FAN’S VIEW: 24/25 – No.17: HULL AT HOME

The harsh reality of the Championship has been waiting for us ever since that final whistle at Wembley. We knew it was there but it was natural the euphoria of that day in May would make us think we’ll be okay. And why not? Football is about dreaming as well as being on the end of harsh lessons.

Our start reinforced the belief but as our run without a win has grown, the pressure has grown with it and having now lost the last two – and in the way we played on Saturday – it is starting to feel pretty horrible. It’s bad enough in the stands but the players have to deal with it. Early on the team showed they can deliver good football and positive results but that was with Cameron Brannagan and much more wide talent for Des Buckingham to choose from than he has now.

I want to have faith, I absolutely do, but I’m not sure. That the manager and captain know what was wrong and acknowledge it is a great starting point. Knowing and being able to put matters right are two different things though. All we supporters can do is support.

I wrote the above on Monday and just before I leave for the match I don’t know what to expect but one thing I will say is that we won’t be as bad as we were against Swansea. If that were to happen it would indicate that there is something seriously wrong and I don’t think that is the case at all. Whilst not having anywhere near total confidence that we’ll win, I don’t think we’ll lose.

OXFORD UNITED 1 HULL CITY 0

This was the first home league game this season that we have not “sold out*”. The gate was quoted as being 10,213 and that will include ST holders not in attendance. There were only 863 there from Humberside which is way down on the numbers all the previous visitors have brought along. Understandable though. It’s mid-week. It’s a long way. They’re not enamoured with the way their team is playing and they’d not won in five. If the boot had been on the other foot we’d not have had that many up north. It did disappoint me that all home tickets had not been purchased but again I can see why – we’d also not been playing well and not picking up many points. And without wanting to be rude, Hull are in the eyes of some perhaps not as attractive as other clubs that are perceived to be more glamorous.

So not a full house to witness the pre-match display of dancing floodlights and other illuminations topped off by fireworks. Have to say the latter took me by surprise a bit. Well done to the club for trying to raise the spirits. No problem with that. But the action that really matters is that displayed in the 90 plus minutes of football that was to come next.

Once again kicking towards the fence we started in a bit more lively fashion than we’d done on Saturday. Better closing down.

However it wasn’t long into the contest before it was Swansea all over again. We no way looked like a Championship side. Hull had control, easily bossing it and keeping the ball. We didn’t seem to have a midfield. Well not one that had got to grips with the game.

Ciaron Brown made more mistakes in the first few minutes than he had done in the previous few games put together. Josh McEachran was uncharacteristically giving the ball away.  We just couldn’t keep possession. As an attacking threat we were just about nothing. To me Tyler Goodrham looked nowhere as near as sharp and bouncy as he usually is. When he got the ball he didn’t set off with meaning but appeared to dawdle. That wasn’t just on him, it was down to everyone. Players weren’t available giving him options.

No partnerships were evident and there was a lack of understanding all round. When he’s in the box Dane Scarlett has a natural instinct of where to move to. Further out that is not evident but again could be as much to do with no one being on the same wavelength. Coming short when the ball goes longer; making a bit of a run when the pass is shorter. That sort of thing.

We now usually seem slower on the ball than the opposition. Unable to go anywhere when we approach the half way line and when we knock it long we inevitably lose the aerial dual.

However Hull couldn’t score – which was helpful to us. Going in at the break level was a real bonus. Hard to justify probably but a partial counter argument being that Hull were only genuinely unlucky really once.

The game hadn’t been going long when I’d reasoned that Mohamed Belloumi wasn’t going to be much of a threat. Brown saw the ball out for a goal kick and the Algerian made no noticeable effort to win it or force a corner. After that though he tormented us down our left. That was quite a worry with both Greg Leigh and Ciaron Brown playing.

I’ll admit I was confused here. Some said we were playing Leigh and Hidde ter Avest as wing backs with Brown as a third centre half alongside Elliott Moore and Ben Nelson. I thought we were playing four at the back with Brown in his usual left back position and Leigh further up all the time more as a winger but if not that then wide midfielder. The formation on the BBC website showed a 4 / 2 / 3 /1 set up.

Belloumi was soon into his rhythm. He put in a low cross to Kasey Palmer who, unmarked on the edge of the area, didn’t set himself right and put the ball high and wide.

More good work by Belloumi and from quite a similar chance he’d set up it was Xavier Simons’s turn to miss.

After another Belloumi cross which wasn’t cleared, Hull kept possession and built a very good move on the opposite flank. This ended with Abdulkadir Omur playing a slick one two with Palmer and finding himself bearing down on Jamie Cumming’s goal. Our keeper produced an excellent save with his outstretched right leg.

For all Belloumi’s craft his finishing was on a par with that of his team-mates when he should have done better after we failed to clear. His next effort though was a beauty, curling a shot against the post with Cumming having no chance of getting anywhere near it. The ball had been with keeper Ivor Pandur just 15 seconds before this shot. It only took three passes and some unopposed running straight at our defence for the chance to be created. It was embarrassingly easy. We had no barrier and looked so easy to play through.

It was nearly half time before we had a proper effort on goal. From a Leigh cross, Pandur acrobatically kept out ter Avest’s header. Possibly wing back to wing back. Just getting a practice in for what was to come later. With the ball still live both Scarlett and Idris El Mizouni went for it. Another example of a lack of understanding and communication? But better than each leaving it for the other I suppose.

