TOUGH TIGERS ON THE PROWL
McCann’s boys defy the odds
AFORMER Championship manager said in September that Hull City are a League One team with two Premier League players.
“Take Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki away,” he said of Grant McCann’s Tigers, “and they’d get relegated. For sure.”
It was hardly a controversial opinion. Even with Bowen and Grosicki, Hull began the campaign priced at 9/4 to finish in the bottom three. Only four sides – Millwall, Reading, Wigan and QPR – had shorter odds.
Indeed, if you’d asked in August who would start today’s fixture at the Riverside embroiled in a dogfight, very few would have named the hosts.
Yet game by game and point by point, Hull are dispelling the doubts. Narrowly beaten by West Brom last time out, the Tigers had won their previous three games on the spin and today sit within spitting distance of a play-off spot.
Away from home, especially, they are a formidable force. “They’re a very good team on the counter-attack,” said Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate this week.
“They’ve only been beaten twice on the road this season. They beat Fulham 3-0. Luton 3-0. Forest 2-1. They drew with Brentford. All away from home. We need to be on our guard because they can hurt anybody on the break.”
Statistically, too, Hull are disproving the widely-held belief that they are entirely reliant on the inspiration provided by Bowen and Grosicki.
The duo are unquestionably influential. With nine goals and two assists, Bowen has been at least partly responsible for 50 per cent of Hull’s goals this season.
His presence alone puts defenders on the back foot and often forces opponents to deploy a man-marker, opening gaps for team-mates to exploit.
Grosicki, meanwhile, is a deft technician whose proficiency from dead balls explains why Hull have scored five times from set-pieces. He has also had a hand in seven goals.
Yet behind Bowen and Grosicki is a defensive unit that, whilst exposed, is highly proficient at repelling opposition attacks.
So far this season, Hull’s players have averaged 20.6 tackles per game, more than any other team in the Championship. The Tigers also rank second for interceptions and are conceding at a rate in line with their expected goals.
In other words, Hull are easy to get at, but difficult to get through. Maintaining that level of defensive diligence may be the difference between a top six challenge and mid-table slog. But one thing looks increasingly certain – Hull aren’t heading for League One.
“We’re happy where we are,” said McCann this week. “No one has given us a chance since day one. The three successive wins probably made people think maybe we are a decent team. But we’ll continue to be under the radar, prove people wrong and see where we go.
“We’ve got aspirations – the same ones we’ve had since day one. We want to push into the top six and then stay there. That’s the hardest bit but we believe we can push ourselves up.”