When Hull City moved into the KC Stadium, Adam Pearson made a list of songs he wanted playing in order in the half hour before the ‘Tigers, Tigers’ intro signalled the impending emergence of the players from the dressing room. It made sense, if you were heading into the ground through the turnstiles as ‘Three Lions’ played, you knew you had enough time to go get a pie or have a slash before taking your seat, however if a bastardised version of William Blake’s poem was being read over Rob D’s ‘Clubbed to death’ then you’ll need to hold your appetite/bladder till half time if you want to cheer the lads out of the tunnel.

One of the songs chosen by Pearson was by Moby, though at a Fans Liaison Committee meeting it was queried why in an era of great optimism and progress, a bald vegan New Yorker was heard asking ‘Why does my heart feel so bad?’ five minutes before kick off? It didn’t seem appropriate. The chairman agreed and the track was changed.

It would be appropriate now though, which is quite bizarre. The start of a new season following a big money takeover of the club should be a time of great optimism among the Tiger Nation, but the voices heralding the dawn of Tiger world domination in 2007/2008 were few in number before kick off and they were fewer still at ten to five on opening day. After talk of spending big and signing a multitude of players the summer recruitment was largely disappointing, just three new faces and the return of Deano given permanency. For all the talk of smashing our transfer fee record, the biggest outlay was on a big telly. The much needed squad overhaul hasn’t yet happened and many problem areas haven’t been addressed, after the departure of a fat waster and a weedy cross eyed Scot this is pretty much the same group that limped to safety at the end of last year. While new chairman Paul Duffen talks of reaching for the stars, many supporters envisage a struggle, with a less than stellar seventeenth place as much as we can hope for. If you wondered why our hearts feel so bad, then this game showed why.

Plymouth Argyle at home is probably the ideal starting fixture, you don’t want to play the favourites and playing expected relegation fodder gives you little idea how good you are on opening day. Plymouth though, they have established themselves as the archetypal average Championship club so are a good side to gauge your own against. Lining up against them in the August sun were:- Myhill; Dawson, Delaney, Coles, Ricketts; Garcia, Hughes, Ashbee (Capt.), Marney; Windass and Barmby. Yes, you read that correctly, Danny Coles in the starting line up, the ‘yay, football is back’ grins on many faces disappeared when the first XI was announced.

Nonetheless, the Tiger Nation were in good voice as the game got underway, and just minutes later our outlook was as sunny as the sky above the KC Stadium as we took the lead. Nick Barmby hooked a shot goal ward from the right corner of the six yard box, it struck the right upright and first to react to the rebound was Deano who lashed it home. 3 minutes gone, 1-0 up. Ace! “We are top of the league!” roared the East Stand, well, joint top, Ipswich had scored a minute earlier.

Seeking to respond immediately Plymouth had a feeble penalty appeal correctly waved away before tamely chipping a free kick into Myhill’s hands. After a fast paced start the game slowed a little, as you’d expect in 25 degree heat. City looked a little disjointed, they weren’t playing as a team, which you‘d expect if the side was packed with new signings, but Garcia and Hughes aside, this was an group of established players. Ricketts curled a decent cross in from the right but no one seemed interested and Ashbee clipped a pass to their keeper.

After quarter of an hour, Plymouth were level. David Norris collected the ball outside the box and ran at Andy Dawson who backed off when he should have challenged, and the one time City loanee drilled the ball beyond Myhill for 1-1. The lift and optimism generated by the early goal evaporated in the heat.

City’s best player today was Dean Marney, a man who serially disappointed last year and has much to prove this term, he was often a page ahead of his colleagues in this game, waiting an age for Ricketts to get forward so he could play a clever pass for him on the overlap. That was indicative of City today, not working together and offering support. Alongside Marney in midfield, Brian Hughes was working hard and is a good crosser of the ball, he looks a quality signing but would benefit from having someone better than Ashbee alongside him. Our captain has hit a glass ceiling it seems after rising through the leagues with us, but Phil Brown is evidently oblivious to that. Richard Garcia, another summer buy, was utterly anonymous in this game, which is a worry.

Deano looked isolated up front as Barmby dropped back, it wasn’t easy to tell just what formation we were playing, it was supposedly 4-3-3. At the back our defence slipped into the bad habit of backing off the ball carrier and inviting pressure, Ashbee made a solid challenge on the edge of our area as the nearest defenders scuttled backwards and later Halmosi blazed over from a raking cross from the right. At the other end Delaney headed a free kick into the box across goal but Windass couldn‘t reach it.

There was a distinct lack of movement and impetus, Myhill rolled the ball out to build a move from the back but found it passed back to him to kick hopefully up field. Nick Barmby received a yellow card for a challenge on the touchline and Phil Brown voiced his displeasure to the fourth official. Only the tan distinguished the two as our manager had swapped his normal touchline garb of a suit for an all black combo of t-shirt, shorts and socks. It was hard to make out what the flash of neon green on his waist was from, I hope it’s not a bum bag/fanny pack.

The ever bellicose Deano had an altercation with Plymouth’s Summerfield and got a telling off from the ref for it. Delaney knocked a deep ball for Garcia but unsupported did nothing more than win a throw, it was though the first time he’d been seen in some 40 minutes of play. A good chance came when Ricketts advanced up the field and beat a defender with some trickery, his oblique shot was saved and Marney couldn’t finish the rebound, the ball was hacked out of the box where Ashbee drove it over the bar.

