Two Hull City Supporters Talk To Vital Lincoln City

Julian Burley

3 years ago

The last time The Imps played tonight’s opponents Hull City at the KCOM Stadium was last Tuesday in the Quarter-Final of the EFL Trophy. The match finished 1-1, with Harry Anderson putting the visitors ahead in the 7th minute and Greg Docherty scoring for the hosts in the 60th minute. The Imps won 4-3 on penalties, with James Jones, Anthony Scully, Jorge Grant and Brennan Johnson scoring from the spot and Alex Palmer made three fantastic saves to send The Imps into the Semi-Final.

Ahead of tonight’s match, we have done a Q&A with two Hull City supporters, so thank you to Alex and Mark for answering our questions. The answers have been published on two pages. To get to the second set of answers, press “Click here for the second set of answers!” at the bottom right of the page, or click HERE.

If you would like to get involved with the conversation on 100% Imps, you can join our Hull City v Lincoln City Match Thread! We have also published a Lincoln City v Hull City Quiz, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Every page view helps raise money for Lincoln City Football Club!

First up, the answers provided by Alex:

How long have you supported Hull City?

I’m 21 now and I went to my first match at Boothferry Park in 2002 (3-0 loss to Macclesfield).

Where did you finish last season?

Rock. Bottom.

What do you think of your manager?

Grant McCann came to The Tigers having taken Doncaster Rovers to the playoffs the previous year and up until January 2020, we were just outside the playoffs. From there we had one of the worst post-Christmas runs in EFL history. Since relegation, we have mostly hovered around 1st and 2nd in League One so as supporters we have had the best and the worst of McCann in 18 months.

What are your hopes and expectations for the 2020/21 season?

Promotion. Anything less than being back in the Championship for 2021/22 will be seen as a failure.

One(s) to watch?

Jacob Greaves (CB), George Honeyman (CM), Greg Docherty (CM) and Keane Lewis-Potter (Forward).

Which teams you think will finish in the top six in League One?

It’s a very tough one for this as teams are bunched together in terms or points and games in hand are becoming more frequent due to Covid, but I think the top six will look more or less how it does right now barring a good or bad run of form from teams in and around the playoffs.

Which teams do you think will finish in the bottom four in League One?

Again, the beauty of this league is the bottom four could be anyone.

What are your thoughts on Lincoln City?

Their rise through the leagues in recent seasons will have been watched enviously by many clubs hoping to do exactly the same. The 1-0 win at Burnley in the FA Cup is definitely a memorable moment and no doubt a high point for Lincoln supporters.

What do you think the score will be?

Looking at our form recently the score genuinely could be anything!

Random fact about your Club?

We signed Andy Robertson and Harry Maguire on the same day in 2014 for a combined £5.3m. You wouldn’t get much change out of £100m for them now.

If you could steal one Lincoln City player for your own team, who would it be and why?

Jorge Grant. 13 goal contributions this season can’t be looked past. Last season it would have been Tyler Walker who City tried to sign at the start of the season. A pacy goalscoring striker has been missed.

What are your proudest and most embarrassing moments as a Hull City supporter?

Proudest moment – FA Cup Final vs Arsenal in 2014 and reaching the Europa League in 2014/15.

Embarrassing moment – Relegation last season.

Who would you say is your most underrated player?

Jacob Greaves. The Hull-born academy product spent last season on loan at Cheltenham Town and has made the step up to League One seamlessly.

Which was your favourite match involving Hull City?

1-0 vs Bristol City in 2008 to reach the Premier League for the first time.

5-3 vs Sheffield United in the 2014 FA Cup Semi-Final.

Which was your least favourite match involving Hull City?

Losing 1-0 to Barnsley last season. Not a tough scoreline but the worst performance I have ever witnessed.

What is the best thing about Hull?

Chip spice. If you know, you know. If you don’t, then I can only feel sorry for you.

How good is your groundsman? Seems to have a big job on their hands after Tuesday.

Any groundsman working on a pitch shared with a professional rugby league club (Hull FC) has a tough job. Tuesday seems to be a one-off as the pitch is normally in very good condition.

Are you favourites to win the league right now?

