Hull City fans will be ringing in the New Year, not knowing what 2025 has in store for them after what has been nothing short of a chaotic year, one which has gone by in a flash.

City began the year dreaming of a return to the Premier League after a seven-year absence, and instead, they'll wake up on New Year's Day praying the Tigers remain in the Championship, albeit in better spirits after two wins in the final three games to give them some much-needed festive cheer.

For now, survival is the name of the game for City, who have spent much of the season so far in and around the bottom three and, for a time, propped up the rest.

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Tigers fans will hope that 2025 has more ups than downs, but for that, only time will tell. A good start to it would be winning the first three home games against Middlesbrough, Leeds United and then Doncaster Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup - oh, how we would all love some FA Cup magic.

Here's a look at 2024 in review...

Promise and failure

The year began with a real belief that Hull City would at least make the play-offs. City were sixth in the table after 25 games having amassed 39 points and in a race to secure a top six birth, after ending 2023 with a home win over Blackburn Rovers.

Unfortunately, the New Year's Day defeat at Sheffield Wednesday proved to be something of a turning point City. A 3-1 defeat in front of a big away support in some ways set the tone for what was to follow. The Tigers lost Tyler Morton early on to a joke of a red card and then it was revealed Liam Delap had suffered a knee injury which would keep him out for three months.

Probably the highlight of the year was that magical week in February when City won at Rotherham United, courtesy of Jaden Philogene's Puskas award contender, going to Huddersfield Town and winning deep into stoppage time when Jacob Greaves headed in the winner, and then going to Southampton and playing them off the park to win 2-1. Rarely, if ever, did it get better.

From then on, City struggled for wins and, ultimately, missed out on the top six with a poor run to finish the season. Even the signings of Fabio Carvalho and Anass Zaroury couldn't inspire the Tigers to a play-off berth, and since then, things have unravelled massively.

Amid all the worry, including the eye-watering accounts released earlier this week, the steady job being done by the universally popular Ruben Selles is giving cause for quiet optimism.

Lack of home comforts

Watching City at home in 2024 has been tough, to say the least. Just four wins in 24 games tells it's own story. At least the year ended with a draw and victory following the appointment of Ruben Selles, which gave Tigers fans some much needed cheer at the MKM Stadium, which had been badly lacking.

City's dropped points in the first half of 2024 was the reason they failed to get into the top six, and those problems have not gone away since Liam Rosenior's exit, with Tim Walter winning just one before he was sacked.

Selles will be desperate to kick off the New Year with some home success, and he'll have some good opportunities to do just that with games against Middlesbrough on New Year's Day, followed by Leeds United and then the Grant McCann derby in the FA Cup to start.

Transfer success - and failure

It's been another mixed bag of recruitment throughout the two windows this year. January was largely viewed as positive with the likes of Fabio Carvalho, Anass Zaroury, Noah Ohio and Billy Sharp all arriving. The capture of Carvalho captured the imagination of the football world, but the lack of frontman to replace the injured Liam Delap proved costly.

That said, some would argue Rosenior's refusal to play Ohio more often and instead operating with a false nine was equally as impactful.

In the summer, City were slow to get going and that set the tone for a poor start. Fourteen of their new arrivals came after the final friendly of the season, somewhat ironically, a convincing defeat at the hands of Ruben Selles' Reading. The lack of activity left Walter furious and he never really recovered from that state of mind.

Again, the club's lack of a striker had proved costly, as did allowing Oscar Estupinan to leave the club again, this time on a permanent deal before adequate cover was brought in. Mason Burstow is a player with potential but remains raw, while Chris Bedia has looked a long way off the pace, and though Joao Pedro is a class act, City still need added firepower because they don't score anywhere near enough goals.

The Oscar Zambrano deal has backfired massively. City knew the potential for a long-term ban, and so it proved when he was slapped with a 16-month ban for breaching doping regulations in Ecuador prior to his move to the MKM Stadium, and now City have a player on their wage bill who cannot offer anything, at least for the remainder of the season, pending his appeal to CAS.

What happens in January will be absolutely crucial in helping Selles guide City away from trouble and into the summer months with a sense of real excitement and optimism that next year could be their year, but it has to be planned, and sensible.

The small matter of injuries

Not wishing to make this a hard-luck story because injuries are part and parcel of the game, and every club will be able to point to their own situations, but it's hard not to mention them when you look back at the year.

