Introduction

It’s been widely tipped as the game that will decide Phil Brown’s future. The first match since Adam Pearson made his KC comeback for his second stint as Chairman, many people think that if Brown loses he won’t just have squandered three points, but his position as manager too. However, building up to Sunday’s clash Brown has placed more emphasis on the performance that his team gives, insisting that if Hull play as they did against Burnley then they have a chance in the match. Interesting that City lost that one 2-0 (no matter how controversial).

Whilst so much could change if Hull lose, if they win there won’t be much difference. It would still be only eleven points, the Tiger’s would probably still be in the relegation zone and Phil Brown would probably still be fighting to save his job. If you think about Gareth Southgate’s exit as Middlesbrough manager not very long ago, after a few poor results he was sacked, even though he had turned it round with a win over Derby the night he was given the boot. There’s nothing to say that Phil Brown isn’t out of a job already. Conversely, there’s nothing to say that Adam Pearson won’t give him until Christmas, although his footballing sensibility would suggest otherwise.

City are obviously without Geovanni, who will be suspended after being red carded against Burnley on an awful game week discipline-wise in the Premier League. Jimmy Bullard is unlikely to feature for whatever reason, whether it’s a gashed shin or something else, there are so many rumours circling about Hull’s record buy that it’s not worth speculating further. Boaz Myhill is still missing with knee ligament damage, so he won’t figure this weekend either. These absentees are the only issues Brown has to contend with (aside from long-term injury Ian Ashbee). The major challenge that Phil Brown has is the creation of chances. Just four shots on target in the last three games, and no goals. His apparent refusal to include Daniel Cousin – unless already losing heavily, beyond repair, to Liverpool – hasn’t helped the Tiger’s inability to find the net this term. How he can go from scoring against Arsenal and Manchester United and spearheading City’s attack last season to near extinction from the Hull squad is utterly bemusing. Especially given that none of the other attacking options brought in by Phil Brown have been particularly inspiring.

My Hull City team to play Stoke City:

Duke

Mendy - McShane - Gardner – Kilbane

Marney - Zayatte - Boateng

Altidore – Cousin – Hunt

This 4-3-3 formation would undoubtedly provide Hull with plenty of attacking firepower. The midfield three is strong and energetic and not giving Boateng the full defensive responsibility is sure to help his game in my opinion, and Zayatte is more than capable of carrying out his position in the ‘Makelele role’. Cousin is strong up front. He will win headers and he will hold the ball up well. Having two men around him increases the likelihood of him finding an amber shirt with any knockdowns he wins. Jozy Altidore is still unproven, although he is certainly talented. I think that putting him in an attacking role that sees him involved in play more than if he was a lone striker – which is definately not his position - would highlight his true ability. Defensively, there is stability in McShane, Gardner and Kilbane even though they do not pose much of a threat going forward. Bernard Mendy is probably not as defensively sound as McShane at right-back but can be troublesome if his pace can be utilised on the overlap, and with Zayatte in the deep defensive midfield role he could cover for Mendy if need be. Though I genuinely feel it should be, this will almost certainly not be Hull City’s team against Stoke City.

There comes a time when a team has had a string of awful results when they come out fighting and given the media attention that has surrounded the club of late and the personal things that are being said about the players and the manager, maybe this weekend is the time for Hull City to really take the game to Stoke City and show a real determination to win their way out of trouble.

Prediction: Hull City 3 – 1 Stoke City

When your team plays a newly-promoted side, no matter what their home record is, as a fan you expect a positive outcome from the match. But Hull City were again left dissappointed by the result. Whilst the referee had a truly appauling game, he cannot be blamed for Hull’s failings and even though they perhaps didn’t deserve to be beaten by two goals to nil, Hull would have won the game if they had been better than their opposition, such is the game of football.

This will definately have been a game that Hull would have targeted for a win pre-season and no matter what happens on or off the pitch, that target should not have changed. It was unfortunate that some dreadful refereeing prevented what could have seen Hull leave Lancashire with a draw, but there’s no reason why the Tigers couldn’t have had all three points if they had played to the best of their ability. Clearly something is going wrong tactically, because the same players that were excelling last term are looking like Championship-standard now: they just aren’t fitting in.

