New Hull City signing John Egan delivers Burnley insight and Scott Parker influence
John Egan admits swapping a battle for promotion back to the Premier League with Burnley for a relegation scrap at the opposite end of the table wasn't an easy decision, but says it was one he was pleased to make.
The 32-year-old Republic of Ireland international was City's sole deadline day arrival last Monday when he joined the Tigers on an 18-month deal, and in a typical football quirk, his debut for his new club is likely to come at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.
Egan, who has more than four hundred career appearances under his belt, could be handed his first start by Ruben Selles after spending a full week training with his new teammates, as City look to secure a fourth away win in a row, and inject fresh life into the bid to survive in the Championship.
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Having a weekend without a game had afforded Egan a chance to get to know his new surroundings and make a case to his new boss that he's ready to come straight in.
"It's been good getting to know the lads and obviously working under the manager and staff," the Irishman told Hull Live. "We had a really good week's training last week. With the weekend off, we were training hard, so it was good to get straight into it.
"That's football for you and life, I suppose," he said of his immediate return to Turf Moor. "Going straight back there, there's a lot of good people at the club. I really enjoyed my time there, but now I'm a Hull City player and I'm going there to try and help this club get a positive result."
City registered their interest in the former Sheffield United skipper earlier in January, but stepped that up in the hours before the window closed, coming hot on the heels of that disappointing 2-1 home loss to Stoke City, and Egan admits the whole experience was frantic.
"Maybe a couple of weeks beforehand (he knew of City's interest), but then it went quiet, and then on deadline day, I had a call the night before deadline day, and I decided that it would be the right fit for me. I made my way over Monday and met everyone, did my medical, and the deal was done, so it all happened fast.
"It was frantic," he said of the weekend in general. "I was down in Portsmouth away with Burnley on the Saturday and then trained on Sunday morning and got a call Sunday night. Then, all of a sudden, I'm in Hull on Monday morning. That kind of sums it up, but that's football and I wasn't the only person to move on deadline day.
"You're just trying to get as much information as you can, speak to people, think about it and make a decision. That's about it, really. It wasn't a straightforward one because I became really attached to the Burnley lads and the manager, who was very good to me. It was difficult.
"When I spoke to Hull (City) and spoke to them in depth about the team and the season, I felt like I was really wanted here. I was delighted to take the chance of signing for Hull (City)."
Burnley will come into the game having conceded just nine goals so far in the Championship, and with Saturday's 1-0 shutout at Southampton in the FA Cup, it's now ten clean sheets on the spin, such has been the change of approach from the swashbuckling style we saw two seasons ago in the Championship under Vincent Kompany.
Egan says Parker, who has guided both Fulham and Bournemouth to promotion from the second tier, is a special coach after admitting he was gutted to see the ex-Blade leave.
"The record is incredible," he said of his now former club. "I was a part of the squad for the first half of the season. The work done on the training ground, the manager is a really, really high-level coach as well, and he drilled the lads really well. And even when I played, it was an easy team to play for because everyone was structured.
"Listen, I get on really well with all the lads there, they're having a fantastic season and keeping loads of clean sheets, but I'm a Hull City player now. It's mad in football how it can quickly switch. The focus on us is going there and getting a positive result.
"He's (Parker) an incredible human being, really top manager. I really enjoyed working with him. Sometimes in football, you move to another club. I'll always look back on my time at Burnley; even though it was short, it was still very sweet."
