Hull envy…
Yesterday, the ol’ interweb was not unsurprisingly jam-packed with chatter from Canary fans as our own glorious Championship play-off final was finally consigned to the history books.
In terms of it being a spectacle for the neutral, Hull and Sheffield Wednesday offered up something akin to last season but it wasn’t the quality, or otherwise, of the football that got the juices of the Canary Nation flowing… oh no.
Instead it was a main course of empty Wembley seats followed by a hearty helping of schadenfreude that helped pre-occupy the City faithful as we searched in vain for some comfort; something to take away the pain of the double-whammy of relegation and having our noses rubbed in it by 70,000 Yorkshire folk.
To see large swathes of red, unused seats for a Championship play-off final was certainly unusual – I even found myself feeling a tiny bit sorry for Steve Bruce and his men – but a combination of factors meant Hull’s half of Wembley did a more than passable impersonation of Portman Road.
The sums were ugly. They were able sell just 25,000 of their 40,000 allocation or, to put it another way, just 11,000 more than Lowestoft Town took to Wembley for the FA Vase final in 2008.
For Twitter it was a tap-in but for a city that also has two top level rugby league clubs, both of whom played yesterday and all of whom are in direct competition for their share of the city’s 256,000 population, perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise.
Another factor worthy of note is that they have become almost Wembley regulars of late, something far removed from our own ‘first time in 30 years’ experience.
So, to describe them as ‘tinpot’ seems a bit harsh and at least they can’t be accused of attracting loads of glory-hunting, Johnny-come-latelys.
The aforementioned schadenfreude was naturally aimed at Sheffield Wednesday’s lumbering, disinterested-looking, chance-less lone striker, who was to pay big time for his ‘what a shame’ tweet; unleashed in the minutes following City’s relegation.
Some back-tracking has since occurred from the iPhone of Gary Hooper but we’re not daft – not all of the time.
Some fear that we’ll be made to pay when we play Wednesday next season, with a riled up Gazza sure to make us pay. I’m less convinced.
It’s nailed on he’ll score against us, I just think it would have happened regardless.
But, my overriding feeling yesterday afternoon?
Undiluted envy
Give youth a chance?
The rise and rise of Marcus Rashford and a goal inside three minutes of his England debut has re-ignited the ‘if they’re good enough, they’re old enough’ debate. It looks likely that Rashford will be heading to France, possibly at the expense of Daniel Sturridge and his legs made of cheese.
It prompted a rash (no pun intended) of comments about City’s talented youngsters and how Alex Neil must be bold in offering youth a chance, particularly minus the pressure of a Premier League relegation battle.
But beyond James Maddison – who by all accounts is ready for all the Championship is about to throw at him – it’s yet clear to me whether those who in terms of age are knocking at the door are actually good enough.
The Murphys have proved relatively successful in Leagues One and Two but neither were ready to cut it in the Champ last time round and it’s hard to see Carlton Morris’s spell at Hamilton Accies being sufficient to fast-track him into City’s forward line of one.
Perhaps Harry Toffolo, if Martin Olssom were to depart, would have a shout but on the face of it we’re not blessed with too many who are on the verge and with the Under-21s suffering the same fate as the first-team the progression from academy to first-team is something for the new chief executive to get his or her teeth into.
For me, the key word in the phrase is ‘if’, and right now I’m not convinced too many of ours are good enough… which is a shame.
Euro hope…
Ever since Gareth Barry was shown a clean pair (and some) by Mesut Özil in Bloemfontein while plodding through quicksand, my interest in England has waned horribly; a far cry from my days of being a Wembley regular and in France for the ’98 World Cup.
A “golden generation” of charmless multi-millionaires who delivered precisely nothing did little to help but it was a disconnection that ran deeper than failure on the pitch.
Yet I’m actually looking forward to France ’16 and not just because Messrs Terry, Cole, Gerrard and Lampard are thankfully long gone.
The new crop do appear to have a little something about them and, even if the defending bears an alarming resemblance to what we’ve witnessed over the last nine months, there’s a hint of likeability that’s skipped a generation.
They’ll probably mess up and break our hearts in a penalty shoot-out style but by entering a tournament without the bells and whistles of old, the pain will be diluted.