I don’t think Hull City are outright favourites, but that’s what makes this league so interesting. Nobody is and teams could finish anywhere.

What will be different should you get back to the Championship?

Some fans will be hoping the manager and owners change. For the team, some consistency and goals would be appreciated.

What did you expect of Lincoln at the start of the season?

Lincoln in my eyes have always been a strong team in the lower leagues but having finished 16th last season, not many fans could have predicted the position they are in now.

Were you surprised when McCann was not sacked at the end of last season? That run of 6 points from 20 games would have been the end for most managers.

Grant McCann is probably the luckiest manager I’ve ever seen in terms of keeping his job. Whilst internally fans could see it going either way due to the current ownership, football fans externally were perplexed as to how McCann kept his job.

Having said that, are you surprised by how well he has turned things around this season?

Turning a team from 6 points in 20 games to being sat in the top two for the majority of the next season is a tough job but with the squad, we have any manager should have been able to achieve this feat.

Hull have made some very good signings this January, which will come at a cost. Do you have any idea where Hull stand in relation to the salary cap?

I am not sure where we stand in terms of the salary cap, but having the Allams as our owners, it is likely that we will be well under the cap due to their tight control of finances.

You had quite a lot of penalties saved on Tuesday night. We have someone called Anderson who can show you how to take the goalkeeper out of the equation with a penalty. Do you think that would have helped you?

The penalties on Tuesday night were absolutely shocking, but they came as a surprise as Hull City have already played in numerous shootouts this season and performed well in all of them.

Do you see it as a positive you won’t now have to play two more games this season? Even though this means missing out on a Wembley final and Silverware?

Promotion from League One is number one priority above all else but a trip to Wembley would have been something the fans were hoping for having made three trips between 2014-2016 (FA Cup Semi/Final and Championship Playoff).

Are there any plans to divert the Humber around rather than through your stadium and do you think your pitch might be a problem for your promotion chances in the second half of the season?

I don’t know anything about this although I can’t see anything being changed from how it currently stands.

What do you think of your iFollow commentary team?

James Fletcher. Good commentator and knows the team well being from Hull. Knows some good stats and facts during the game too. Guests are usually ex-players that have good insight such as Bryan Hughes.

Hull has been a lower league team for most of the last 100 years. Is being in the Premier League really the promised land for a team like Hull?

The Tigers have spent 5 years in the Premier League since 2008 (08/09, 09/10, 13/14, 14/15 and 16/17) and those are the best years for most Hull City fans. Everyone knows the Premier League is the best league in the world and being part of that is the pinnacle for most clubs, even if you expect to lose most games, most wins are celebrated like winning a trophy.

Have a go at our Lincoln City v Hull City Quiz below:

1 of 10

Who scored the winner for Division Three Lincoln when they knocked Division Two Hull out of the FA Cup at Boothferry Park on 12 November 1994?

START THE QUIZ!

The second set of answers:https://t.co/8cWp3UNcJ9 #HCAFC #TheTigers #ImpsAsOne pic.twitter.com/p2zmLvQ5h5

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) February 9, 2021

And now for the answers provided by Mark:

How long have you supported Hull City?

47 years. 1974 was my first game. – Boxing Day, Forest at home (Boothferry Park) Lost 3-1.

Where did you finish last season?

Bottom of the Championship.

What do you think of your manager?

He’s a good L1 manager but many think he’s on borrowed time. We’ll see at the end of the season.

What are your hopes and expectations for the 2020/21 season?

At the beginning of the season, I expected a mid-table finish given our catastrophic form at the end of last season, but Grant McCann stated in summer that he knows L1 like the back of his hand. So far, he’s doing well, and I would expect us to get promotion.

One(s) to watch?

George Honeyman is our midfield engine. The young attacking midfielder, Keane Lewis-Potter who has come through our academy is our next Jarrod Bowen. A Player on form at the minute is Greg Docherty, the player that scored against the Imps last Tuesday after weaving past 6 Lincoln players.

Which teams you think will finish in the top six in League One?

Lincoln, Hull, Donny, Portsmouth, Peterborough and then anyone of 4 sides Sunderland, Accy, Charlton and Crew.