In our box Danny Coles had hearts in mouths when he dived in on Halmosi who skipped past the ‘challenge’ but thankfully wasted the chance, putting the ball into the South Stand.

Dean Marney threaded the ball between two Argyle rear guarders but it eluded Barmby, before Damien Delaney saw yellow for foolishly booting the ball away when a free kick was awarded. The half was nearly over, and with City seemingly content to play out the half all square, they fell asleep and a goal behind. A cross from the left had Danny Coles floundering, his attempt at a headed clearance came after Rory Fallon had neatly flicked the ball goal ward with his head and with Myhill’s vision impeded by Coles he couldn’t react. The half ended, City contriving to be 2-1 down. At the ref’s whistle, City fans voiced their displeasure.

City kicked off the second half playing towards the South Stand and surprisingly were back in the game within three minutes. We sure start halves quickly, if we can learn to defend after scoring there may be hope for us yet. Dean Marney put a ball into the box from the left wing and as Bryan Hughes raced to it on the far post he was tugged back by Halmosi. Penalty said Mr. G. Laws.

Dean Windass took responsibility for the spot kick, seeking his second goal of the afternoon, but his shot was a comfortable height and pace for Romain Larrieu in nets for Plymouth, and the keeper parried it away. The other Dean was quick to react and Mr. Marney slotted in for 2-2.

We nearly gifted Plymouth a third not long after though, a ball was slung in for Hayles and Delaney’s header away was weak, Bo Myhill ran out in brainless fashion and thankfully Hayles poked his shot wide. We continued to live dangerously, Halmosi should have scored but his first touch took the ball away from goal and crossing himself to shoot could get no power behind it and it rolled to Myhill.

Deano offered some comic relief when he shaped to help up the floored Lilian Nalis then schoolboyed the Frenchman and scampered off. This was a nervy period for City however and Bo Myhill, though often indecisive when facing a ball into the box, is a superb shot stopper and showed it when he tipped a shot round the post when it looked net bound.

Hughes was withdrawn, with Livermore coming on to give the central midfield a more defensive dimension, before the big money buy of the summer, the big telly went on the blink for a bit. With the bottom half of the screen pixellated, two maintenance blokes with a ladder already strategically placed scampered up the rungs and disappeared behind the screen to turn it off then on again. Cuh, for that money you’d think it’d have a remote control.

City too were malfunctioning, operating as individuals rather than as a team, and against a Plymouth side who are well drilled if little else it didn‘t look likely that we‘d break them down to notch a winner. The arrival of McPhee, on for Barmby, did little to change that.

For two seasons we’ve been desperate for McPhee to show us he’s a top quality finisher, and the realisation is dawning for even the most inanely optimistic of souls that perhaps he’s not the player we wish him to be. Sure he’s hard working, but that’s a prerequisite surely, not a mitigating factor in a failure to deliver.

The established pattern of Marney putting a useful near a colleague only for the colleague to not be on the same wavelength, this time it was Garcia who was culpable, this was not an auspicious start for the Australian. After a brief stoppage for a player to receive a physio’s attention, the dim Pilgrim Rory Fallon thought that fair play precluded legal throw ins and executed possibly the world’s most foulest throw, dropping the ball to himself and passing the ball to Myhill. Silly lad, and he looked even sillier retaking the throw when the ref had already punished his ludicrous error by awarding the throw to us.

Michael Bridges replaced Dean Windass, and he soon created the best City chance of the half with a great ball for McPhee from the right, but the goalless Scot hit the ball at the ground and it bounced over the bar. Oh dear.

We were punished for such profligacy moments later, Coles failed to win a header, Ricketts hesitated to put in a challenge, Ebanks-Blake didn‘t and smashed the ball home for 3-2 Plymouth.

City looked bereft of ideas of how to rescue this game, McPhee chipped a ball way ahead of Bridges and the keeper gobbled it up and later as City looked to break McPhee perplexingly played a pass backwards to a Plymouth midfielder. The Hungarian Halmosi had a crack at goal, firing across goal and wide and after an incident free added 4 minutes it was over, and sections of the 16,633 crowd chose to express that their hearts did indeed feel bad by booing the team off.

The Tiger Nation it seems, are yet to come to terms with the change in ownership and the loss of Adam Pearson, even if they acknowledge that the club needed extra investment to progress. That investment has been promised and may come, but so far the new man in the chairman’s seat has failed to inspire belief that we can avoid a relegation struggle let alone finish in the top half this year as he insists. Phil Brown too fails to generate much optimism, today’s performance bore striking similarities to many from late on last season when we unconvincingly stumbled our way to safety, our transfer dealings are incomplete at best, his team selection (particularly the choice of Danny Coles over Michael Turner) had predictably disastrous results and tactically we fell short against an average side.

Though the league table means little on opening day, perhaps our initial placing of seventeenth is indicative of the way the season will play out, there are surely more than three teams worse than us in this division to make sure we don’t go down, but unless there are changes that’s as far as our optimism stretches. Maybe we should play another inappropriate Moby track before games; We are all made of stars. (LM)