After losing to Huddersfield last week, we played Birmingham City, at the MKM Stadium, looking for our second home win in a row. Birmingham were 19th in the table and they were seeking their second win in five matches, which would put them 12th in the league.
The line up for Hull had four changes since last week's game and it was made up of: Christie, Figueiredo, Jones, Greaves (at the back), Tufan, Docherty, Seri, Sinik (in the middle), Pelkas and Estupinan (up front). No Longman, Coyle, Slater or Elder started for us, as three of the four picked up an injury and one was benched.
Getting to the game was a struggle as some of the buses were on strike and it was a Sunday service so my brother and I were sitting at the bus stop wondering whether or not we would make it. Eventually, we got there but it would not have mattered anyway because the game had been pushed back to 15:20 due to there being a problem with the measurement of the goals.
We got to our seats and to the right of us is where the Birmingham fans were seated and I have to say that they were not nice fans at all. They were not as bad as the Sheffield United fans, but they were all dressed up with scarves wrapped around their faces and they were also drunk. It was great banter but it was very bad when they scored because they started running towards us, trying to get past the security.
For the first ten minutes of the first half, we looked quite sharp and we dominated in possession. We had some great chances to go in front, as Docherty took a shot but it hit the side netting instead of the back of the net. We all celebrated as if we had scored, which is embarrassing when you are sitting next to the away fans.
It was back and forth after that chance; however, in the 14th minute we gave away a penalty (which I thought should not have been given, as hardly any contact was made) and it was up to the old Watford forward, Troy Deeny, to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. He comfortably put the ball in the back of the net, and Hull were again trailing early in the match. Ten times I have seen us trail this season and we have only come back twice, so I was not optimistic for the remainder of the match.
After they scored, the game continued back and forth and their number six was really frustrating me as whenever he got touched he went down and wasted time. The funny thing was that, after wasting about a minute, he got up and started sprinting for the ball again. With a player like that on your team it is great but on the other it is a nightmare. We did not pressurise enough and we are still going backwards whenever we counter attack. Before we set off for the match, I was looking back at the way we played when we were in the premier league and we never did this. We usually just kept pushing forward and every attacker was making runs and eventually they would have had the ball passed to them so that they could go on and score. They never went backwards and I wish we can go back to playing this kind of football. We had a couple great opportunities to go level but we failed to score, so we went into halftime 0-1 down, which has been a consistent scoreline at half time.
There were no changes made and Hull came back onto the pitch looking for an equaliser. It was absurd to not make a substitute, as we were trailing and we were in need of a fresh pair of legs on the pitch to try and get some energy back into the team. Most of the goals we have conceded this season have been due to stupid mistakes such as, making a bad pass or not clearing the ball near the box. This was the case in this game because Tufan tried heading the ball back to Seri but he headed it too hard and it went behind Seri giving the Birmingham player an easy chance to get the ball and to pass it to Bacuna, who curled the ball into the net giving Baxter no chance at saving it. This was an amazing goal but it came from another mistake. We need to cut this sloppiness out and start switching on more, even when we are behind.
All game we did not look like we even wanted to be out there on the pitch and it is getting really hard for fans to watch. I have a membership as well, so seeing us keep losing like this is exasperating. Eventually, we made a few changes and we got to see two new signings make their debut, Simons and Jarvis. It was too late to bring them on and they did not have an impact on the game as we failed to even score a goal. It was Birmingham who took control of the game and we were lucky to not concede another goal. Deeny had another penalty but he put the ball over the bar.
The problem for Hull this season is that we are not gelling as a team. We have talent on the pitch but they cannot play well together. We are also still passing around the edge of the box instead of passing into the box. We would have a better chance at scoring if we got the ball into the box straight away; however, the dilemma is that no one is actually running into the box so there is nobody to pass too. Throughout the game we had a few shots but we were forced to take them outside the box as Birmingham defended really well. Adding on to the list of problems, our defence is still open and we are letting the opposing side get through us too many times.
We are in desperate need of a new manager, as Dawson is not the man for the job, and we need some of our injured players back in the team. For the next game, we really need to focus on making the defence stronger and work on our attack so that we can actually start scoring some goals.
Our next game is Blackpool away, I will not be travelling down to that one but I hope we can get those desperately needed three points and our first away win of the season.
I would also like to say thank you to my Grandad, Roger Watson, who edits these for me. He is also a City supporter and I will leave a link for his blog here: