When Mike Phelan was dismissed with his team rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table in early January, Hull City looked like a club without hope.
After registering shock back-to-back victories over champions Leicester City and Swansea City in their first two matches following promotion back to the top flight, Phelan’s charges had taken only seven points from the next 54 on offer.
On top of their on-field struggles, which many felt were at least partly self inflicted, there was also considerable discontent on the terraces.
Several supporters have boycotted games at the KCOM Stadium in protest at Assem Allam’s continued ownership of the club, with Hull’s average attendance (20,600) substantially lower than in previous campaigns at this level.
Relegation seemed inevitable at the turn of the year, and the identity of Phelan’s replacement did little to inspire confidence in the idea that a turnaround was possible.
Although Marco Silva, the former Estoril, Sporting Lisbon and Olympiacos manager, had a decent track record behind him, a lack of Premier League experience was viewed by some English media TV pundits as a significant barrier to short-term achievement.
Silva was not given the easiest of starts either. After a meeting with Bournemouth, Hull’s fixture list read: Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal.
There were also two matches against United in the League Cup and the rather unwelcome distraction of FA Cup ties with Swansea City and Fulham, all within the space of 42 days.
A high level of player turnover in the winter transfer window served as another potential obstacle on the path to improvement.
Jake Livermore was sold to West Bromwich Albion and Robert Snodgrass to West Ham United, while Lazar Markovic, Andrea Ranocchia, Alfred N’Diaye, Oumar Niasse, Omar Elabdellaoui, Evandro Goebel and Kamil Grosicki all joined the Hull ranks, most on temporary deals.
It was a hectic period that would have proved testing for even the most veteran of managers, but Silva, 39, appeared to handle things well and soon began to instigate an upturn.
A 3-1 defeat of Bournemouth in his first league game in charge was followed by a 2-0 loss to Chelsea, before Hull held Manchester United to a goalless draw at Old Trafford and beat Liverpool 2-0 in front of their own supporters.
There has been a discernible improvement in their organisation and shape out of possession, with midfielder Tom Huddlestone recently asserting that “wherever the ball is on the pitch and whatever system we play we know exactly what is and what isn’t required of us, with and without the ball”.
Hull have consequently become much more difficult to play against, with two consecutive clean sheets the reward for their hard work on the training ground.
Niasse, Markovic and Evandro have already made their mark on the team’s attacking output, too, even if last month’s loss of creator-in-chief Snodgrass was undoubtedly a blow.
Their commendable triumph over Liverpool moved Hull to within a point and a place of safety ahead of Saturday’s trip to Arsenal, with more winnable matches against Burnley, Leicester City, Swansea, Everton, West Ham United and Middlesbrough to come thereafter.
Silva’s side do not yet have the points tally to survive, nor do they necessarily possess the same quality of player or experience of battling against the drop as some of their relegation rivals.
They do have something more intangible, though, which could ultimately make the difference as they seek to extend their stay in the Premier League beyond a single season.
Thanks to Silva, Hull have hope.
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Defensive Middlesbrough must score goals to avoid relegation
Last weekend’s 1-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur was the 10th time Middlesbrough have failed to find the net in a Premier League game this season.
With just 19 goals in 24 top-flight encounters, Aitor Karanka’s charges are the lowest scorers in the division.
While their backline has been breached on only 27 occasions – comfortably the best record of the teams around them at the bottom, and superior to Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool, too – Middlesbrough’s lack of a clinical edge inside the penalty area could ultimately prove costly.
Karanka is a safety-first manager who has always prioritised keeping things tight at the back. In their promotion-winning campaign last term, Middlesbrough conceded the fewest goals in the Championship but were only the eighth highest scorers.
It was a similar story the year before: no team let in fewer goals than their 37 in 2014/15, but Bournemouth, Watford, Norwich City, Brentford, Ipswich Town, Derby County, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest all made the net ripple on a more regular basis at the other end of the field.
Although their solidity has hitherto served Middlesbrough well on their return to the Premier League, a record of three goals in their last seven fixtures is putting a sturdy defensive unit under increasing pressure.
Strikers Patrick Bamford and Rudy Gestede were added to the squad in January, but both are still waiting for their first starts.
The fact that Middlesbrough are averaging nine shots per game – again the lowest in the top tier – suggests that the issue is primarily one of creation rather than conversion, though, so it is unclear how much of a difference either centre-forward will be able to make.
Middlesbrough remain outside the bottom three, but a little more attacking endeavour would almost certainly make their fight against relegation a great deal more comfortable.
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