that, then it presumably isn't the fault of the players that our victory ratio is so damned chronic. They are our best ever, and let us not forget it. The club itself says so.

So where does the blame lie for three wins in 35 Premier League games? Or do the club think there is no blame at all? If nobody wishes to claim culpability, be it for themselves or on behalf of someone else, are we then saying that this dreadful record is somehow acceptable? Or to be expected?

Brown remains - just - the man for the job, as far as this blog is concerned. Many more claim not and you'd struggle to find an argument. But to suggest that he is somehow not at fault, that the supporters should be mushroomed and cast aside as extremists for daring to quote facts about the club's declining fortunes, shows a great deal of contempt for the paying public from Mr Duffen than anything a set of passionate fans can throw the way of highly-paid professional people in football.

Bloody hell, we thought the days of clashes between fans and chairmen had long gone. And yet Mr Duffen seems determined to pick fights with the Tiger Nation about anything. He has abandoned Away Direct and the Fans Liaison Committee (these were Adam Pearson innovations which were massively popular and useful - and there genuinely seemed to be no real reason to axe them) and sold Michael Turner for an amount of money he won't state, and now thinks we're "despicable" for daring to wonder if something is wrong in the coaching set-up after observing some real garbage on the park.

Mr Duffen is a salaried chairman, who has enjoyed and exploited the high profile his tenure has allowed him. We are paying City fans who saw the appalling football of the 1990s and, more pertinently, would watch it again should we ever sink back to that desperate level. Our guess is that Mr Duffen wouldn't. There is the difference, you see. He has done a fine job, but it is a mere job to him. We're in this emotionally forever, financially committed to supporting our club. Therefore when things are going awfully wrong, we are more entitled than anyone at all - that's anyone - to say so.

Meanwhile, Brown has to start picking a team to attack again. Liverpool at Anfield may be a total write-off and so all this blog hopes for is a respectable scoreline, which would hopefully befit a respectable performance. The treatment of fifteen quid a time fans with that abomination of selection and performance against Everton in the Carling Cup means that our manager, whatever he thinks of us right now, owes us big time. We'll still be here long after he and his mouthy chairman have gone, despicable lot that we are.

Carling Cup 3rd Round: Hull City 0 - 4 Everton - 23/09/2009

So, this is what happens when you pick a strong team full of experienced first-team players. No, not Hull City, but Everton. Despite their interest in an extra trophy this season, the Toffees selected a team of stars for the trip to KC whereas City opted dismally for the usual array of lads and reserves.

And humiliation was the outcome.

Phil Brown may not care about the Carling Cup, nor the fact that City haven't got past the third round for more than 30 years, but the people paying money to watch certainly do. Given that City's first choice line-up was so woeful against Birmingham at the weekend, and evidently needed more gametime to get to know each other better, the ideal opportunity presented itself with Everton's visit.

Brown blew that chance by playing almost an entirely different side, many of whom won't get anywhere near the teamsheet at Liverpool on Saturday. Quickly it was obvious that Everton were not only going to win, but would do so by as comfortable a margin as they could choose for themselves.

Some of the Everton team were returning from injury, but they were still household names. Quickly they took the lead when Yakubu, who has been out for nine months, aimed a clever shot beyond Matt Duke's left hand after Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's perseverance on the edge of the area made room for the big striker.

Bilyaletdinov then swung in a tidy free kick for Jo to head home with some nonchalance, and soon it was three when a breakaway caught Peter Halmosi out of position and Dan Gosling was left with freedom and time to thump a conclusive shot past Duke.

Tie already lost, the question now was just how many Everton felt like putting away. Brown had picked the usual youngsters and no-hopers and as the cries of "sort it out" rang out from a despondent, shellshocked Tiger Nation, he didn't move from his position in the technical area.

Tom Cairney, who played so well in the last round, had City's long awaited first reasonable chance when he volleyed a Bernard Mendy cross goalwards only for it to be deflected over the bar. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink then headed wide from a Cairney corner. And then the half time whistle shrilled. Not exactly worth 15 quid, you could say.

The cavalry arrived for the second half as the dying George Boateng and the totally overawed Nicky Featherstone were replaced by Paul McShane - which allowed Mendy to get forward - and Dean Marney. For the first ten minutes City had a real go, even though the damage was done and Everton were more than happy to mop up the danger. Vennegoor of Hesselink won a header from McShane's cross but aimed it too high, then Mendy played a good one-two with Nick Barmby but saw his shot blocked as he progressed into the box. Kamel Ghilas, whose enterprise and effort put many others to shame, skewed a shot well wide from a decent position, and then Vennegoor of Hesselink took Ghilas' fine centre but again, City were foiled by some timely defending.

