1. Hull City without Andy Dawson. It’s been a decade since the two were separate. If you’ve not had the chance to read our tribute to the man himself, it’s here – and perhaps some day City and Dawson will be reunited. You suspect he has a lot more to give the game.

2. Of those featuring on the list of players released by the club, only one must have been a close decision. Jay Simpson can consider himself a little unfortunate to not be playing for City in the Premier League next season. His early-season partnership with Sone Aluko was blisteringly destructive, and it’s tempting to wonder whether Simpson’s pretty rotten goalscoring record may have been better had his preferred striking accomplice remained fit – indeed, would it have been sufficiently better as to tempt Bruce into renewing his contract?

3. We’ll never know. But for a variety of reasons, footballing and non-footballing, Simpson’s stay in the north never really hit the heights it could have done. If it’s of any solace to the player, his occasional brilliance was always supplemented by hard work – that’s always welcome, and it’d be nice to think he knows that his efforts here were appreciated.

4. Mark Cullen, meanwhile, should score a lorryload of goals in the Conference for Luton Town. While he was never going to make it at City’s level of the game, in whichever division, the lad evidently is a born scorer at the right level and we wish him well.

5. Ooh, look at all of the exciting names linked with City in the tabloid press! Actually don’t. It’s an unendingly tiresome ritual whereby lazy sports writers and grasping agents collude in creating fact-free “stories” for undemanding readers. Steve Bruce will have his targets, some of them will sign, some won’t, and very little we see in the Sun or the Mirror will come to pass.

6. The Leicester Mercury are reporting Nigel Pearson will remain The Foxes’ manager. Would that make a move for Kasper Schmeichel, who we are linked with, more difficult? We shall see, but whoever comes in it will be good for City have their own goalkeeper after a string of borrowed netmen.

7. Stephen Hunt, undeniably our finest player in 2009/10, has been released by Wolverhampton Wanderers. They say you should never go back, but Dean Windass gave us reason to query that school of logic. We’re going to have to take some punts, and signing Hunt on a free doesn’t seem that much of a risk.

8.  Very soon we could see three City players – David Meyler, Robbie Brady and Paul McShane – lining up for the Republic of Ireland to play against England at Wembley. As the England team is both unlikeable and unremarkable at the moment, and the game itself is largely meaningless, one or two of us may find it within ourselves to support the Irish team.

9. His brief time in charge of City was and remains best forgotten, but kudos to Phil Parkinson for the phenomenal season he has just enjoyed with Bradford City, with success in the play-offs on Saturday following that bonkers run to the League Cup final. Decent man and a good gaffer at the correct level. The large ex-Tigers contingent at Valley Parade all deserve our warm congratulations – not just for their own successes, but for making Bradford quite likeable, which is some achievement in itself.

10. Two of the best days in City’s sparkling recent history came at Huish Park in 2004 and Wembley in 2008. The victims were firstly Yeovil Town and then Gary Johnson, manager of Bristol City, and both of them were class acts at the time despite being the bit-part in a day of Tiger glory. How richly they deserved their own victory at Wembley yesterday.

1. City’s promotion celebration party on Wednesday was enjoyable enough once the players and manager came out to receive their well-earned adulation, but a four-figure crowd for it rather speaks for itself. It may be galling for the Mr. Allam to accept civic hospitality from Hull City Council, given that that organisation is full of outdated dinosaurs and rugby fans (we accept there’s considerable overlap) who vary from indifference to hostility towards City, but maybe on this occasion he ought to have swallowed his pride, smiled for the cameras and got the Tigers out on the streets of Hull, not cocooned in the football stadium for an event that necessitated two separate trips there to attend for non passholders .

2. After all, if he does wish to get his own way in the end, he’ll need public opinon on his side. They may not be strangers to witless paranoia and long-term enemies of rational conduct, but nonetheless it’s worth observing the visceral hatred one part of the eggchasing fraternity has towards City’s owners. It’s tempting to dismiss them as a stupid irrelevance, but their stroppy opposition is an obstacle to his grand plans.

