A surprise sacking of Liam Rosenior, a significant talent drain in an enormous turnover of players, and no wins from the first six games had people casting worried glances the way of Hull City, but Tim Walter's team have now won two in a row scoring seven times - Nathaniel Whittingham takes us through it.
How would you assess your start to the season?
I think if you said just before our first match that we'd have six points from six games that would not be a disaster at all. This season is a rebuild after losing, stupidly, a bright young manager and about five or more top Championship players. The negative backlash has been surprising in that aspect because a month ago we all said this would be expected.
Hull City in the league so far
Hull 1-1 Bristol City Estupinan pen 9 – Mayulu 84
Plymouth 1-1 Hull Cissoko 52 – Coyle 63
Hull 0-0 Millwall
Leeds 2-0 Hull Joseph 63, Piroe 81
Hull 0-2 Sheff Utd Hamer 15, McCallum 66
Stoke 1-3 Hull Wilmot 30 – Palmer 63, Slater 77, Wilmot og 79
Hull 4-1 Cardiff Belloumi 22, 35, Zambrano 51, Bedia pen 90 - Robinson 18
So, that decision to sack Rosenior? Do people still think he was a bit boring and over cautious now you're putting 10 people in the oppo box for corners?
No, they don't and only a minority were happy with that decision, even those who criticised Rosenior didn't think he should be sacked. It will always be a strange decision and we won't stop talking about it until the next manager. Whenever that is.
How much criticism is going Tim Walter's way, or is there an understanding that the team is obviously a lot weaker than last season?
A lot has been his way, joint with Acun. The owner has been incredible for us but some broken transfer promises and the sacking of Rosenior has quite rightly seen him re-evaluated. His football decisions are never the best. The director of football Tan Kesler is much more level headed. Walter's system has been our downfall especially the high line against Sheffield United but now we've won we might start to see why he plays this way.
Was the result at Stoke a sign of some tide turning, players getting to grips with his methods, or is it more Stoke were laughably bad in the second half?
We got a relatively lucky penalty (a clear foul but our striker was probably offside) which was a vital slice of fortune Walter needed. We were good in the second half but dreadful before then and Stoke could have out of sight. We need to win against Cardiff to relax and move forward. Walter really feels like a rebound from Rosenior at times. It's definitely not "clicked".
How do you assess that transfer window overall? A very high turnover in players…
16 signings at the time of writing with the 17th, free agent Joao Pedro, on the way. It's a massive overhaul and it had to be. I like the arrivals of Drameh and Charlie Hughes at the back and we've signed 5 midfielders too. We lack the attacking threat players like Delap, Philogene, Tufan and Carvalho brought. We were promised a striker on deadline day and we did not get one. That looks to be our weakest area. Another summer where we are hoping to uncover some gems but not all of them can succeed. There are barely enough spaces in the matchday squad for that to happen.
Ins >>> Mohamed Belloumi, 22, RW, Farense, £5m >>> Abu Kamara, 21, RW, Norwich, £5m >>> Ryan Giles, 24, LB, Luton, £5m >>> Charlie Hughes, 20, CB, Wigan, £4.5m >>> Liam Millar, 24, LW. Basel, £3m >>> Mason Burstow, 21, CF, Chelsea, £2m >>> Marvin Mehlem, 26, AM, Darmstadt, £1m >>> Anthony Racioppi, 25, GK, Young Boys, £1m >>> Cody Drameh, 22, RB, Leeds, Free >>> Kasey Palmer, 27, AM, Coventry, Undisclosed >>> Carl Rushworth, 23, GK, Brighton, Loan >>> Gustavo Puerta, 21, CM, Leverkusen, Loan >>> Oscar Zambrano, 20, DM, Quito, Loan >>> Chris Bedia, 28, CF, Union Berlin, Loan >>>
Outs >>> Jacob Greaves, 23, CB, Ipswich, £18m >>> Jaden Philogene, 22, LW, Villa, £14m >>> Ozan Tufan, 29, CM, Trabzonspor, £2m >>> Oscar Estupinan, 27, CF, Juarez, £1m >>> Ryan Allsop, 32, GK, Birmingham, £500k >>> Jason Lokilo, 25, RW, CSKA Sofia, £300k >>> Adama Traore, 29, AM, Amed SK (Turkey), Free >>> Jean Michael seri, 33, DM, Al-Orobah, Free >>> Ryan Woods, 30, CM, Exeter, Free >>> Greg Docherty, 27, CM, Charlton, Free >>> Billy Sharp, 38, CF, Doncaster, Free >>> Matt Ingram, 30, GK, Oxford, Free >>> James Furlong, 22, LB, Wimbledon, Loan >>> Callum Jones, 23, CM, Morecambe, Loan >>> Aaron Connolly, 24, CF, Sunderland, Free >>> Cyrus Christie, 31, RB, Released >>> Vaughn Covil, 20, RW, Las Vegas, Free >>> David Robson, 22, GK, Released >>> Brandon Fleming, 24, LB, Doncaster, Loan >>> Callum Jones, 23, CM, Morecambe, Loan
Stand out performers and weak links so far?
Liam Millar has been fantastic on the left wing, our most dangerous player at the moment. Lewie Coyle continues to prove his doubters wrong. Ryan Giles at left back does not look bothered but he's now been replaced with Cody Drameh. I've also not seen much from attacking midfielder Marvin Mehlem.
Revised expectations for the season?
Not really. I think I predicted 11th. That would be on the better end of my hopes but we have a young squad who will likely finish the season better than they have started. 13th.
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
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