Hull City Fan View: Tigers deserve to go down despite Marco Silva's best efforts

In this very blog last week I noted that I could almost feel the oncoming barrage of ‘Typical City’ hashtags on social media as the Tigers prepared for a make or break weekend.

Despite going into Saturday two points ahead of relegation rivals Swansea, and with what appeared to be, on paper at least, the easier of this weekend’s fixtures, it pains me to say I was right.

While Marco Silva blamed his players’ nerves for a shocking 2-0 defeat against David Moyes’ already relegated Sunderland side, plaudits must go to their young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford who was outstanding today – not that this will provide any comfort to the Hull City faithful this evening!

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It really is difficult to know where to start. Over the course of this season I have said more times than I care to mention that I believed Hull City would be relegated come May. However, after today’s result – paired with Swansea’s outstanding, yet predictable, victory against Everton – today this statement seems to hurt more than ever. Why? Well, because since Marco Silva’s arrival in January there really has been a feel-good atmosphere and a belief that we could get out of this mess. As I have said before, it really is the hope that kills Hull City fans.

Looking at today’s fixture specifically, everything looked perfect prior to the match. Despite preaching caution and warning his players against complacency during Thursday’s press conference, Silva made the popular tactical decision to start with both Niasse and Hernandez up-front. Considering the amount of goals the Black Cats have shipped this season, combined with City’s recent impressive home form, this seemed an absolute no-brainer. And, indeed, while the partnership never really got going today, this, the only major tactical deviation from our settled starting eleven of late, was not the reason why today’s crucial match was lost.

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When this game is analysed by Marco Silva and his staff tomorrow two main reasons for this loss will become abundantly clear – one that was preventable and another that was not. First and foremost, City simply did not create enough clear-cut chances today. Despite having the attacking talents of Hernandez, Niasse, Markovic and Grosicki all on the pitch from the very start, City only managed six shots on target during the 90 minutes and lacked any real cutting edge going forward. Against a side, at home, rock-bottom of the Premier League and with nothing to play for, this is simply not good enough. This is an area Silva must improve before next weekend’s trip to Selhurst Park.

What cannot be accounted for, however, was the incredible performance of Sunderland’s 23-year-old goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford. While City’s uninspiring attacking performance could have perhaps been overlooked if City had managed to grab a vital early goal, the young England international ensured this was not to be the case with at least two phenomenal saves, preventing both Markovic and Hernandez from giving the Tigers what would have been a priceless lead.

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If this afternoon’s loss didn’t kill Hull City fans’ spirit, Swansea’s 1-0 victory against Everton earlier this evening certainly did. Of course, it is not all over yet, and stranger things have certainly happened with two fixtures yet to play. However, the situation definitely became a lot bleaker today. I would like to conclude what has perhaps been my most depressing blog of the season with a reality check, as I once again ponder why Hull City never do anything the easy way.

As I mentioned earlier, the hardest thing to swallow about this season’s likely relegation is the hope us City fans have been sold in recent months. However, let me first get one thing straight, this is not Marco Silva’s fault – come the end of the season, regardless of City’s final position, Silva will deservedly walk away from the club with a very strong reputation as one of Europe’s most promising upcoming managers.

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No, as I mentioned a few months ago, the bleak reality is that Hull City, the worst prepared team in Premier League history and one of the worst run, deserve to go down. Pundits know it and Hull City fans know it. The Allam family have mismanaged this great football club for years now, and their disgraceful actions this summer are solely to blame for Hull City’s miserable fate. As one well-known Hull City fan summed-up perfectly on Twitter this evening, “The scaffolding that Marco Silva used to prop up the rotting structure of a summer’s neglect gave way today. His watch but not his mess”.