Gregory Whitaker

  • Hull City’s Slutsky gamble is worth the risk

    Less than two months after Hull City’s relegation was confirmed following that awful afternoon at Selhurst Park, the Tigers are back at the training ground planning an instant return to the Premier League.  While the Championship has been a familiar stomping ground for Hull City and our fans over the past decade, the same cannot be said for the majority of the club’s skeleton squad and their new manager, a rookie to the English game, Leonid Slutsky. While appointing an untested foreign manager is always a risk, especially in the ruthlessly unpredictable Championship, this is a gamble I am pleased the club have taken. Following the inevitable, yet no less heart-breaking, departure of Marco Silva just weeks after the Tigers’ Premier League relegation was sealed, City’s search for a manager was on.

  • Hull City Fan View: Pre-season prophecy fulfilled despite rollercoaster season

    Hull City fan blogger Gregory Whitaker reflects on a season which ended in relegation for the Tigers, falling just short of safety at the death.

  • Hull City Fan View: Allams must learn from past mistakes to rebuild Hull this summer

    Hull face a crucial summer if the club wants to avoid sliding down the leagues, so what will happen to Marco Silva, the Allam owners and the squad?

  • Hull City Fan View: Hull's owners must leave or we face going into oblivion

    The Allams 'stubborn, arrogant attitude' could be about to lead Hull into football oblivion, says Gregory Whitaker - and they have to go.

  • Crystal Palace showdown could seal a bleak future for Hull City

    After an expected Swansea victory against Sunderland earlier today, which once again highlights just what a shocking result last weekend’s 2-0 defeat against David Moyes’ men really was, Hull City’s penultimate match of the season against Crystal Palace tomorrow lunchtime could prove a pivotal fork in the road for Hull City as a football club. A win could signal the start of a miraculous ‘great escape’, with Crystal Palace being pulled back into the relegation dog-fight heading into the final game of the season. A defeat, on the other hand, would confirm the Tigers’ much-mooted ‘inevitable’ relegation, with fans left fearing that a fate similar to those of Blackburn, Charlton and Blackpool could be on the cards.

  • Hull City Fan View: Marco Silva must turn to Tom Huddlestone in one last roll of the dice

    If Hull City are indeed relegated at the end of this season, last Saturday’s disastrous defeat against Sunderland at the KCOM will surely be the game that did it for the Tigers. Despite a fantastic performance from Jordan Pickford in the Sunderland goal, Marco Silva’s men looked nervous and never really in control of the game. This simply cannot be allowed to happen against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

  • Hull City Fan View: Tigers deserve to go down despite Marco Silva's best efforts

    In this very blog last week I noted that I could almost feel the oncoming barrage of ‘Typical City’ hashtags on social media as the Tigers prepared for a make or break weekend. Despite going into Saturday two points ahead of relegation rivals Swansea, and with what appeared to be, on paper at least, the easier of this weekend’s fixtures, it pains me to say I was right. While Marco Silva blamed his players’ nerves for a shocking 2-0 defeat against David Moyes’ already relegated Sunderland side, plaudits must go to their young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford who was outstanding today – not that this will provide any comfort to the Hull City faithful this evening!

  • Hull City Fan View: Hull are still not safe so three points against Sunderland is crucial

    Hull City are still far from safe in the Premier League so three points against Sunderland are crucial

  • Hull City Fan View: Jakupovic’s heroics could prove vital in Tigers' survival bid

    Gregory Whitaker takes solace in Hull's draw at Southampton as the Tigers scrap against the drop.

  • Hull City Fan View: Underrated Sam Clucas is our player of the season

    Hull City’s quite incredible home record was maintained against all odds on Saturday as Sam Clucas’ wonder goal sealed a priceless victory at the KCOM. Ironically, Clucas’ only poor performance of the season came against Watford at Vicarage Road in October, where an injury to Andy Roberson saw the former Chesterfield man start at left-back. While he was certainly given the run-around that day by Watford’s Nordin Amrabat, his performance on Saturday, capped-off by his goal of the season, surely made up for it, as well as epitomising the type of performance City fans have come to expect from one of the club’s strongest, yet often overlooked, player of the season contenders.

  • Hull City Fan View: Victory over Watford provides Tigers with psychological edge

    When your side are bang in the middle of a relegation battle and your lone striker is sent off in the 25th minute of a must-win home game, you know it’s going to be a long afternoon. The outcome of a Premier League season is often decided by outstanding results like this, and now with just four fixtures left of the season could Saturday’s remarkable result against Watford give City a psychological edge over our relegation rivals? After commenting to fans sat around me before the game that Bobby Madley has impressed me this season, the referee promptly had what I can only describe as the most one-sided refereeing display I have ever witnessed.