Gary Alexander opened the scoring for Burnley after Tyrone Mears slipped in the box and was deemed to have been fouled. Always prolific from the spot, Alexander made no mistake and stand-in ‘keeper Matt Duke stood no chance. As both sides struggled to create any real chances, the game became a little bit messy and loose passes were costing each team possession on too many occasions. Hull City posed no serious threat and it seemed there was no way back into the game, something that was proved right when another suspect decision by the referee denied the Tigers an equaliser. As Geovanni seemed to have curled in a trademark freekick, Mr Jones blew his whistle for a minor infringement by Seyi Olofinjana who had been seen pushing in the wall. This decision greatly angered Hull’s players and fans alike, and summed up City’s luck over the past weeks which has really been non-existent. It was not long afterwards when Geovanni was sent off for a cynical foul which warranted a second booking and when the vastly experienced Alexander doubled Burnley’s advantage, slamming a 20-yard strike inside Duke’s near post, it was game over.

Hull City are running out of ‘winnable’ games in the first half of the season and off the field happenings are only serving as a further distraction from what the players should be concentrating on – winning games. Against another very difficult opponent, Stoke City, Hull will try to pick up only a second win in 33 Premier League matches. Needless to say, it is more than overdue but with Adam Pearson taking over as Chairman, maybe a miniature shake-up will ensue, which seems to be what Hull need at the moment. If City can challenge Stoke with something a little different - a confident and attacking formation would be a good start – they will be able to get the win they covet.

Result: Burnley 2-0 Hull City

Whilst this week has been dominated by off the pitch occurrences at Hull City, it is their display at Turf Moor this Saturday that the supporters will pay most attention to. In the wake of Paul Duffen’s departure as Chairman of the club and subsequent appearance on Sky Sports News, Phil Brown has the task of picking the team up in time to face a very tricky Burnley side.

Similarly to the Tigers last season, Burnley have made an unexpectedly good start to the season, including a shock win against Manchester United. There should be no chance of Hull City underestimating them as they look to bounce back from the bore-draw against Portsmouth last week.

City have Boaz Myhill out with knee ligament damage and so Matt Duke should start, and Jimmy Bullard could be on the bench as he recovers from a gash in his shin that stopped him from featuring against Portsmouth. City should have an attacking mentality as they face Burnley – it is time Phil Brown took a risk in an attacking formation instead of trying to be safe and getting caught out. Hull need to ensure that Geovanni is deployed in his favoured position too, because the Brazilian has the talent to create chances for the Tigers but will struggle to do so if he is playing too deep as he has been in recent matches. They also need to see that the service to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink is of a better standard, contrasting the constant lumping of passes aimed at his head that have riddled the majority of his Hull City appearances. He does well with what is provided to him, but poor deliveries lead to poor forward play and as Hesselink wins knockdowns there is often nobody there to receive the ball. Brown needs to focus his players on patient build-up and team play, two elements of successful Premier League teams that have been left out of recent Hull performances.

My Hull City team to play Burnley:

Duke

McShane – Zayatte – Gardner – Dawson

Ghilas – Olofinjana – Marney – Barmby

Geovanni

Vennegoor of Hesselink

This team might not immediately suggest an attacking formation, but the creative players would provide exactly the spark Hull City are after. With Olofinjana assigned the defensive duties in midfield, Dean Marney’s energy could be put to use in creating chances and pressurising the opposition. The experience of Barmby and Geovanni as offensive players who can pull the strings should prove vital and they can pair with the hard-working Kamel Ghilas to provide effective service for Hesselink. Hopefully, the Tigers’ back four can stay tight and start to built a consistent relationship that City had last season, because the safety net that protected City’s midfield last term seems to have some gaping holes forged by a chopping and changing of defensive partnerships.

Burnley will be a very difficult side to play against, with some top players such as Steven Flectcher, Robbie Blake and Chris Eagles as well as the experienced Gary Alexander who will make it a very difficult afternoon for the Tigers. If City can match the endeavour that Burnley always show and play some proper football, the game will present opportunities to acquire a much-needed three points.

