Hull City fan Nathaniel Whittingham said in our pre-season preview pundits would look very silly if they thought his team would still be relegation candidates this year, and a fast start (at least at home) with new striker Oscar Estupinan to the fore makes him right so far.
Relegation avoided, Allams gone, presumably last season was job well done?
The main job was to finish 21st or higher, and we managed that comfortably in the end. Situations on and off the pitch during the last few years of the Allam's reign were fairly dire so finally getting the desired takeover was a brilliant bonus last year and a great relief to everyone. With the points deductions we were actually the fourth worst side last season so we could have done better but 19th was quite respectable given the summer transfer embargo and very poor start.
Shota Arveladze, left field manager choice, how has he done so far?
Left field for any other Championship club but the main reason why he was appointed was his relationship with new owner Acun Ilicali. He's got a reasonable record in Turkey and Israel, but the few months he's spent here already will hopefully make up for the lack of experience in the Championship ahead of this season. He seems to be keeping the three at the back system Grant McCann introduced before his departure, which a lot of fans are happy with. It's up to him to get the best out of our new players. He will probably be given a lot of time if it doesn't go well initially because he's friends with the owner. Still undecided on him.
Hull City in the league so far…
Hull City 2-1 Bristol City Tufan pen 72, Seri 90 — Weimann 30
Preston 0-0 Hull City
Hull City 2-1 Norwich Estupinan 43, 62 — Nunez 72
Burnley 1-1 Hull City Rodriguez 34 — Tufan 25
West Brom 5-2 Hull City Elder og 37, Swift 48, Furlong 55, Grant pen 70, O’Shea 85 — Estupinan 77, 90
Hull City 3-2 Coventry Estupinan 11, 42, 56 — Godden pen 29, 69
How have you started? What have you made of the early games?
City's start to the season has been unexpectedly brilliant. The first two games were targeted as important chances to get points on the board going into a tough run. However, four points from games against Norwich and Burnley were a welcome surprise on top of an already decent opening two fixtures. Following a very disappointing 5-2 loss at the Hawthorns, the dramatic 3-2 win versus Coventry has cemented this as an excellent start with one blip and hopefully a sign of things to come.
Not a lot known about so many of the newbies, who's impressed so far, who not?
Fans have only really been treated with glimpses of the new quality owner Acun Ilicali spent big on thanks to a significant injury list. What we have seen from Ozan Tufan indicates he is one of the best attacking midfielders in the division. City also have a new South American hero following Geovanni and Abel Hernandez' footsteps in prolific Colombian Oscar Estupinan who has already set his eyes on the golden boot with seven goals this month. New signing wise nobody has looked poor, unless you count hobbling around in casts and crutches as many have done so far.
Ins >>> Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, 21, CF, Fenerbahce, £4m >>> Dogukan Sinik, 23, LM, Antalyaspor, £3.6m >>> Ozan Tufan, 27, CM, Fenerbahce, £2m >>> Ryan Woods, 28, DM, Birmingham, Undisclosed >>> Jean Michael Seri, 30, CM, Fulham Free >>> Oscar Estupinan, 25, CF, Guimares, Free >>> Benjamin Tatteh, 25, CF, Malatyaspor, Free >>> Tobias Figueiredo, 28, CB, Forest, Free >>> Nathan Baxter, 23, GK, Chelsea, Loan >>> Cyrus Christie, 29, RB, Fulham, Free >>> Thim Lo-Tutala, 19, GK, Spurs, Free >>> Vaughn Covil, 18, RW, Forest Green, Free >>> Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand, 19, CM, Arsenal, Loan
Outs >>> Keane Lewis-Potter, 21, LW, Brentford, £17m >>> Richard Smallwood, 31, CM, Bradford, Free >>> Tom Eaves, 30, CF, Rotherham, Free >>> George Honeyman, 27, CM, Millwall , Undisclosed >>> George Moncur, 28, CM, Orient, Undisclosed >>> Mallik Wilks, 23, RW, Sheff Wed, Undisclosed >>> Harvey Cartwright, 20, GK, Peterborough, Loan >>> Tom Huddlestone, 78, CM, Released >>> Festus Arthur, 22, CB, Halifax, Free
What transfer business have you done since we last spoke? Any still to come?
Since last time, City have officially announced Turkish winger Dokugsan Sinik who has not featured due to injury but will hopefully be back soon. Crucial Championship experience has been added via the perhaps less glamorous additions of Ryan Woods and Cyrus Christie who make the squad's quality a lot deeper. Striker Benjamin Tetteh was also announced and has been doing a solid job out of position on the left wing. Salah Oulad M'hand has joined on loan from Arsenal. The young number ten is another newbie to be injured before kicking a ball. City will sign two more attackers before the deadline, including yet another Fenerbache player in Dimitris Pelkas who, judging by how Tufan has started, could be terrific business albeit on loan.
It's a great start, you said the relegation predictions would look silly, how far can this team go?
We're not going down. Watching experienced international players like Tufan and Seri create chances and seeing Estupinan score tap-in after tap-in is a delight. I can't be the only fan in black and amber daring to dream. It will be a tough season but expect City to be spending a lot of time in the top half, at least off our strong home form alone. My preseason prediction of 11th is starting to look a little conservative. However, it's far too early to be booking London hotels in May.
Links >>> Official Website >>> Hull Daily Mail — Local Paper >>> The Amber View — Blog >>> Reciprocal interview - Blog >>> Tigerlink — Blog >>> Amber Nectar — Blog and Forum >>> Not606 — Forum >>> Ground Guide >>> Hull City Live — Blog
The Twitter, @NathanielWhitto, @loftforwords
Pictures — Action Images