3. Bickering with the Council via the media advances whose interests exactly? Allam Sr. reiterated his stance that he will not negotiate again with the Council, but where does that leave us? Pursuing a stadium in Melton? How can Hull City leaving the city of Hull possibly be a good thing? Furthermore, noises from the club this week have suggested a financially cautious approach to life in the Premier League, certainly when compared to the profligacy that left us needing Mr. Allam to step in just to keep the club afloat in the first place, and this is a good thing. But given how much the Allams have already put in, and both MD Nick Thompson and predecessor Mark Maguire have spoken of perpetual financial life support from that family thus far, what will adding an out of town stadium to that tab do for hopes of fiscal independence any time soon?

How much would a new stadium cost? When factoring in infrastructure costs to the bill for an actual stadium you’re looking at a minimum of £50M, and don’t expect East Riding Council to offer up much money, they can’t afford to mend the potholes on some wretched stretches of road, let alone help fund the road access to a new ground for a club in a very good ten year old facility which more than meets their needs. Attendances were pitiful this season for a side chasing promotion, only our final day ‘Premiergeddon’ battle with Cardiff sold out. How many games will sell out next year? City could probably sell 70,000 tickets against Manchester United but so can every team, but when Norwich, Swansea, Fulham, Stoke and Cardiff come will we sell out? In 2009/10 our second Premier League season, we got 22,822 against Wigan, 22,999 versus Bolton, and 23,759 when hosting Birmingham, and unless you’re selling out every game, you don’t need a new stadium.

4. What the club really could do to upgrade is their training and academy facilities. Millhousewoods Lane was an adequate base once, but no longer if we have long term top flight ambitions. It’s not as sexy to talk of new training grounds, but it’s a more pressing need than another stadium.

5. When he was our owner, Adam Pearson spoke several times about an agreement already in place for City to fund expansion for the KC Stadium themselves when needed, and any extra tier built would belong to them, giving City a percentage of stadium ownership. That means City and their owners would not be ‘paying for improvements on a rented house’, they would be purchasing a stake in our home as well as improving it for the club’s benefit. Such a deal could be reached with the Allams and the Council if our owners were willing to negotiate, although they’ve recently ruled out ever doing so. The Allams simply cannot reasonably expect the Council to just give them the freehold for promises of sports village investment, the KC Stadium is a municipal capital investment and there are laws regarding how such entities  are passed on. This stand-off between both parties benefits neither, and harms the reputations of both.

6. We are childishly excited at the prospect of spending a week in Portugal with City in July. Let’s hope the club get a couple of good friendlies, and they may wish to consider the idea of putting together travel packages and arranging a supporters’ event while over there too. Nothing will ever top China in 2009, but pre-season tours are fantastically good fun and we can’t wait to file a drink-sodden report from it.

7. It’s tempting to laugh at the remarkable fate that befell Leicester yesterday, and to glory in Nigel Pearson’s discomfort. The manner of his leaving and his ostentatiously aloof demeanour make it difficult to sympathise with him; but had he not done a lot of the spadework to stabilise City in 2010/11 and steer us away from a Wolves-like fate, we may not be in a position to await Premier League football next season. Chortling at Leicester’s deluded fans, in the other hand, is most definitely a pleasure in which to indulge.

8. For all that, we’d be very pleased if Steve Bruce quickly embarked upon a spot of carcass-picking in Leicestershire, starting with a bid for Kasper Schmeichel.

9. If this weekend had seen the end of the football season (play-offs excepted), what a pleasing high it could have finished on. A surprisingly good FA Cup Final and the ever-satisfying sight of the underdogs besting the favourites – we could have carried the happy glow of that throughout the summer. Instead, we were straight back into the Premier League circus, and Wigan Athletic’s glory was instantly eclipsed by their own probable relegation. Football’s ability to shoot itself in the foot is truly a universal constant.