Prediction: Burnley 1-1 Hull City

Hull City versus Portsmouth is not a match that will live long in the memory. In a match that two struggling teams will have been desperate to win, both teams struggled even to play football and the result was an uninspiring draw.

Pre-match, many Hull fans will have been confident but arguably the best opportunity of the game fell to Tommy Smith in the opening minutes as he shot wide of Boaz Myhill’s far post when through on goal, and from then on many Tigers fans could probably predict what was going to come. Anyone who saw Hull’s ineffective and relegation-esque display against Fulham would have known from the outset by the way City were playing that they would get nothing more than a point from the game, if that.

Hull had a good chance themselves in the first half when a Steven Hunt freekick was bent in and any connection would have seen it past David James, but the England stopper was fortunate that Kamil Zayatte’s out-stretched leg wasn’t quite long enough. Dean Marney hit a long range effort over the bar, Portsmouth threatened from a second half corner and Aruna Dindane was unable to score after Pompey broke on the counter-attack: neither ‘keeper was made to work in the entire game.

It was with disappointment (yet relief) that after an uneventful 90 minutes the referee called time on a game that even he was probably bored of. Whilst the end of the game was met with boos by some fans, the majority will understand that getting out of the dismal spell of form City are currently in will happen very slowly. Nevertheless, having two abysmal performances back-to-back warrants a little agitation from ticket bearers who have seen just four Premier League wins in 2009. Portsmouth fans are likely to have converse feelings about the outcome of this lifeless encounter, because picking up points away from home is what keeps teams in the league – even if it requires a poor performance.

Supporters of Hull City are quite likely to be wondering where there next win will come from if not from the bottom team in the league. They do have fixtures ahead of them which give feasible opportunities to pick up three points – against Burnley, Stoke and West Ham United – as long as their concentration and endeavour increases. Jozy Altidore, who was supposed to be on the bench for this encounter but was dropped for being late, will be fined by Hull City for using ‘Twitter’ to apologise to the fans, in doing so revealing why he was left out. On BBC Radio Humberside after the match, Phil Brown said that such matters should stay ‘in house’ and that Altidore would be fined, but it seems a little hypocritical that Brown is allowed to detail the punishments he doles out to players, but his players aren’t permitted to detail the reasons behind such punishments. The point is, it is a stark contrast to what Brown was saying when he was first installed as caretaker manager and Hull City were at the foot of the Championship table, at which point he was issuing rallying calls for players and fans, ensuring they were pushing for a win in every single match. It is surely a similar encouragement to this that Hull’s supporters and players both want – and need - to hear, but at the moment Brown seems to want to shift blame to his playing staff instead of encouraging them.

It will be interesting to see how Hull prepare to face Burnley at Turf Moor, which has been such a fortress for them this season until they finally lost their unbeaten record there this weekend. As such, it becomes the perfect time to play Burnley at their own ground and it’s up to Phil Brown to ensure that his side make the most of such an opportunity, especially given the Tigers’ fixtures during and after the Christmas period which makes three points against beatable opposition so important.

Result: Hull City 0-0 Portsmouth

Hull City will be looking for their first away win since this fixture last season, a victory that kept Hull City in the Premier League. After tailing off from their impressive start, it was the massive three points which the Tigers stole in injury time against Fulham which eventually ensured they spent a second season in the big league.

However, eight games into this season Hull find themselves desperate for points again. Third from bottom in the Premier League with the worst goal difference and just seven points, Phil Brown has found himself under pressure as City fans prepare for a difficult winter in which their team has some huge games. Some of that pressure may have been lifted, though, when Hull saw off Wigan Athletic in their last League match before the international break – a 2-1 victory undoubtedly raising confidence amongst players and fans. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink netted his first Hull goal and City fans will be hoping that it’s the first of many as they look to win some of the ‘easier’ games that are ahead, in doing so begin to overhaul their -14 goal difference. Fulham, who lost on both occasions in the League against Hull last term, have a European match against Italian giant AS Roma on Thursday which Roy Hodgson will surely have an eye on. With just three days between the matches, it will be interesting to see whether Hodgson elects to rest some key players against Hull and hope that his side can do enough to prevent the Tigers from recording back-to-back wins.

