Hull often go under the Championship radar because of their geographic location, but the work of manager Liam Rosenior and outstanding performances from Jaden Philogene and others are worthy of note as the Tigers have broken into the top six - Nathaniel Whittingham is this week's oppo interview.
What have you made of Hull's start to the season?
I am very happy with our start to the season. Obviously most fans will be at least a little frustrated to have missed out on some points but to be disappointed that we are only sixth shows how much progress we have made under Liam Rosenior.
Hull in the league so far…
Norwich 2-1 Hull Rowe 45, Idah 90 – Delap 17
Hull 4-2 Sheff Wed Tufan pen 45, 58, 70, Connolly 85 – Delgado 36, Smith 90
Blackburn 1-2 Hull Gallagher 74 – Connolly 81, 88
Hull 1-1 Bristol City Tufan 17 – Wells 62
Leicester 0-1 Hull Delap 15
Hull 1-1 Coventry Connolly 87 – Latibeaudiere 27
Hull 0-0 Leeds
Stoke 1-3 Hull Vidigal 77 – Connolly 30, Traore 32, Slater 73
Hull 1-1 Plymouth Slater 44 – Randell 22
Ipswich 3-0 Hull Burns 5, Chaplin 41, Harness 65
Millwall 2-2 Hull Watmore 8, Bryan 54 – Philogene 25, Traore 30
Hull 1-2 Southampton Delap 25 – Smallbone 20, Fraser 90
Birmingham 0-2 Hull Delap 12, Philogene 74
Hull 1-0 Preston Philogene 68
West Brom 3-1 Hull Wallace 14, Phillips 65, Ajayi 71 – Coyle 41
Hull 1-0 Huddersfield Delap 90
Swansea 2-2 Hull Paterson 17, Yates 23 – Philogene 48, Morton 68
Hull 4-1 Rotherham Morton 5, Philogene 9, 48, Twine 20 – Hall 59
Hull 1-2 Watford Twine 10 – Kaymebe 8, Hoedt 74
Is this team ready/good enough for a play-off push or is this a building season?
I predicted we would have a building season and end up around tenth but sitting in the playoffs without making the most of our dominant possession and attacking opportunities, especially at home, indicates we can actually get better. We have a young squad that is developing. Just recently Tyler Morton and Scott Twine have added goals to their game and Philogene gets better almost every game (until his Watford penalty miss).
Opinions on the job Liam Rosenior is doing?
He's a fantastic young coach who will have a very good career. As a former player, and a very well respected one, he was always going to be given some grace but he didn't need it. We've gone from 20th to sixth in a year and it appears that there is more to come. He's set high standards and it's working.
Any talk of January transfers to come? What needs doing and is there FFP headroom to do it?
I think we will strengthen well in January. Other than Ipswich with their table position and the newly relegated teams we must be one of the most attractive options. A natural left back and maybe a winger would be top of my list. We've been linked to Wimbledon forward Al Hamadi but that's probably just paper talk.
Ins >>> Jaden Philogene, 21, LW, Villa, £4.5m >>> Aaron Connolly, 23, CF, Brighton, £1m >>> Rryan Allsop, 31, GK, Cardiff, Undisclosed >>> Jason Lokilo, 24, RW, Sparta Rotterdam, Undisclosed >>> Xavier Simons, 20, DM, Chelsea, Undisclosed >>> James Furlong, 21, LB, Brighton, Undisclosed >>> Liam Delap, 20, CF, Man City, Loan >>> Ruben Vinagre, 24, LB, Sporting, Loan >>> Tyler Morton, 20, CM, Liverpool, Loan >>> Scott Twine, 24, AM, Burnley, Loan >>> Boro Idinlik, 18, LW, Fenerbahce, Loan
Outs >>> Benjamin Tetteh, 26, CF, Metz, £1.5m >>> Tobias Figueiredo, 29, CB, Fortaleza (Brazil), Free >>> Callum Elder, 28, LB, Derby, Free >>> Tyler Smith, 24, CF, Bradford, Free >>> Billy Chadwick, 23, CF, Stockport, Free >>> Callum Jones, 22, CM, Forest Green, Loan >>> Harvey Cartwright, 21, GK, Grimsby, Loan >>> Oscar Estupinan, 26, CF, Metz, Loan >>> Ryan Longman, 22, LW, Millwall, Loan >>> Ryan Woods, 29, DM, Bristol Rovers, Loan >>> Xavier Simons, 20, DM, Fleetwood, Loan >>> Brandon Flemming, 23, LB, Shrewsbury, Loan >>> Callum Jones, 22, CM, Forest Green, Loan >>> Harvey Cartwright, 21, GK, Grimsby, Loan >>> David Robson, 21, GK, Darlington, Loan
Stand out players and weak links in the side?
You don't have to look much further than our three England U21 players Liam Delap, Tyler Morton and Jaden Philogene. Philogene in particular is a top talent who has the potential to surpass former City winger Jarrod Bowen's level. He’s got six goals in his last eight games.
Revised expectations for the season?
Things are going well at Hull at the moment. If we keep playing at this level those home games will become easier as we create so many opportunities to attack. It's a big if and anything can happen. Just look at QPR last season. I don't want to tempt fate so I'll say we'll finish seventh.
Links >>> Official Website >>> Hull Daily Mail — Local Paper >>> The Amber View — Blog >>> Tigerlink — Blog >>> Amber Nectar — Blog and Forum >>> Not606 — Forum >>> Ground Guide >>> Hull City Live — Blog
The Twitter, @NathanielWhitto, @loftforwords
Pictures — Action Images