Hull City’s season to forget took another turn for the dismal on Sunday when they were dumped out of the FA Cup at the first time of asking thanks to a Doncaster Rovers penalty shootout-win at the MKM Stadium.
Having laboured for long periods, City had to fight back from 1-0 down to take the tie into extra-time and then, having raced into a lead in the shootout and having a spot-kick to win it, still managed to fluff it up.
Perhaps, given City’s abject record in cup competitions in recent seasons, we should not be surprised, but having craved some more positivity after that fine comeback against Leeds United last weekend, the Tigers once again failed to inspire and slumped to an embarrassing exit.
Attention for fans now turns to the vital trip to Millwall next weekend, by which point, head coach Ruben Selles will hope to have at least two more players in through the door.
Here, City reporter Barry Cooper reflects on yet another MKM Stadium event to erase from the memory as quickly as possible….
A game to sum up the season
If ever a 120-minute display summed up how City’s season has played out, that was it. After a bright start, the game was stopped every 30 seconds – or so it felt like – which broke all their momentum and played right into Doncaster’s hands, allowing them to get into a rigid defensive shape with 11 men behind the ball.
The fact they had so many nearly moments in and around the box, but it took for Alfie Jones to actually have a shot at goal late in the game, was symptomatic of their lack of cutting edge in front of goal, again. City may have had 19 attempts, and eight of those on target, but given the positions they got into, that critical lack of cutting edge was apparent again, as it has been all season.
And just when you think they’ve got themselves out of jail with the equaliser and then four perfect penalties in the shootout, Mason Burstow goes and blazes a kick to win the game so far over the bar that it nearly knocked out the mascots in the empty stand behind the goal. This has been a season to forget in so many ways, and the way that game played out just summed it up. The sooner it ends, the better.
Is it too soon?
To say, ‘Well, at least we can concentrate on the league?’ The reality is that the best City fans can hope for now is survival. Now they’re out of the cup, Ruben Selles will have more time on the training pitch and less time for more excuses to be trotted out of a book which has had plenty of use over the past year or so.
The manager is still getting to grips with his group of players and them, him. While their trip to Cardiff will be shovelled into a midweek at some point later in the season, the Tigers will have a fair chunk of time from the visit of Stoke City on February 1st to the trip to Burnley on February 12, almost two clear weeks – and it will also help them get the likes of Charlie Hughes and Kasey Palmer back quicker, and give new players a little more time on the training ground.
Ultimately, like it or not, the focus now is on staying in the Championship. City now know they have 20 games and no more to preserve their Championship survival; there will be no distractions.
City’s Cup curse
City’s cup efforts this season, as they have been in every other season in the past five years have been non-existent. It’s beyond infuriating because cup runs inspire confidence, they lift clubs when they’re struggling, they create momentum and add to the finances – there’s also the chance of a bit of magic here and there, something in short supply at the MKM Stadium.
Yet again, just like last season in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, City have offered absolutely nothing to the competition, and that’s perhaps why so few fans parted with their hard-earned cash to bother coming to watch in freezing temperatures against League Two opposition – it just lacked any excitement, and that’s meant with absolutely no disrespect to the away side – and so it proved.
A home tie with Crystal Palace, which is Doncaster’s reward for winning at the MKM Stadium, is hardly one to set the world alight, but has a chance of being picked for television now there’s so many games spread over a ridiculous five-day period, and financially, that would have been useful to a club losing £500,000 a week – a mere drop in the ocean it may have been, but useful non the less. Alas, we roll on to next season and just pray we don’t have to contend with the dreaded Papa John’s Trophy.
The pitch – again
I’ll start this by mentioning the groundstaff, who are doing absolutely everything within their power to create the best playing surface possible. Naturally, there will be a lot of people on social media hammering them and their profession, but a look at the pitches at the training ground will show how good they can be if conditions are right, which they are not at the stadium.
There is clearly a major issue with something at the MKM Stadium because the pitch is not at an acceptable level for a Championship club. It’s made worse by the fact more than £1m was spent on it during the summer to try and avoid a repeat of last season, and unfortunately, while it’s nowhere near as bad as it was then, the North Stand end in particular is awful.
It’s not a good look for the club, especially after last summer’s investment, and more importantly, it’s just not good enough for the players to play on, especially when you’re a team that wants to get it down and play.
There are three more home games on the pitch before Hull FC play their first game of the Super League season at home to the Wigan Warriors on February 21, and they’ll be praying it can recover in that time.
Work to be done
Matt Crooks is in the door, and Joe Gelhardt will follow. A winger is expected to arrive in the coming days and City”s transfer business cannot stop there. There has to be a flurry of activity over the next three weeks to bolster Selles’ ranks, especially in the top half of the pitch.
Yes, they have to be sharper in the final third, but at the back, the problems keep on coming. If you’re a regular observer of these notes, you’ll know I’ve championed Ryan Giles for months. Going forward, he can be very, very effective, but we saw an example of just why so many defensive questions remain about him.
Doncaster created very little in the game, and a player who has played in the Premier League should be dealing with that situation an awful lot better than he did, allowing Molyneux to steal the ball off him and then race clear and score. That’s really poor defending from a player who just has not lived up to the billing when he arrived 12 months ago.