Quel dommage.
Today, Hull deservedly fell to a one nil defeat to Plymouth in one of the most dour, tedious, and lethargic games I have seen all season. All we needed to achieve in this game was a win and rely on West Bromwich to lose, but I think we got the wrong end of the stick; we played like we had the upper hand in the playoff chase: there was no threat, desire, or dedication, despite Rosenior and the players urging us to get behind them during the week, ensuring us that our dream at he start of Acun’s campaign will come true. We did not see any glimpse of this on the pitch, and it was quite disappointing, especially for the fans who had to depart at 2am.
I do not like criticising us after a great season, in which we have finished much better than we did last season, but we let our chances slip too many times and, thus, the season has ended in the way it has. We will also lose some of the players who we brought in during the transfer windows and it is unlikely that we will keep Greaves, after some offers from Premier League clubs have been rumoured. Let’s hope the gaffer knows what he is doing and builds on the squad next season.
We made one change to the starting eleven which was fielded in our fantastic game against Ipswich last week, with Liam Delap replacing Omur. That meant we lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation as follows: Ryan Allsop, in goal; Regan Slater, Alfie Jones, Jacob Greaves and Matty Jacob as the back line; Jean Seri and Tyler Morton in the middle of the park, with Philogene and Carvalho on the flanks, Delap up-front and Tufan just behind.
It was the men in green who came out of the stops faster and better (they only needed a win to secure a place in the Championship), having two great opportunities to break the deadlock. The first came in the 7th minute after Argyle made a superb attack, which released Whitaker in the box, whose shot was blocked by Greaves. Ten minutes after this, he found himself in-front of goal again when Hardie played him in, but his shot was smartly saved by Allsop.
We had few good spells during the first half, which is unusual from us; our best chance came in the 27th minute, after Philogene found Delap on the overlap, but the latter’s shot at goal was tame enough for the keeper to make a comfortable catch. We never tested Cooper after this and had his work cut of for him due to our poor attacking display and some strong defensive work from his teammates.
Consequently, as we were not posing a threat and playing some very sloppy football, the hosts punished us and drew first blood in the 40th minute; Callum Wright – subbed on for the injured Bundu – swooped a lovely ball into the box, which was headed into the back of the net by Edwards. I thought this would wake us up, but I did quite the opposite.
Rosenior made two substitutions, taking off Tufan and Delap for Ohio and Omur. But the second half was just as dull as the first. However, it was The Tigers who had the first bite of the cherry as in the 50th minute, Philogene cut in from the left channel and let rip from outside the box, but it was deterred by Cooper. Jacob was then able to pick up the pieces and slide a clever ball behind their backline, but it was intercepted and put out for a corner.
A slight flicker of hope, however, that disappeared after West Brom went three to the good. That meant we would need Preston to stick four past them and hope we score two goals. Or, as Norwich were losing 0-1, we needed to win by at least seven. Alas, the rest of the afternoon turned out to be a disaster; we never threatened again.
Bali Mumba had a chance to put the icing on the cake in the 76th minute after his meandering run, where he was interchanging passes with Wright, resulted in the latter being gifted a golden opportunity from just six yards out, but he managed to fire just wide. Then. Moments later, he created another chance himself after his clearance set Whitaker and Ben away on a counterattack, but Greaves was there to snuff out the danger.
That was the end of that.
Next season it is then and with the manager, owner, and players that we have the ability to bring in, it could be the season for us. In Liam we trust.