This time last year, Hull City were in nearly the same position as the Terriers are now – or as close as you’re ever likely to get, at any rate.
Hull City was in disarray just over a year ago, in early November 2022. The optimism that fueled a takeover earlier this year in the aftermath of difficult times had given way to a poor run of form.
Shota Arveladze, the manager, was fired in September, after only eight months on the job. Despite some encouraging signs under caretaker manager Andy Dawson, his departure did not result in an improvement in form. Hull had the league’s worst defensive record, having been thrashed both at home and away by West Brom, QPR, Stoke, Swansea, and Middlesbrough. As a result, they were just one point above the relegation zone, level on points with Coventry.
History is repeating itself 77 miles down the M62, at Huddersfield Town, with the cinders of Guy Fawkes effigies still lazily waiting to be swept away.
Optimism generated by a takeover, yadda yadda, sacked in September, et cetera et cetera, terrible defensive record due to maulings, yes, all of it, even sitting in 21st, level on points with Coventry – albeit after 15 games, rather than 18, in Town’s case, and David Wagner has made Town look better once again by inspiring his Norwich side to an even worse defensive record.
Meanwhile, Hull? They’re doing well, thank you, sitting in ninth place and hoping to close the two-point gap to Preston North End and move into the play-off places. More power to them in that endeavour, as long as it does not take place this weekend.
That turnaround from where they were this time last year is exactly what Huddersfield Town should aim for over the next 12 months: to go from worrying about relegation to having realistic hopes of returning to the Premier League for the time being.
Town is hoping that the managerial appointment has already been made. Of course, Darren Moore will have to do things his own way, but at the weekend, he clung to the same approach that inspired Liam Rosenior’s slow but steady revival of fortunes at the MKM Stadium.
Rosenior quickly realised that he had a small but hardworking squad that needed things stripped back to basics – and that a disciplined point was infinitely preferable to a chaotic defeat. His record in his first half-dozen games at Hull was similar (but not identical) to Moore’s at Town: four draws, one defeat, and a home defeat from a winning position to a Reading side that had just begun its downward spiral in the Championship table.
Fans, it’s safe to say, were not pleased, and neither was Rosenior. “I’m not going to have a go at the players because they’ve given me everything in the last week, but what we need to do is work on the small details,” he said after
Nobody knew it at the time, but Hull would only lose once more at home all season, to eventual champions Burnley. They have only lost once more at home in the Championship this season, and that was to one of the teams that replaced Vincent Kompany’s side, newly-relegated Southampton (a game better known as the P&O Derby, probably).
Rosenior’s turnaround at Hull was not based on anything spectacular. If you’ll excuse the revolting image, the results following his arrival last season read like a sea of yellow: Last season, Hull drew 14 of Rosenior’s 28 league games in charge. But, with the exception of Burnley and Luton Town, they only lost six games. Sheffield United, the third promoted club, joined Burnley and Luton Town.
That says it all: sticking to that back-to-basics, disciplined, safety-first approach was ultimately the key. Was that consistent with Rosenior’s overall football principles? Certainly not. A slow and steady climb to 15th place isn’t exactly glamorous. But it was still far superior to the alternative.
Crucially, it also meant that Hull knew months before the season ended that they wouldn’t be in trouble, allowing them to begin planning for the summer transfer window early. Their attack, in particular, has been transformed: Aston Villa winger Jaden Philogene, Brighton’s Aaron Connolly, and Premier League loanees Liam Delap and Scott Twine have all been impressive.