The next goal was inevitable, and Everton waltzed up the other end and scored it. Barmby fouled Leon Osman on the edge of the box, and when Leighton Baines' shot squirmed through the wall, it landed at Osman's feet and the job was quickly done.

City kept going, albeit because they had no real choice in the matter. Marney hit a vigorous long range drive which Tim Howard had to gather above his head and then Kevin Kilbane, on for the quiet Barmby, could only direct pretty much a free header from a Ghilas corner back to the corner taker himself. Marney, McShane and Mendy then combined with admirable optimism on the right for an eventual ball in which Cairney met on the volley and thumped right into the face of Johnny Heitinga.

Late on, Ghilas almost got the reward for his endeavour with a low shot which hit the pot, then McShane missed out twice - first shot blocked, second one over the bar - after fine work from Ghilas left Howard out of position entirely.

The positives are few, but the display of Liam Cooper at the back and especially Cairney in the midfield gives City hope for a decent future, wherever that future may lie. Given our lack of cohesion among the senior team and the limited chances anyone would give the Tigers at Anfield, it would do no harm to deploy Cairney in a Premier League game this weekend. The lad has vision, wants the ball, is unfraid to shoot and clearly has an appetite for playing which some of his betters in the squad may wish to recall when analysing their own contributions to the team. Ghilas was as excellent as excellence can allow in a team badly beaten, and the Tigers side generally seems to be a better thing when McShane is in it.

But this was a woeful, horrid night of football, a nadir for Brown as his star wanes ever more with each bad selection, each considerable setback, each treatment of the fans by the club as a whole as little more than morons who belong in a darkened room. The Carling Cup may not be anybody's priority, but City's manager approached the match with little regard or respect for anyone at all - opponents, fans, or the unmotivated players he chose to sling out there. And now a fair few think his time should soon be up.

Hull City: Duke, Mendy, Zayatte, Cooper, Halmosi, Boateng (McShane 46), Featherstone (Marney 46), Cairney, Ghilas, Barmby (Kilbane 65), Vennegoor of Hesselink. Subs not used: Warner, Geovanni, Cousin, Fagan.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Baines (Neill 62), Distin, Heitinga, Bilyaletdinov (Agard 84), Gosling, Rodwell, Osman, Yakubu (Fellaini 46), Jo. Subs not used: Nash, Duffy, Cahill, Saha.

Smell the Toffee

It's Everton at home in the Carling Cup third round tonight and, given that our opponents are expected to be significantly weakened by injuries and a desire to keep players fresh for lots of European matches, it's a bonafide opportunity for Hull City.

But will Phil Brown play the side that were so abject against Birmingham? Well, the view here is that he should, as presumably most of these will be on the radar for the trip to Liverpool this weekend and it's evident from the shoddy, bitty, and frankly horrid defeat against the Blues that there is a serious getting-to-know-you exercise required.

Ultimately, the likes of Tom Cairney and Liam Cooper should only play if they are being seriously considered for Anfield. Moreover, if they do play and one - or both - puts on a good showing and then still doesn't get a look-in for Anfield, then exactly what does that do to them? This Carling Cup tie, which could put City in the fourth round for the first time since 1978, should be used as preparation and an extra run-out as Liverpool looms. So the team in mind for Anfield should play tonight.

A total Bullard

Slowly but surely, everyone connected with Hull City is beginning to see the possibility of Jimmy Bullard's return on the horizon.

Last week he returned to training, and this week Phil Brown has said he won't rush the super-skilled midfielder back while acknowledging that he has been sorely missed.

Now, excuse the pedantry (and this isn't a go at Brown - heaven knows we have enough reasons to pop at the manager right now but semantic accuracy isn't one of them) but we haven't missed Bullard. This is because you cannot miss something you haven't had.

Bullard has played 37 minutes of football since his move from Fulham back in January, and when he emerged as a sub on that evening at West Ham United it was already obvious that City were going to leave empty-handed.

What we have missed is guile, craft and spot of inspiration, which is the type of thing Bullard's ability and character can produce on a football field if everything slots into place for him.

However, there is the obvious danger of putting every remaining egg into Bullard's basket. Once he is fit and in action, he cannot be relied upon to produce everything straightaway. He isn't a magic wand, he will be looking for a return to the rhythm of playing and getting used to a large number of players he barely knows.

The Tigers do have a brand of nu-fan who will assume that Bullard's return will cure every ill currently sweeping across the first team squad. He won't. Upon his return much will still need to be decided. Will he form part of a midfield that allows still for a reassurance role for Seyi Olofinjana or George Boateng, and yet also lets Dean Marney remain in place to do the hard running? And where will Geovanni fit into this? Will a team which is inevitably going to be fighting off the drop have room for both of those mercurial players?