Losing Jaden Philogene last December had an impact on City into January and beyond, and then losing Liam Delap early on after the defeat at Sheffield Wednesday was huge. Delap was huge for Rosenior's approach. You've only got to see the impact he's having in the Premier League with Ipswich Town to see how valuable he was to the Tigers. Then there was that hideous challenge by Angus Gunn on Aaron Connolly, which essentially ended his season, and though it wasn't injury-related and a fantastic achievement for him and his country, losing Jean Michael Seri to the Africa Cup of Nations was a blow for City.

If the injuries of last term weren't bad enough, City's two big high-profile signings in Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi both did their ACLs within the space of a few days of each other. The best part of £10m worth of wing magic and goal threat sidelined for a year.

If ever there was a situation to sum up the year, it was that. And to make matters worse, two of the club's other big signings - Kasey Palmer and Charlie Hughes - are both out until well into the New Year. Oh, and for good measure, Carl Rushworth, one of the Championship's highly-rated goalkeepers, hasn't kicked a ball yet, and may well leave without playing a single minute of football. Mind you, nor has poor Dogukan Sinik in 15 months.

Instability on and off the pitch

Change can be positive, of course it can, but it can also have a negative impact. Acun Ilicali's involvement with Fenerbahce has raised questions amongst supporters, especially during the summer window. The Tigers' owner himself admitted that perhaps his vice-chairman role with the Super Lig giants had an impact on City's operations. That was soon followed by Tan Kesler's sudden exit and the murky nature of that if you believe various reports emerging in Turkey as to why he departed.

By that point, highly-respected head of recruitment Lee Darnbrough chose to leave and join Stoke City, with Jared Dublin eventually replacing him, and the club have not yet confirmed the refreshed boardroom structure officially, aside from Acun Ilicali announcing Dublin as the club's sporting director, replacing Beri Pardo.

There's also been the departure of Rosenior and his coaching staff, the arrival of Walter and his staff, and then their departures at the end of November, after what can best be described as a difficult period for everyone associated with the club, and that's without mentioning the exit of 20-plus players, including some influential figures in the dressing room; namely Jean Michael Seri, Jacob Greaves, Ozan Tufan, Greg Docherty and Cyrus Christie.

Arguably, the biggest loss of the year has been McVities and the supply line of some of the best biscuits in the world crumbling before our very eyes; that we may joke about, but their exit from the Tigers has coincided with a really tough spell for the Tigers community, not to mention the post-match press crumble being sidelined. It's the little things that matter, after all!

The year of Q&As

Communicating with the fans has always been one of Acun's key ways of operating, whether that be meeting them in person, doing regular interviews or engaging with them on the flurry of free holidays. However, this year saw a new approach and the arrival of in-person question-and-answer sessions.

Thrust together at a moment's notice, the Tigers owner held a couple of significant ones earlier this year with one coming shortly after Rosenior's exit and then another just before the season started. If nothing else, Ilicali could not be accused of hiding his opinions, especially on goalkeeping matters.

On the plus side

Away from the drama of the on-pitch progress, or lack of it, the work City - and the Tigers Trust - continue to do in the community remains first class and should be heralded.

The various fan-engagement events, things like the Christmas food bank meal, the hospital visit and the celebrations around the club's birthday show just how in touch the club is with the local area.

Ultimately, the feeling around any football is largely governed by what happens on the pitch, but it's worth mentioning that there's a lot of good people who do a lot of good things behind the scenes and away from the glare of a first team matchday.

A glimmer of light

It's hard to get away from the fact that 2024 has been anything but a disappointing one for City. It started out with a feeling of the club being really stable with the squad in a good place, spirit high, a clear identity and promotion to the Premier League a very real possibility.

It ends with so many questions about the way things are going, about the direction of travel, and ultimately, whether or not the club will operate in League One or the Championship next season.

In Ruben Selles, City have a manager who will lead the club with class and dignity, one who is capable of bringing the style Ilicali wants to see, and in stages already, we've seen it. The Spaniard needs time, and space, to sort out the mess left by his predecessor, and hopefully, with a few sensible arrivals in January, he can guide the Tigers away from trouble and keep them in the Championship before another rebuild in the summer.

As exciting as it is having Selles at the helm, it's hard to escape the feeling that 2024 has been nothing but an unwavering disappointment and a big opportunity missed. The challenge for Ilicali, and everybody associated with City moving forward is not to replicate the myriad of errors made this year, learn from them and be better in 2025.

How would you assess City's 2024? Have your say in the comments below....