Hull City Fan View: Pre-season prophecy fulfilled despite rollercoaster season

What a bizarre season it has been for Hull City AFC. During my lifetime as a City fan, spanning five promotions and three relegations, I have experienced the dizzying highs and the sickening lows of supporting my local football team. However, this season has been a complete anomaly. From being written-off by fans and pundits alike before a ball was even kicked last summer, via a mini-revival under an exciting new manager, and finishing with the bitter disappointment of relegation following an injection of false hope, it is so difficult to know how to feel, or even how to evaluate the club’s season.

While I would be lying to say I’m not disappointed, it is an expected disappointment on the back of a season I enjoyed far more than I believed possible back in July. The future may well look bleak at this moment in time for the Tigers, however, in the circumstances I believe that, somewhat paradoxically, when the dust has settled, this season of ‘what-ifs’ will be looked back on with a certain level of fondness in years to come.

READ MORE: Premier League end of season awards: Yahoo Sport’s best and worst of 2016-17

READ MORE: Marco Silva leaves Hull City with immediate effect – reports

While taking the positives out of this season is difficult right now, there are a few aspects of the past ten months I have really enjoyed as a City fan. Despite very much being a sceptic at the time of his appointment in January, thinking he may well become Hull City’s answer to Remi Garde, Marco Silva must be considered one of the few success stories of this season, despite falling at the last hurdle and failing to keep the Tigers in the Premier League. Since his arrival, the Portuguese managed to win twice as many Premier League games than his predecessor Mike Phelan, lifting City off the foot of the Premier League table in the process and taking our chances of survival into the 37^th game of the season. As is visible from my blogs from the time, this is some feat considering the vast majority of the City faithful had already consigned the club to relegation at this point.

The style of football introduced by Silva must also be considered an unexpected positive of an otherwise miserable season. A possession-based, fluid style of football, which was only really let down by a lack of quality in the final third, was a breath of fresh-air and a legacy I am sure will help Silva find a top job in Europe football in the coming weeks. It is also a style of play that brought the best out of our limited squad. The likes of Sam Clucas, Harry Maguire and Andy Robertson all showed signs of improvement in the second half of the season, while Tom Huddlestone arguably displayed his best form in a black and amber shirt. For this reason alone it seems an immense same a talent like Silva will likely become the fifth shortest serving manager in the club’s history.

Finally, the club’s League Cup run must also be remembered as a positive from this season. Under Mike Phelan the Tigers made it to their first ever League Cup semi-final, and under Silva performed amicably against Manchester United, beating the eventual winners 2-1 at the KCOM in the second leg.

However, as with any relegation season, there is of course far more negatives than positives to be taken from the past ten months. I’m almost sick of talking about it but the issue that just will not go away is that of the ownership. Indeed, the overriding memory of this season will surely always be the turmoil on and off the pitch last summer. Steve Bruce’s resignation, no replacement manager, no new signings, and an ongoing civil war between the fans and the owners over ticketing. Infamously, the squad travelled to their warm-weather pre-season training camp with just 13 senior professionals and no manager – an embarrassing situation which saw the club branded ‘The worst prepared club in Premier League history’ by the tabloids. As I discussed last week, when this season is analysed in the future, the club’s defeats to Sunderland and Crystal Palace will be pin-pointed as the moments Hull City were relegated. However, in reality, Hull were as good as relegated last summer.

READ MORE: Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy: Mauricio Pochettino is not going anywhere, he loves us

READ MORE: Klopp wants Liverpool transfer dealings wrapped up as soon as possible

What I have hated about this season is that it has been peak ‘Typical City’ – it is always the hope that kills Hull City fans. As I said last week, the arrival of Marco Silva injected life into the club. So much so, in fact, that the team actually managed to get into a situation where Premier League survival was in our own hands with just three games to go. However, this was merely the illusion of Premier League life. Silva’s spell in charge will always be fondly remembered, though through no fault of his own, this relegation was fully deserved for the way Hull has been so horribly mismanaged by the Allam family over the past few years.

Finally, it is also the potential legacy of this season which is worrying Hull City fans. This seemingly inevitable, but very preventable, relegation is already having its expected consequences. With Silva all but confirmed to have left the club, which is surely set to be followed by a mass exodus of players either on loan deals or who have relegation clauses in their contracts, there really is a feeling it might be a long, long time before the Tigers grace the top flight of English football again.

What a roller-coaster of a season it has been. One that is likely to be remembered on a national stage for all the wrong reasons once again. However, I do believe, amongst City fans, this season of ‘what-ifs’ will be paradoxically looked back on with a certain level of fondness in years to come. While it looks unlikely at this stage, let’s pray for a stable and productive summer and a return to the Premier League sooner rather than later. It is the least this set of fans deserve.