And the fact that it is Iain Dowie’s Hull City means that it is anyone’s guess who will play when the Tigers taken on beleaguered Portsmouth at Fratton Park this weekend.
George Boateng is suspended and Kamil Zayatte now out for the season (thanks to the saintly Sol Campbell and all those apologies from Arsenal players and fans for ending a guy’s season when honestly going for the ball – yes, we thought their silence was deafening too) but otherwise the “temporary football management consultant” (love to see the size of his parking space at the Circle) may well turn to clean slates in selecting the side.
You can definitely presume that Boaz Myhill, Steven Mouyokolo and Jimmy Bullard will start but there may be fresh chapters ahead for the likes of Geovanni, Kamel Ghilas and even Ibrahima Sonko, especially with Zayatte crocked and the gifted but raw Liam Cooper the only remaining specialist centre back that isn’t an outcast on loan from Stoke. For all that, Dowie may decide that the performance at Arsenal alone is enough to find only cover for Boateng and Zayatte from those in the squad of 18 that was on duty.
Portsmouth had their points deduction confirmed this week, finally, which means they’ll go into the game either in defiant mood or totally deflated. One can hope for the latter, but their players still have Wembley places to compete for in the FA Cup semi-final (yet another reason to wish those games were still at Goodison Park or Old Trafford) and this will be a tough old baptism for Dowie et al. However, a win for the Tigers – yes, that would be an away win, please keep reading – would be just the kickstart needed for this mini-season of nine games with survival at its end. The intrigue makes the trip down worth it; let’s hope the outcome similarly makes the return journey so.
It has been over a month since our last home game, and given our dismal away form (in our last three games we’ve lost at Blackburn, West Ham and Everton) some home comforts will be welcomed. The only thing is, we’re playing arguably the form team in Europe, Arsenal have won their last four games in a row, this week steamrolling over Porto 5-0 to advance to the Champions League quarter finals.
Still, we seem to save our best performances for the ‘big clubs’, take our 1-1 draw against Chelsea and 2-1 win over Manchester City in February. It may take such a performance to save Phil Brown’s job, talk is rife that hammering in this game will make it his last, as City languish 19th in the Premier League.
Being without the talismanic Stephen Hunt wouldn’t help, the Tigers top scorer this term has been having foot trouble and he might miss out if injections don’t have the desired effect. Craig Fagan is back in contention after suspension and Andy Dawson has been declared fit after an asthma attack.
As for the Gunners, Cesc Fabregas is their main concern with a hamstring tweak, whereas the state of Tomas Rosicky’s groin (hur hur!) will be assessed before kick off.
The game is live on ESPN, kick off is at 5.30pm.
In the meantime, enjoy tousled Tiger Jimmy Bullard’s appearance in a new commercial for Wash & Go…
A trip to Everton is a tricky prospect at the best of times. Without a win away from home in a year, travelling to a side who’ve recent scalps at home have included Manchester United and Chelsea, it’s hard not to feel a sense of foreboding about this.
Not that a trip to Everton is necessarily mission impossible. They’ve had an iffy season so far, lying tenth in the Premier League and nowhere near the top four that must have been their ultimate aim this time out. They’ll also be disappointed with how their UEFA Cup campaign ended recently, a 3-0 defeat at Sporting Lisbon ensuring that this will be a trophyless season for David Moyes’ men. All that remains is the chance to put together a late run in order to qualify once again for Europe.
Hull City make their final trip to the capital this weekend to taken on fellow strugglers West Ham United at Upton Park.
Much has been made of Phil Brown refusing to rule out a return for mercurial midfielder Jimmy Bullard, though it looks mainly like a red herring designed to make the hosts think about their own selection, given that Bullard hasn’t played any practice games nor taken part in a full training session since doing his knee – again – at Aston Villa in December.
Brown is definitely still without Geovanni but needs to change his side little, if at all, after the recent good run of results which ended at Blackburn last week due at least partially to the woeful decision to send off George Boateng, a decision reversed by a refreshingly sensible FA panel.
West Ham went above the Tigers that night on goal difference after beating Birmingham at Upton Park and will be keen to do to the Tigers what they failed to do at the KC earlier this season, despite having a two-goal lead in the game in November.
The Tigers travel to Ewood Park this evening, bouyed by a sudden upturn in form and some useful results elsewhere last night. City will begin the evening in 15th place, a handy three points ahead of the bottom three and with the possibility of ending the night in 13th with a victory.
Not that it’ll be easy. City haven’t beaten Blackburn in any of our three Premier League attempts, and may need to cope without the recently-inspirational George Boateng. He’s struggling after sustaining cramp towards the end of City’s stirring victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and he may be joined on the injury list by Andy Dawson – he took a knock in the same match and may be replaced by Kevin Kilbane at left-back.
Manchester City, complete with ludicrous scarves, wronged full backs and amusing desperation to be regarded as a member of the Premier League elite, visit the Circle tomorrow as City aim for a third consecutive home game without defeat.