Which teams do you think will finish in the bottom four in League One?

Burton, Wigan, Swindon and Wimbledon.

What are your thoughts on Lincoln City?

No denying they are a strong side and an ambitious club going for a 2nd top spot finish in 3 seasons.

What do you think the score will be?

I called last week’s cup game 1-1 over 90 minutes and I would go for the same. 1-1

Random fact about your Club?

Hull City were involved in the first-ever penalty shootout in England.

If you could steal one Lincoln City player for your own team, who would it be and why?

Liam Bridcutt without a doubt. Good captain. Lincoln have lost more games without him in the side than with him in it.

What are your proudest and most embarrassing moments as a Hull City supporter?

Proudest was the day Deano put us into the Premiership for the first time ever with a superb volley against Bristol Rovers at Wembley 2008.

The most embarrassing on-field situation was the end of last season when we gained the “honour” of officially having the worst run in championship history. 6 points in the last 20 games.

Who would you say is your most underrated player?

Probably, Elder.

Do you have a Supporters Trust and what role do they play at the Club?

Yes. HCST. Hull City Supporters Trust. They played a huge role during the “name change saga”. When the present owners (Allams) took over they put in an application to the FA to change our official name from Hull City to “Hull Tigers”. The trust fought them and made representation for maintaining our original name. HCST won the case.

The Owners have barred the HCST from fan community meetings but HCST still try to reactivate communications with the club.

Which was your favourite match involving Hull City?

The 5-3 win over Sheffield Utd at Wembley in the Semi-Finals of the 2014 FA Cup.

Which was your least favourite match involving Hull City?

8-0 hammering at Wigan last year.

What is the best thing about Hull?

It’s culture and history we are all part of.

How good is your groundsman? Seems to have a big job on their hands after Tuesday.

A topical subject given the complaints about the state of our pitch last Tuesday. Here are the facts from the horse’s mouth so to speak. Our owners have cut costs and staff down to a skeleton crew which is probably understandable given clubs are receiving next to no income due to C-19. We once had a training ground team, a stadium team and associated management. Now we have just one small crew that is responsible for the training ground and stadium. The now, head groundsman has been tending to City’s turf for 25 years and take great pride in what he does. Another big contributing factor is that, usually we relay a new pitch every summer. Last summer (and once again due to cost-cutting) the pitch was not renewed.

Are you favourites to win the league right now?

No, but we will be certainly up there as joint-favourites.

What will be different should you get back to the Championship?

Sadly, nothing. Our owners who have been trying to sell the club for years vowed to stop investment in the club due to the poisonous relationship between them and the fans. All started due to the “name change saga” A popular chant is “Allam Out” …one of his replies was “Allam out, Cheque book out”. Hopefully, if we do get promoted, it will trigger a buyer to take us forward.

What did you expect of Lincoln at the start of the season?

Did not even consider Lincoln. Or any other team for that matter. I was too concerned about our continued poor form and if we could cut it.

Were you surprised when McCann was not sacked at the end of last season? That run of 6 points from 20 games would have been the end for most managers.

Yes. No other manager in the league would have survived that poor run. Obviously, the owners had other ideas.

Having said that, are you surprised by how well he has turned things around this season?

Yes, I am surprised. It has been said that initially, he inherited a few trouble players. He’s since cleared the dressing room and stocked it with his own players. It shows on the field how much harmony there is now.

Hull have made some very good signings this January, which will come at a cost. Do you have any idea where Hull stand in relation to the salary cap?

Ehab Allam runs a very tight ship with regards to salary and will never spend more than he has to. A good few of the new signings are loans so I reckon we have no high earners to worry the owners about.

No. In my opinion, going into a game that may require a penalty shoot-out a team should pre-study footage of the keeper they are up against to spot habits and weaknesses. We were just poor.

Do you see it as a positive you won’t now have to play two more games this season? Even though this means missing out on a Wembley final and Silverware?

No. games are there to be won. These extra cup games are good for keeping the squad rotated and for fringe players to keep match fit. To go out in the quarters is disappointing. But we will take it on the chin and look for revenge on Tuesday.