10. Nonetheless it offers one particular cause for optimism: if Wigan can win the FA Cup, so can City.

1: Did you ever expect Steve Bruce to be as loveable as he has been? Sunderland fans labelled him an excuse maker, while the media said he was tactically inflexible, but that hasn’t been our experience at all. If City have underperformed this season he has said we have underperformed, rather than making out we’ve played well when we haven’t, he’s also admitted to getting team selections and tactics wrong with refreshing honesty. His switching City to 3-5-2 is hardly the work of an old dog resolutely opposed to trying new tricks either. Achieving promotion on its own isn’t enough to inspire love and affection, as the prickly Peter Taylor showed, he was a man that was easy to respect and praise, but difficult to truly love, but Bruce has been taken to the hearts of City fans for his honesty, joviality and for getting us up.

2: Bruce has praised the whole squad, quite rightly, for their achievement this season. However, we feel at liberty to single out a couple of individuals. Firstly, the transformation of Robbie Brady this season has been quite remarkable. Remember that petulant boy who seemed to be playing just for himself last year? All flicks and tricks, no substance and no discipline? Well, a permanent move and a switch to wing back has not just made him a team player, but it’s made him a man. He has been prepared to take on more responsibility and as a consequence, has flourished as a footballer. Bruce’s decision to shift him into an attacking midfield role on Saturday was akin to him saying “go and get us in the Premier League, son”, and Brady’s influence on the team was plain for all to see. He was out on his feet when he was substituted late on (pity he wasn’t around for that penalty) and his eye-bulging, potty reaction to the final whistle at Vicarage Road was stupendous. There’s a Premier League team next season to be built around this young man. And when he misplaced a pass against Cardiff and let his head momentarily drop, the City crowd only briefly expressed frustration and cheered him to the rafters; they all know what a fine player we have.

3: Then there’s Paul McShane. He was, let’s think about this for a moment, about a minute and a half away from being the player to score the goal to take us to the Premier League. Fate intervened, but then again it often does with Paul McShane. His goal was only his third ever for us and constituted a variation of the “perfect” hat-trick – one with his head, one with his foot and one with his, er, torso. Yes, his torso. That’ll be it. But we have a player who has been involved with us for more than four years now and has gone through every available high and low on a personal level; he’s been a coveted loan player, makeweight, error-prone liability, unwanted reserve, perennial loanee, cult hero and now it’s genuinely hard to imagine City without McShane around. He is out of contract and, despite the riches coming into the Circle, would need to take a pay cut to stay, but well, you know what the song says about not selling him. He embodies a spirit and professionalism that all clubs need, and he’ll never have known popularity like that which he enjoys at the moment. He could probably do ten years with us if he wanted to.

4: There are 12 players out of contract this summer. Five are from the youthful periphery - Cullen, Devitt, East, Emerton, Oxley - and it seems obvious that some will go without a whimper and the odd one will stay. Andy Dawson will be allowed to leave after a testimonial that will make him deservedly flush, while Paul McKenna and Seyi Olofinjana’s exits are well telegraphed. You’d expect McShane to stay, so the truly interesting decisions will be made over Liam Rosenior, Jay Simpson and Abdoulaye Faye. What do you reckon?

5: Which is most irritating? Fraizer Campbell scoring against us or City fans still having a pop at him? Twice now Campbell has responded to City fans – the sticky-out tongue at Sunderland and now his inevitable (and sublimely taken) goal on Saturday. He showed remarkable reserve by switching the run of his celebratory direction from east to north and laughing at us through the Cardiff fans. The stick he was getting meant he’d have been close to justified if he’d tried to do what Dean Marney so artlessly managed earlier this season.

6: A summer with no international tournament to fill the City void is usually intolerable, but this time round we could do with a break to repair frazzled nerves.

7: Running onto the pitch when a penalty has been awarded aside, the crowd was fantastic on Saturday. It set aside nerves, curmudgeonliness and the usual apathy to get behind the team. Why does promotion have to be on the line before that happens? Why can’t we do more of that every home game?

8: Don’t you dare say it was the Cash Converters Cacky Clappers that inspired it. Just don’t.

9: MD Nick Thompson said on Saturday that the Hull City Tigers change (and that wording is now above the club offices at the KC Stadium) is just for the business side of the club and not the playing side. We really hope so, and if so, that’s not really a problem, though the change could have been communicated better.

10: The Harlem Shake is so over, it’s all about Jiggle Me Elmo now.