Of course, we're all desperate for this marvellous player to show his talents in a Hull City shirt, and especially so in our current plight. Bullard remains our most exciting signing ever. But first things first. Let's get him fit, make sure his knee is strong and won't collapse again after one meaty challenge, and once that is confirmed, allow him the time to remember who he plays for and how to play before every Hull City supporter's ambition is firmly placed on his slight shoulders.

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.

06: Hull City 0 - 1 Birmingham City - 19/09/2009

An attacking team yet a depressing, negative performance. Changes were radical within the personnel but not in the display as Birmingham City carried out a classic awayday act of banditry, soaking up pressure and breaking with aplomb before scoring a late winner.

The question marks about the manager have grown tenfold after such a depressing display. Phil Brown made a couple of welcome alterations but dropped the one really dangerous-looking attacker of recent weeks in Kamel Ghilas. Without him, City's width was subdued, forced to retreat, and with Stephen Hunt not having a good day it was a palpably disconcerting display.

The lack of width meant that the two strikers, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Jozy Altidore, were often required to drop deep to look for the ball. This was assuming they were willing, but Altidore was the only who was - and was frequently robbed with ease by doing so - while the tall Dutchman opted to stay high up the pitch and consequently didn't win a thing. Altidore couldn't be faulted for application, but his fellow centre forward was certainly questionable.

Dean Marney returned to the side and, fitness aside, had a better afternoon but there was something missing that wasn't just class and craft. Geovanni's wider role didn't work, with his natural inclination to look deep for the ball and then cut inside, and too often the ball was lost, leaving the two full backs - pushing on to provide the width that Hunt and Geovanni weren't able to supply - out of position when control of the ball was inevitably lost.

In the early stages, City made chances. Hunt swung in a free kick for which both Altidore and Kamil Zayatte made challenges but neither got a sturdy touch on it and Joe Hart dropped on the ball. Marney then fed Hunt who took all by surprise by hitting it early, and Hart flapped at it as it swerved in mid-air, but still kept it out of goal.

Birmingham had less feel of the ball but more proper chances were created, not least when Christian Benitez drove a terrific shot on the turn low to Boaz Myhill's left which the keeper did superbly to paw away, prior to Andy Dawson hacking clear as Lee Bowyer sniffed a simple rebound. Bowyer then turned and curled a beauty from distance which seemed destined for the top corner but Myhill leapt balletically to finger it over the bar.

City regained possession but little was going on. Marney hit a low shot without power at Hart, then Vennegoor of Hesselink aimed his run at the near post after Seyi Olofinjana's surging run to the byline, but Birmingham defending was stout and strong. Altidore followed up but his shot was well blocked.

Altidore's turn and pass then found Geovanni who decided to strike from distance but his aim wasn't true and the ball drifted a long way wide. Zayatte's flowing run from the back then got Geovanni going, but Roger Johnson got an important foot in as Vennegoor of Hesselink sensed a chance from the cross.

The tall Dutchman then got nowhere enough on a loose ball after Hart dropped Ibrahima Sonko's long throw, then Marney fed Geovanni again, but the Brazilian's latest attempt at testing Hart from distance was, like the previous one, a fair distance wide.

Benitez then hit one which Myhill tipped over excellently. Only the visitors' third chance but theirs were on target, hit with power and direction and making the Tigers custodian put in some work. This was not lost on the Tiger Nation as three minutes of added time passed without incident and half time came.

Altidore's one really good chance of the game came early in the second half when he swivelled tidily from the byline and hit a low, angled left footer which Hart turned behind for a corner. It was on target, a rarity thus far for City. The broad-shouldered American was then fouled just outside the box but Hunt's free kick was little more than a mess.

Birmingham's first go in the second half came via a promising counter which saw Gary McSheffrey break down the left and cross deep for Keith Fahey to head across Myhill and just wide of the far post. It was close, and a let-off. That said, City responded well with another chance that needed to make Hart work, as Olofinjana's patience gave him room to feed Vennegoor of Hesselink with his back to goal, and the lay off to Geovanni resulted in a low drive from the Brazilian which the England hopeful clutched well.

Another counter from Birmingham as Stuart Parnaby galloped forward down the left with Paul McShane out of position and upon receipt of the ball from Benitez, thumped a vicious shot goalwards which Myhill plamed wide. At this point, the visitors picked up the pace, with Sonko getting rid of a Parnaby cross from the six yard box, then from the corner Johnson headed back across and Bowyer's close range drive was blocked by City's impressive but way overworked keeper.