Hull showed a lot of interest in Fulham’s Bobby Zamora in the summer, so it will be interesting to see how he plays against a side he came close to signing for and of course, Vennegoor of Hesselink will be full of confidence now he has scored for the first time for City. Despite this, I think that this match will be won and lost in midfield. Hull’s top scorer this season is hard-working creative midfielder Geovanni who will be looking not so much to score himself, but to create for Hull’s starting attackers, as will their captain Nick Barmby. City will also have to choose their defensive midfield set-up wisely, with George Boateng, Olofinjana, Kevin Kilbane and Kamil Zayatte all capable of doing a job there, although it should be Zayatte who is in pole position to start there after impressing against Wigan. Jimmy Bullard is close to a return for Hull after his frustrating knee injury, but shouldn’t be started in my opinion – against his former team or not – because as so many have said before, there’s no way of getting match fitness unless you’re paying games; something Bullard hasn’t been able to do this season. He could make an appearance from the bench though, and if he does there’s no doubt he can affect the game.

For Fulham, Danny Murphy will be the main man. He is so consistent and, like Geovanni, has four goals to his name this term and is his club’s top goal scorer. He has the ability to pull the strings in midfield and will have plenty of assistance from Zoltan Gera and Clint Dempsey who are both more than capable of causing City problems. Up top, Diomansy Kamara is a very reliable finisher who is underrated in my opinion and Andy Johnson is another proven goal-getter at this level. Zamora will also be in contention to start and is another player at Hodgson’s disposal who, although having had a couple of tough years, will still be very much a handful. It will be up to the City back-line to stop the attacking force of Fulham, although it still seems to me like midfield will be most important area of play come Monday night’s televised game.

My Hull City team to play Fulham:

Myhill

McShane – Sonko – Gardner – Kilbane

Barmby – Olofinjana – Zayatte – Hunt

Geovanni

Vennegoor of Hesselink

I anticipate a hotly contested match, possibly a scrappy affair because both teams will be desperately trying not to lose. Expect a midfield battle and limited chances – I think it will be the quality of finishing that decides this one.

Prediction: Fulham 1-1 Hull City

Wigan, Fulham, Portsmouth, Burnley, Stoke. This Saturday marks the beginning of five season defining games for Hull City and, for Hull boss Phil Brown, five career defining games. Despite their sides’ poor start to the season, most Hull fans are now willing to give their manager the chance to prove he really is deserving of his position by ensuring his side beat the teams they are expected to beat, and pick up valuable points.

When Wigan visit the KC Stadium on Saturday then, Brown will have his work cut out. The Tigers were on the wrong end of a thorough beating in their last match, a 6-1 defeat to Liverpool which left a bad taste in the mouth of not only the travelling City fans but Phil Brown too. He put his teams’ poor defending at fault for that loss, which you would expect him to have addressed in the meantime. One thing which has been seen to by the Tigers chief is the Hull City captaincy which, in the absence of Ian Ashbee seems to be passed around at random with Paul McShane, Ibrahima Sonko and George Boateng amongst the part-time leaders this term. Brown has this week named City veteran Nick Barmby as the new club captain, a move made to try and bring some consistency to the club who have only been consistent in losing so far this season. Barmby is definately the right characterfor the job – tenacious, experienced and proven at the highest level, but whether he is the right man for the job is debatable. Though his age brings experience, Barmby has been struggling to last 90 minutes in the past two seasons with injuries and fitness issues getting the better of him. Nevertheless, if he is able to overcome these hinderances – which Phil Brown must believe he can – Barmby’s qualities will make him the perfect man to captain City and lead them out of the poor form which hampers them at present.

