8 hours Ago By [email protected] (Peter Smith)
The Championship final day will see a nerve-jangling decider for the final relegation place. Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle are both already down (barring an unprecedented swing in goal difference for Plymouth) but Hull City, Luton Town, Preston North End, Derby County and Stoke City are still fighting for their lives. Here we zone in on Hull, currently third from bottom and the bookies’ favourites for the drop.
They head to Portsmouth on Saturday (12.30pm) Hull sacked Liam Rosenior at the end of last season after missing out on a play-off spot despite backing him in the transfer market. In came former Hamburg boss Tim Walter ready for another massive summer window, partly overseen by former Stoke head of recruitment Jared Dublin and funded by the big money sales of Jacob Greave and Jaden Philogene.
They lost Liam Delap from last season too after his loan ended. Some signings have worked out better than others. Oscar Zambrano, who Dublin had scouted for Stoke, was signed while under investigation for breaching doping regulations – and subsequently banned for 16 months.
He remains on loan at Hull until the summer, with Hull paying a portion of his salary – and his suspension has been reduced to 12 months. Walter was gone by the end of November, having won three and lost eight of 17 league games. HullLive explained at the time: “Walters’ reign hit the buffers against Portsmouth earlier this month.
Fans booed Walter ’s team off at full-time against Pompey before the German criticised the level of support in one of his post-match media interviews, a move which did not go down well with many calling on him to be sacked at that point . “He then refused to go over and acknowledge the away fans at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, blaming his decision to not go over on being wet from the heavy rain, as his fractured relationship became broken beyond repair. “Walter’s unique style, which was labelled ‘heart-attack’ football before he arrived at City following his stint in the German second division with Hamburg, has struggled to generate results, nor the excitement fans were expecting when he was appointed, and now, he’s paid the price for a poor start to the season, and leaves Acun Ilicali looking to appoint his fourth permanent manager in just under three years as owner.
” In came Ruben Selles from Reading on December 9 and form has improved, just not enough to drag them away from the bottom. They were busy again in January, agreeing a £1 million loan deal with Aston Villa for Louie Barry – but the 21-year-old suffered a knee ligament injury in February and hopes of a final day return have been quashed. There have been season-ending blows for Mohamed Belloumi and Liam Millar too as well as Eliot Matazo, who signed a mega money deal when he joined from Monaco in January.
There were big wins over Plymouth and Oxford in March but only two have followed in the following eight matches and home defeats to Luton and Derby have been particularly punishing. Nat Phillips scored in the 84th minute to win it for Derby on Saturday. They came from behind to win 2-1 against Preston on April 21 and that means they can head to Portsmouth for the final curtain this weekend knowing that a win there will guarantee survival – but defeat and they are guaranteed to be down.
Only Leeds have a better home record in the division than Portsmouth since early November - P16 W11 D3 L 2 F29 A11 – but Pompey can go into the match in a relaxed mood having already booked their place in the Championship. Selles said after Hull were booed off against Derby: "It's difficult to take because I think this team has done enough, but we have no other way than to analyse, accept it and accept the fact that if we win the last game of the season, we will be where we want to be.” Hull supporters have been getting in touch with HullLive after the loss to Derby.
David Evans: No chance in the last game! The other teams down there are playing with guts. We don't have any! I hope you come back next week and prove me wrong but I'll not be holding my breath! Kerry Rand: Come on Hull City you know you can win. You need some fire in your bellies and fight or else we go down so come on fight.
Mark Walmsley: Cutting edge? We didn't get close to any edge. The most negative pass back, pass side, duck out, unambitious, lacklustre rubbish I've seen at home this season. It was the equivalent of me expecting, a perfectly cooked Wagu steak, fresh al dente buttered asparagus, creamed, mustard Maris Piper mash, charred Italian beef tomato and grilled Portobello dawn-picked mushroom served with a well-rounded, plum-nosed black pepper-tinted Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
What did I get served up? Burnt cheese on toast and a mug of Vimto. Steve Holmes: We won’t win at Pompey. No positive going to Fratton Park.
It was in our hands and they blew it. Luke Moore: What happens if they go down? Does Acun sell up? Who’s going to buy us? Tom Leeman: Such a lack of pace in the team. On the break so easy to defend against.
And why oh why did we keep crossing it with those three lumps Derby had? Hull will be without Regan Slater after he hurt his ankle against Derby while Louie Barry’s hopes of a return have been dashed. Slater rolled his ankle on Saturday and had to be replaced early on by Steven Alzate, who had been rested after the previous Monday's win over Preston. “Losing Slater will come as a big blow to Selles,” say HullLive.
“The dynamic midfielder providing much needed energy in the middle of the park in recent games, and carving out some good chances.” Hull were notified ahead of the Derby game that Louie Barry had suffered a setback in his recovery and would not be fit to come back to Hull this week as expected. John Egan is hoping to overcome a back complaint which saw him withdrawn against Derby.
Hull are 13/8 to be relegated and 4/9 to stay up. A win and Hull stay up. A draw would be enough if Luton or Preston lose or Derby lose by more than two goals.
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