And besides, for City fans there’s plenty to look forward to beyond England, not least Wes finally, and belatedly, getting his chance on the biggest stage. And I can’t wait for Lafferty to score and re-ignite the ‘why dunt Neil play ‘im?’ debate.
For once, it could be fun and will be a pleasant footballing diversion to what has been a fairly rotten 2016 for City fans.
Bring on the Lowestoft…
For those of us located on the wrong side of the border, news that City’s second friendly is to be at Crown Meadow, Lowestoft came as a pleasant surprise.
The Trawlerboys have recently suffered a relegation of their own – from the National League North back down to the Isthmian Premier Division – and so will be buoyed to get something close to a full house when the Canaries come to town.
They’re captained by ex-City youngster Rossi Jarvis and there will be a fair sprinkling of other former City Academy graduates in their line-up, so it should be interesting.
So, get the visas sorted, make sure the passports are up to date and gear yourselves up for a border crossing on the evening of July, 12.
The welcome will be warmer than it is in that small town and the ground will be full.
A lot of good sense as ever, Gary.
While we shouldn’t go overboard on the prospects of our young players, I wonder if you’re perhaps leaning too far on the cautious side. You downplay the Murphys as ‘relatively successful in Leagues One and Two’, ignoring that Josh is returning to us as Player of the Season in a Championship club.
No guarantee of success in our first team, of course – but credit where credit’s due.
Fair point re Josh, Stew. Let’s hope that form can be translated into Championship quality.
Clarification for you – the empty seats were in the hull city end. The support from Sheffield Wednesday was premier league and they could have filled the stadium alone, such was the demand
Fair point Martin – should have made that clear. Wednesday fans – all 40,000 of them – were simply magnificent.
Martin(2) – no clarification required I’d have said. It’s a pity maybe that number and decibel level of a club’s following doesn’t necessarily correlate with the team’s success on the pitch – another Yorkshire club (Leeds) are testimony to that.
The empty seats weren’t a reflection of lack of interest from Hull fans but a bloody stupid allocation system wasn’t it?
Hull fully deserved the final promotion place and next season’s Championship struggle looks like being a belter. With no sarcasm whatsoever, the PL can keep its fancy Olympic stadium and multi-billion Murdoch monies.
No doubt, the Championship is the place to be next season. Just ask Gary Hooper 🙂
Unfortunately, the Premier League seems to be the haunt of “ready made first teamers” with little opportunity for youngsters to learn the trade. It’s a ruthless environment, where managers are more concerned at losing their jobs than blooding young new talent.
I doubt if Josh would have been in the first team, let alone player of the season, in a top 6 Championship club; he may yet improve, but players of his type tend to reach their best levels quite young, partly because speed and agility is a big part of what they are. I guess his main hope must be that Redmond moves on (which I think he will) and that he is himself rather hungrier for success than Jarvis.
Rather than “if they’re good enough, they’re old enough” I prefer “if they’re good enough they don’t need to go out on loan”.
I can remember players who have come through the ranks and made it straight through to the first team quite young without needing to be blooded in the lower leagues first e.g. Sutton, Fox, Gordon, Goss, Andy Johnson, Donowa, Justin Fashanu, Bellamy, Keith O’Neill, Green, Russell, Shackell.
But from the many who have gone on loan I can not think of any who came back sufficiently improved to grab a first team place. Can anyone?
I think it will be the same now, and I agree that Maddison – who is not our youth product – is the one younger player who should be able to make an impact next season.
The empty seats were clearly a Hull City problem as they returned the tickets but there was a problem with club wembley trying to make on resale.
As for Hull city fans being indifferent to the clubs owners it’s a poor excuse as Wednesday & Norwich will testify over the years as we have had our problems with our Chairman. It’s great you have Delia and the cooking sherry to keep you going.
Gary Hooper was gutted for Norwich to be relegated as I was sitting with him at the time watching the game and the tweet was misunderstood.
Good luck for next season as there is respect for the canaries in Sheffield, look at the send off provided to Dion Dublin previously on his retirement !
It’s one of the homes of football
You’re not that Martin Atkinson are you? The one with the whistle? Thanks for the respect comments:-)