Obviously Oxford fans were hoping for much better in the second half. That didn’t come immediately with it starting as the first had finished, Hull being superior. Their finishing thankfully remained garbage. Simons put another shot way over although to be fair it was a harder chance to convert than some of the earlier ones.

Then just 10 minutes in amazingly we scored. Cumming with the ball at his feet played it towards the half way line and it was no surprise when we didn’t win it. Full-back Ryan Giles did. His touch though was poor and ter Avest nicked the ball to Will Vaulks who laid it into Goodrham’s path. With green grass ahead of him I’m shouting for Tyler to head into it, something he’d not had much chance of doing up to then. But no, he stops, looks up and hits an accurate crossfield ball straight to Leigh who has found acres of space. Leigh takes it down with his first touch and curls it into the penalty area with his second. We’d broken with pace and had three yellow shirts there. Only two white shirts were around to try and handle them. Scarlett dived at the ball and missed it allowing it to reach ter Avest who took it on his chest then converted with the outside of his right foot. Pandur’s outstretched arms and legs could do nothing to put our man off or stop the ball entering the net.

We then became a different team although by no means perfect or even close to our best this season. Hull still had chances and went close but these were much more infrequent and we never looked like getting a second to ease the palpable tension. There were though periods when we kept the ball much better. A goal and the lead bred confidence.

McEachran was getting stuck in. At one time this looked alien to his game. He was even partaking of the darker arts. Shoving opponents in the back. That’s wrong except when referees allow it. Then it’s absolutely the right thing to do for your team. Vaulks got better and possibly had his best game yet in an Oxford shirt.

Everything was put in and the necessary done to get these three points. A couple of things in this regard really stood out for me. Sam Long had to replace the injured Nelson in the 62^nd minute. He slotted in just fine. Chris Bedia, a sizeable forward, came on for Hull with six minutes of the 90 remaining. He ended up in a battle with Long a bit of a way into our half. If he’d got away he would have been through on goal. He used his strength on our number two who wobbled but our man found the inner resolve and determination to stay on his feet, stick with his man and get a tackle in. Such things secure points.

As does keeping the ball near the corner flag to run the clock down. Peter Kioso, who had replaced ter Avest in the 72^nd minute, was an absolute master at this. And for once the linesman didn’t automatically give a free-kick to the side desperate to get the ball up the other end of the pitch.

There was some real skill on display in all this too. Before he went off ter Avest had the ball close to the touch line just in front of the South Stand. It was really congested. Players from both sides were crowding round. In the first half and against Swansea we’d almost certainly have lost possession. Not now. The most delicate of little chips popped the ball over a stretching Hull leg to find a yellow shirt. Marvellous.

It wasn’t all quality touches and expertly seeing it out though. Mark Harris, who got the last 20 minutes, showed poor control near the half way line. This meant instead of heading for goal or at the very least keeping the ball to relieve pressure on our defence, Hull were back in possession and ready to go again. That’s not good enough and I think we all know that.

Eight minutes. Eight bloody added minutes. No way. Well no way when compared to the four we’d had three days earlier. Actually on reflection and with the win in the record books, the eight may well have been about right. It’s just that often the officials don’t seem to take account of all that goes on. There had been a few stoppages for injuries, there had been a fair few substitutions and we’d been pretty good at slowing things down when in the lead. Dark arts are needed to win football matches.

So where does this leave us?

Without this win it would have been a horrible situation.  On the face of it 17 points from 14 games would appear to be quite decent as would being 16^th in the league but the six teams below us all have 15 points, including Plymouth, who occupy the last relegation slot. (We are, as has often been the case, just 5 off the final play-off spot too, although a West Brom win on Thursday night would change that.)

I’ll always be looking for three worse teams than us. Current form, as per the BBC, is judged on the last six games. We’ve got six points in that time. QPR with three and Pompey with five are worse. Hull are bad too. They’ve also picked up just three and are now one of those sides on 15 points. Their fans have turned on head coach Tim Walter. The German only came in during the summer.

It’s not only teams near the bottom of the table that are currently off form. Blackburn, who were unbeaten until October, have only got four points from the last six games and now sit 10^th with just two more points than we’ve got. Other than the few at the summit and the two occupying the last two places, talk of “top” and “bottom” isn’t that meaningful as it is so incredibly tight.

The bookies relegation odds now read, Pompey (bottom) 4/11, Plymouth (3^rd bottom but on 15 points) 4/6, QPR (2^nd bottom) 6/4 and then us 9/4. The next shortest odds are PNE at 9/2. Cardiff, who have put a really good run together, are now 5/1.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Watford is now a free hit with this win under our belts but it takes the pressure off somewhat. Hopefully we can now relax more than would have been the case.

Watford’s home record is W5 D1 L0. They’ve beaten Sunderland and Middlesbrough at Vicarage Road. On Saturday they scored six at Hillsborough.  There’s no let up.

Biggest concern has to be the injuries. No-one that’s out – and there are loads of them – important players all, are going to be back for Friday. Nelson has now joined that list. Listening to Des Buckingham on the radio after the game we learned that Louie Sibley is also now out for between 4-6 weeks. Forgotten man Jordan Thorniley is, we learn, also on this very long list. And Max Woltman. We need bodies, fit bodies. When Des mentioned “a couple” being back after the international break I didn’t sense total positivity. We’ve got way more than a couple missing and it takes time to get back up to Championship speed.

But we have to go with what we’ve got. That’s a given.

* (“sold out”) – Who categorises a game as being sold out? Our previous seven games at the Kassam all had different overall and away attendance figures quoted. Why the difference?