Don Goodman spoke more in his interview with OLBG about Hull City…
On Hull’s decision to sack Liam Rosenior and appoint Tim Walter, as well as looking set to lose Philogene and Greaves: “It was a shock to me when Rosenior was sacked after Hull City missed out on the play-offs by just three points and finished seventh. During the second half of the season, they struggled to get a natural striker on the pitch with Liam Delap and Aaron Connolly suffering injury problems.
“Had Liam Delap stayed fit, for instance, I would have backed Hull to have finished in the top six. But the owner has his views and wants them to be entertaining to watch and, perhaps, didn’t appreciate the patient and possession-based build-up.
“I don’t know much about Tim Walter but I believe he wants to produce a high-energy team that plays on the front foot. Who doesn’t want that? But is it going to get results? We’ll have to wait and see.
“Acun Ilıcalı has good intentions and his heart is in the right place. He wants to build the football club for the fans and does some fantastic things like funding coaches for away fans and paying for supporters’ drinks at home games.
“I don’t think the Championship is going to be as strong above Hull City as it was last season which, in theory, gives them an opportunity to be challenging towards the top of the league.
“You’d suspect their squad will look a lot different when the season starts to the one that they finished last season with. I’m not sure how hands-on Acun Ilıcalı is when it comes to recruitment. We might see some Turkish players come in after they had a brilliant Euros, it’s hard to say.
“They’re going to lose two of their best players, but you know the owner is very ambitious and, providing profit and sustainability allows, you’d expect funds to be reinvested for the new manager. Recruitment defines how successful a manager will be. If Hull get it wrong, they’ll end up even further away from where they want to be.”
Asked who do you fancy for promotion and relegation from the Championship, he said: “Last season was one of the easiest Championship seasons to predict in terms of who would be at the top as Leeds, Leicester and Southampton all retained a plethora of Premier League-quality players They were always going to be competing at the top end of the league.
“However this season I’m not so confident in the relegated clubs. For Burnley and Luton, it depends on what their squad looks like when the transfer window shuts. Will Burnley keep the likes of Lyle Foster, Luca Koleosho and Sander Berge? If they do, you fancy them to be a force. Will Luton keep the likes of Alfie Doughty, Elijah Adebayo and Carlton Morris? If they do, you’d also tip them to be competing at the top.
“But Sheffield United look like a club in disarray and are coming down from the Premier in a very weak state. A massive overhaul is required for Chris Wilder and his backroom staff. I’m not saying they can’t do it, but he’s up against it at the moment.
“You’d expect Leeds to be towards the top, with the sale of Archie Gray possibly meaning they’ll be able to keep hold of the attacking force that tore apart Championship defences for 80% of the season before falling at the last hurdle.”
“Then with some teams, you don’t really know what to expect from them. You cannot rule out West Brom with Carlos Corberan in charge still, Coventry’s FA Cup semi-final proved a hindrance to their promotion hopes last season, and Middlesbrough ended the campaign very strongly.
“The upcoming Championship season will not be as strong as last season’s, which had the best top-four that I’ve ever seen. That’s going to give an opportunity for some teams to surprise us.
“At the bottom, Des Buckingham has a huge job on his hands at Oxford as play-off winners are notoriously the teams that struggle the most. It’s just brilliant that they’re in the Championship.
“Derby County remind me of Sheffield Wednesday last season as they have one of the oldest teams in the division. Wednesday struggled with the physical side of things early on last year, so it’s interesting to see Paul Warne move on a number of 30-plus-year-olds and bring pace and energy into the club. That gap still needs to be bridged, though.
“I would expect Portsmouth to be the strongest of the relegated clubs and, therefore, I’m looking at the clubs that just about survived. John Eustace has a big job on his hands at Blackburn after they relied so heavily on Sammie Szmodics, it would be some achievement if he could replicate such performances. I’m not sure about Plymouth, and that’s not because of Wayne Rooney, it’s just the nature of them being in the Championship.
“Even Sunderland finished the season winning just two of their last 15 games. They’ve got a new manager in Regis Les Bris, whose background is in developing young footballers but this is the Championship so it’s very difficult for a whole group of young players to succeed and they didn’t have any strikers capable of performing at that level and struggled for goals. Those would be the clubs I’d be concerned about.”
Hull – Fixtures
Sat 10 Aug – H – Bristol City – 12.30pm
Sat 17 Aug – A – Plymouth Argyle – 3pm
Sat 24 Aug – H – Millwall – 12.30pm
Sat 31 Aug – A – Leeds United – 3pm
Fri 13 Sep – H – Sheffield United – 8pm
Fri 20 Sep – A – Stoke City – 8pm
Sat 28 Sep – H – Cardiff City – 3pm
Tue 1 Oct – A – Queens Park Rangers – 7.45pm
Sat 5 Oct – A – Norwich City – 3pm
Sat 19 Oct – H – Sunderland – 3pm
Tue 22 Oct – H – Burnley – 7.45pm
Sat 26 Oct – A – Derby County – 3pm
Sat 2 Nov – H – Portsmouth – 3pm
Tue 5 Nov – A – Oxford United – 7.45pm
Sat 9 Nov – H – West Bromwich Albion – 3pm
Sat 23 Nov – A – Luton Town – 3pm
Tue 26 Nov – H – Sheffield Wednesday – 7.45pm
Sat 30 Nov – A – Middlesbrough – 3pm
Sat 7 Dec – H – Blackburn Rovers – 3pm
Wed 11 Dec – H – Watford – 7.45pm
Sat 14 Dec – A – Coventry City – 3pm
Sat 21 Dec – H – Swansea City – 3pm
Thu 26 Dec – A – Preston North End – 3pm
Sun 29 Dec – A – Blackburn Rovers – 3pm
Wed 1 Jan – H – Middlesbrough – 3pm
Sat 4 Jan – H – Leeds United – 3pm
Sat 18 Jan – A – Millwall – 3pm
Tue 21 Jan – H – Queens Park Rangers – 7.45pm
Sat 25 Jan – A – Sheffield United – 3pm
Sat 1 Feb – H – Stoke City – 3pm
Sat 8 Feb – A – Cardiff City – 3pm
Wed 12 Feb – A – Burnley – 7.45pm
Sat 15 Feb – H – Norwich City – 3pm
Sat 22 Feb – A – Sunderland – 3pm
Sat 1 Mar – H – Plymouth Argyle – 3pm
Sat 8 Mar – A – Bristol City – 3pm
Wed 12 Mar – H – Oxford United – 7.45pm
Sat 15 Mar – A – West Bromwich Albion – 3pm
Sat 29 Mar – H – Luton Town – 3pm
Sat 5 Apr – A – Sheffield Wednesday – 3pm
Tue 8 Apr – A – Watford – 7.45pm
Sat 12 Apr – H – Coventry City – 3pm
Fri 18 Apr – A – Swansea City – 3pm
Mon 21 Apr – H – Preston North End – 3pm
Sat 26 Apr – H – Derby County – 3pm
Sat 3 May – A – Portsmouth – 3pm
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