Phil Brown has little reason to change the Hull City starting XI for the game after the riproaring display against Chelsea in midweek, which means Kamil Zayatte may have to play second fiddle to the in-form Steven Mouyokolo for a central defensive spot again. If a change is made, it will most likely involve Amr Zaki making his full debut up front in place of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Geovanni is missing the chance to face his old club thanks to a medial ligament strain and so attacking options from the bench will be a little more limited. Seyi Olofinjana has returned after a month of watching the Africa Cup of Nations but any lack of match practice will probably not prevent him from being named among the subs.
Wayne Bridge is expected to return from injury for the visitors, leading to an interesting scenario as to what E1 to E6 will sing his way, given the barrage of critical sonnets bellowed towards John Terry in midweek. One suspects that savaging Terry in tuneless manner should not make one assume that they will be sympathetic towards Bridge. Especially when he takes a throw-in or tackles Craig Fagan right in front of them.
Kamil Zayatte should be fit to return to the Hull City defence tonight as the Tigers take on Premier League favourites Chelsea at the Circle in a game rearranged from the snowbound first fortnight of 2010.
It would be harsh on Steven Mouyokolo, who claimed the ‘accolade’ of least unimpressive defender in the wasteful 2-2 draw with Wolves three days ago, but ultimately Phil Brown is unlikely to drop his calamitous captain Anthony Gardner and yet still needs Zayatte to return. It says a lot when Zayatte, very talented but with a capacity to go utterly hatstand, is now regarded as the more secure of the back pairing.
Elsewhere, it would be a harsh manager who drops Tom Cairney after a resourceful debut against Wolves but there may be a need to stuff the midfield with more bite against considerably more gifted opposition, unless Brown chooses to drop one of Jozy Altidore or Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink up front and go for 4-5-1, which would maintain Cairney’s spot. If he does this, expect the unlucky half of a promising strike duo to be immeasurably indignant, and fear for his cat when he gets home. Then there’s Amr Zaki, bright as a sub on Saturday but evidently not match fit.
So we don’t know, really.
City haven’t won since doing over Everton in the last midweek fixture to be played at the KC, as if that could act as any kind of omen. They haven’t beaten Chelsea since 1988-89 and have lost heavily on numerous occasions at home in the last two decades against the west Londoners in Cups and, last season, in the Premier League. Chelsea have, however, been occasionally susceptible against lesser opposition on their travels this season and anything resembling hope the Tigers can cling on to would be more than welcome.
Keep an ear out for some baiting of a certain armband-wearing defender, too, and feel free to condemn such action and not join in. Oh yes.
Must not lose? Must win? Our most important Premier League fixture this season? Ever?
Maybe. Maybe not. But quite possibly so. With Chelsea and Man C on the horizon and City already second bottom, defeat in this fixture would be a massive blow to our hopes of survival. Victory would be a huge boost. It’s no exaggeration to say that by 5pm tomorrow, the whole season could feel very different, in very different ways.
With the controversy over Paul Duffen’s tenure as chairman falling down the news agenda this week, most of the talk has been team-based. A welcome change, perhaps. Will Jimmy Bullard be fit? No, we now know. Wil Amr Zaki play? Yes, most likely from the bench.
But creeping beneath these two big issues has been the emergence of doubt over Kamil Zayatte, struggling with an ankle injury. In the worst-case scenario that Phil Brown must be preparing for, he could be one of many absentees. Geovanni and Kamel Ghilas have also had their preparations for the game disrupted by injury, while Seyi Olofinjana remains on national duty in Angola.
Problems then, for a City side winless in eight games. Things are little better for Mick McCarthy, whose Wolves will be missing Keogh, Murray, Kightly and Edwards. Elokobi could also miss out owing to illness. (more…)
It’s almost three weeks since Hull City last played a Premier League match, and this yawning chasm of inactivity comes to a halt with a particularly tricky trip to Tottenham this afternoon.
Spurs trounced an underprepared Tigers side at the KC in August with probably the finest exhibition of football the stadium has seen, but have proved in recent times they are still capable of self-destruction, with a defeat at White Hart Lane to Stoke probably the main hope on to which Phil Brown’s men have to latch.
Brown is without three central midfielders and one striker thanks to bad knees and secondment in Angola, though second generation Haitian Jozy Altidore’s supposed compassionate leave after the huge earthquake in his ancestral home has been thrown into doubt with the player saying on his own Twitter account (yes, that again…) that he was looking forward to the match and would wear “both his wristbands” in tribute to those who died.
It’s more pleasing to see Stephen Hunt and Kamil Zayatte still in the squad after much speculation about their futures within a club desperate for cash, while the returning Dean Marney will join Anthony Gardner and Nick Barmby in another worthy but maybe futile attempt to show their old club what they are missing. Paul McShane is also fit again to return to the defence.
Tottenham are without the perma-crocked centre back pairing of Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate, while chief dangerman Aaron Lennon is also injured – something which will mean Andy Dawson has had his best pre-match kip in a while.
City kick off the new decade with their second trip to Lancashire in under a week for their FA Cup Third Round tie against fellow Premier League side Wigan at the DW Stadium tomorrow.
As ever with Cup weekends, traditions abound. But where once there was giddy excitement, now we hear the ritual squawks about “preserving the tradition”, “retaining the magic”, and so on. It’s understandable to yearn for a lost age, when televised football was a novelty and there really was romance to the FA Challenge Cup. Then came Sky Sports and the Premier League, and now League positions take precedence.