McSheffrey and Parnaby then switched passes for the latter to fire wide. Something needed to give, and Brown tried to force the issue by belatedly introducing Ghilas to the game, in place of the industrious but luckless Altidore. Gary O'Connor, on for McSheffrey, made sure Birmingham maintained their dominance on the creativity front when his fine break allowed Benitez to feed him, and the shot was deflected wide.

The tiring Marney was replaced by Nick Barmby and then McShane's cross was well dealt with by Stephen Carr as both substitutes approached with menace in the six yard box. Either team could score, but certainly City were suffering on the quantity not quality front - plenty of chances but nothing remotely dangerous, whereas Birmingham's opportunities were fewer but better.

Weirdly, the goal which would decide came indirectly from City's own set-piece. Ghilas forced it with a deflected shot, then when the sub's corner was cleared, Dawson delivered a second ball from deep and was then out of position when again the visitors got distance on the clearance. Benitez broke well, nutmegged the backpedalling McShane and forced a fine save from Myhill, only for O'Connor to head home the resulting corner with way too much ease.

Bernard Mendy was instantly brought on for the toothless Vennegoor of Hesselink but evidenltly the game, even with just one goal scored, was over. Geovanni had one good chance on the turn from close range after pressure from Olofinjana and Barmby frightened the Birmingham defence, but the shot was aimed wastefully wide. Very late on, Mendy flicked on a corner and a charging Olofinjana - with Myhill the best performer for the Tigers - smacked a header against the bar prior to a mad scramble which Birmingham won as they cleared their lines from under their own goal frame.

Four minutes were added but there was no urgency and little obvious desire, and there was some serious catcalling of the management and the team upon the shrilling of the final whistle. The visitors weren't amazing but played vintage away team football and took the points with professionalism and no mercy at all. The Tigers were, a couple of moments aside, absolutely terrible.

The focus falls on the manager again as the club makes noises about becoming a Premier League force while blatantly looking anything but, and this against teams who need to fall on their swords if the Tigers are to achieve these lofty ambitions. The attacking line up we needed was duly picked but the quality of attacking was abhorrent, and this needs addressing quickly. The midweek Carling Cup tie against Everton now becomes ever more important for Brown to give second goes to his alleged first-choice players, rather than throw out the stiffs and kids and waste all our time. Want to be a Premier League club? Start acting like one, on and off the pitch.

Hull City: Myhill, McShane, Dawson, Sonko, Zayatte, Olofinjana, Marney (Barmby 70), Hunt, Geovanni, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Mendy 78), Altidore (Ghilas 63). Subs not used: Warner, Kilbane, Boateng, Halmosi.

Birmingham City: Hart, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Parnaby, Bowyer, Ferguson, Fahey, McSheffrey (O'Connor 62), Tainio, Benitez. Subs not used: Taylor, Espinoza, O'Shea, Phillips, Sammons.

Kick up the Brum

Already some are labelling this weekend's visit of Birmingham City as the dismal six-pointer, even though it's still only September and 32 more Premier League games are still on the agenda afterwards.

For all that overreaction, fuelled by a bad fortnight for the Tigers generally which involved rumours of financial problems and the bad feeling over Michael Turner's sale and his subsequent dominant (and goalscoring) performance against his old team, there is no doubt that victory over the newly-promoted Blues would do Hull City the power of good.

And power is key to how City should go about it. The power of strong midfield running and the power of fearless centre forward play. Both were visibly lacking at Sunderland, especially the latter where Craig Fagan had one of the worst games of his career, and so the full Premier League debut of Jozy Altidore or Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink is surely on the cards.

That Altidore has yet to start for the Tigers, except in the Carling Cup exercise against Southend United, remains something of an irritant when so much expectation and excitement has been invested in him, and indeed his online habits suggest he is ready and desperate to grasp the responsibility such expectation creates. Sadly, so far, Phil Brown has chosen to not allow him that chance yet. And unless we play 44-2, which almost certainly would involve the peculiar redeployment or even removal of Geovanni, it isn't going to occur againmt Birmingham either.

The power of midfield industry can return in the shape of Dean Marney, fit again after hurting his knee at Chelsea and who is currently benefitting from a "devil you know" situation thanks to Kevin Kilbane's visible shortcomings and George Boateng's sudden inability to earn a shirt. Marney is one of the most frustrating Tigers players in recent times - obvious talent but with a capacity to use it only sparingly - yet a real box-to-box player who can also pick a pass and have the odd shot is something City simply haven't had lately, and his involvement is more crucial in a 4-5-1.

We shall see. Brown never fails to surprise us when the team news beeps into everyone's ether, and he may choose so to do for this match. But given the opposition's poor goalscoring figures so far, and their lengthy injury list of mediocre but recognisable names, the Tigers must see this as a chance to earn a rare and much-needed victory.