Wigan will not be easy opposition for Hull in a match that both teams will regard perhaps not as a must-win, but more as a must-not-lose. In the same fixture last season, both sets of fans are likely to remember Wigan recording a resounding 0-5 victory. But both teams have changed greatly since last season. Wigan have endured changes both on and off the pitch with the exits of Cattermole, Zaki, and now-Hull player Kevin Kilbane, the additions of Jordi Gómez and impressive striker Hugo Rodallega and the appointment of new manager Roberto Martinez. Hull City have had to deal with a high profile departure of their own when Michael Turner opted for a big money move to Sunderland: a loss that Hull have not yet been able to recover from. Still, the Tigers have built upon the squad that was on the losing end last term and will be confident that they can add to the four points they have so far totalled this season, in the process beginning to repair the damage done to them with heavy defeats at the hands of Tottenham, Sunderland and Liverpool. 

My Hull City team to play Wigan:

Myhill

McShane – Cooper – Gardner – Kilbane

Barmby – Marney – Boateng – Ghilas

Geovanni
Vennegoor of Hesselink

Brown is likely to play newly appointed club captain Barmby in midfield, and putting him on the right hand side gives him the opportunity to show his creative instincts. Ghilas showed his energy and endeavour against Liverpool and should be included ahead of Stephen Hunt who has failed to impress in recent outings to despite being a bright spark early in the season. Hesselink showed against Liverpool that he can win headers against top defenders and, whilst I’d like to see Cousin given a chance, Hesselink should be given plenty of support on Saturday as City can afford to push forward more against a side less attacking than the superb and ruthless Liverpool.

The Tigers need to be able to eradicate the defensive errors which are costing them too many points, then they will have the foundations for a positive result. Providing they approach the game with a positive outlook, attacking Wigan and threatening Chris Kirkland’s goal, they should be able to get at the very least one point from the game as long as they maintain that pivotal defensive focus.

Prediction: Hull City 1-0 Wigan Athletic

The last time these two sides met at Anfield, Liverpool came close to disaster as a newly promoted Hull City team threatened to snatch three vital points from the title contenders on their home patch. The Reds came back from two goals down to steal what was an arguably undeserved point when a win seemed within Hull’s reach. Since then, Hull City have managed to notch just two league wins – against Fulham and Bolton – and will be desperate to prove that they can still compete with the bigger teams in the league. On matchday it will be a year to the day since the Tigers recorded a shock 2-1 win against Arsenal and City fans will be hoping for a repeat of the stellar Hull performance.

But Hull come into this match in very poor form, and low on confidence after repeated heavy defeats in the early stages of the season; sipping goals in the same way Liverpool have been scoring them. However, Phil Brown rested some key players in the midweek defeat to Everton, including star man Geovanni, who has signed a new contract ahead of this weekend’s clash. Doing so has allowed Brown to get his key men ready for what he described as ‘a massive game’.

Liverpool will see this match as a must win. They dropped too many points last season against teams they should, on paper have beaten. For the Reds to do the double over both Manchester United and Chelsea but still be unable to finish above their nearest title rivals proves that they dropped too many points against the teams who finished below them. In addition, having already lost twice in the league this season – the same amount as in the whole of the 2008/09 season – Liverpool really cannot afford to lose this game if they want to mount a serious title challenge, especially given the electrifying pace set by early leaders Chelsea.

My Hull City team to play Liverpool:

Myhill

McShane – Sonko – Zayatte – Dawson

Ghilas – Geovanni – Boateng – Olofinjana – Hunt

Vennegoor of Hesselink

Unlike the City team which recorded some surprise results against the bigger clubs last season, which had an attacking mentality, I think Phil Brown will look to a more defensive line up on Saturday with the aim of nullifying the potent Liverpool attack and perhaps looking to score on the counter attack, keeping the five man midfield water-tight. Whether Hull can make use of Hesselink as a lone striker remains to be seen, but he will be able to compete with the physical Liverpool defence and win knock-downs for creative players Hunt, Ghilas and Geovanni.

Liverpool should win this based on the way they are scoring and Hull are conceding, but the Reds would have been expected to win last season, so there is always hope for Tigers fans that their team can upset the odds. Phil Brown has insisted ‘we will make a game of it’ which suggests his team will be trying to win the match – it’s down to the players’ execution to determine the result of this one.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Hull City