  • Hull City Fan View: Michael Dawson must be sacrificed for the run-in

    Just like his brother, Andy, before him, Michael Dawson has become a firm fans’ favourite at the KCOM since his arrival in 2014. As we head to the climax of our Premier League survival campaign, where there is certainly no room for sentimentality, is it time for Silva to drop Hull City’s club captain?

  • Hull City Fan View: Shaqiri wonder goal heaps pressure onto Hull's home form

    Gregory Whitaker looks at what lies ahead for relegation-threatened Hull City

  • Hull City Fan View: Marco Silva must take calculated risks against Stoke

    With only six games left of the Premier League season and Hull City currently finding themselves outside of the relegation zone, the Tigers’ Premier League fate is very much in their own hands. Marco Silva’s Hull City travel to the Potteries to face a mid-table, but horribly out of form, Stoke City side on Saturday, knowing a rare away win would be priceless in keeping Premier League survival hopes alive.  After an expected defeat at the hands of Manchester City last time out, Silva must revert back to a more attacking 4-4-2 formation and take some risks to record a first Premier League victory on the road since August.

  • Hull City Fan View: Manchester City defeat must not crush spirits

    Despite, what must be described as, a fairly comprehensive defeat away to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, Marco Silva, the squad, and, most importantly, the Tigers’ fans must not be too disheartened after what has been a good week overall for the club. After collecting six points from our last three games, and taking another vital step closer to the end of the season outside of the relegation zone, I for one am feeling more confident than ever that a famous ‘great escape’ can now be pulled off by Silva and Co. After what felt like a potentially season defining 4-2 win at home to Middlesbrough on Wednesday evening, Marco Silva was forced to change his starting XI at the Etihad, replacing the injured Harry Maguire for the returning Michael Dawson in the heart of defence, and giving Evando his first start since coming back from injury ahead of Abel Hernandez.

  • Hull City’s fate now very much in their own hands

    Being a Hull City fan really does involve a roller-coaster of emotions. After disappointing results against Leicester and Burnley last month, I, and the vast majority of the Hull City faithful, had completely written off the Tigers’ survival chances and resigned ourselves for an instant return to the Championship. There is only one place to start – Marco Silva’s quite incredible record managing at home.

  • Hull City Fan View: 'Back to basics' approach could give Tigers a lifeline

    Hull City’s dreams of a great escape were kept alive on Saturday afternoon as Marco Silva’s side ran out 2-1 winners against West Ham at the KCOM. While defenders Andy Robertson and Andrea Ranocchia grabbed the headlines with two very well taken second half goals, the real plaudits deserve to go to Silva and his excellent half-time reshuffle which turned the game on its head. Has the Portuguese finally found a formation which best accommodates his limited squad?

  • Hull City Fan View: Tigers must contain former hero Snodgrass to keep survival dream alive

    With only nine Premier League fixtures to go and Hull City still firmly in the relegation mire, it has reached the inevitable time of the season when all fixtures are being categorised with the dreaded ‘must-win’ label. With a former Hull City talisman returning to the KCOM just three months after leaving, with a point to prove at his new club no less, what could possibly go wrong for the Tigers? It is utterly made for the ‘Typical City’ hashtags to reappear all over social media – Hull City’s player of the season between August and December, Robert Snodgrass, returning to the side that he worked so hard to steer away from the relegation zone during the first half of the season, only to contribute to our expected relegation with a goal for his new club West Ham in March.

  • Hull City Fan View: Why are our players overlooked by England?

    In Hull City’s 113-year history the club have never had a player represent England. While the likes of Raich Carter, Nick Barmby and Michael Dawson were all full internationals prior to their stints with City, no Tiger has ever pulled on the famous Three Lions for a first team fixture. While the likes of Jake Livermore, Ben Gibson and Michael Keane are all worthy of recent call-ups, is Harry Maguire, for example, just at too much of an unfashionable side to get a call up of his own?

  • Hull City fan view: Easter Report Card - The Top 3 Tigers

    During the Premier League’s last international-break hiatus, all the way back in October, I picked my top three Hull City players who had really caught my eye in the opening three months of the season. Despite a woeful summer, a positive start to the season had me feeling strangely optimistic about the season ahead, as I picked Curtis Davies, Sam Clucas and Robert Snodgrass as City’s early stand-out performers. Big Harry Maguire has been a revelation this season, as the former Sheffield United youngster has finally been handed the opportunity to fulfil his huge potential.