The Bruce Bonus: Hull City’s Premier League Adventure

By John Howell. This past week the Football Association announced they will look to reject Hull City owner Assem Allam’s request to change the clubs name to Hull Tigers in a rebranding operation.

The Egyptian born majority shareholder has threatened to sell if he is not allowed to change the 110-year-old name.

All of this has hung a black cloud over what has been an outstanding season for the East Yorkshire club, and most of it is down to their manager.

Since his arrival at Hull City in June 2012, Hull City has gone from strength to strength under the guise of Steve Bruce. Sitting comfortably in 13^th place and six points clear of the bottom Bruce has defied all pre-season expectations of an immediate return to the SkyBet Championship.

So why have Hull succeeded where fellow promoted clubs Crystal Palace and Cardiff have struggled?

Hull gained automatic promotion by the skin of their teeth last year. Drawing 2-2 at home to Cardiff, the Tigers needed Watford to lose at home to Leeds United, which is exactly what happened. Barely promoted, Hull were favourite with many pundits to find themselves in the bottom three come May.

Instead, Steve Bruce has shown his growth as a top class manager.

Historically, promoted teams look to the lower leagues for new talent: it’s a cheaper and much more viable option. Top players in the Championship are happy to spend a season in the Premier League and chance relegation, knowing that the team is in a stronger position to go back up with an improved quality in squad next time around.

Crystal Palace broke their transfer record on Peterborough United striker Dwight Gayle and recruited winger Thomas Ince from Blackpool on loan. Both are exciting young prospects but untested at Premier League level.

Cardiff took a different route and spent big on talent from abroad, bringing in Chilean midfielder Gary Medel for £11m, along with Danish striker Andreas Cornelius for £7.5m. With add-ons the actual transfer fee was almost £11m, which along Cornelius’s salary over a five-year contract, plus a £1.25m signing-on fee, meant Cardiff committed themselves to a total pay out of more than £20m. After 11 appearances without a goal, Cornelius re-joined FC Copenhagen for a cut price £3m in January.

Hull took a different approach and looked for unwanted but proven players within the Premier League.

England internationals Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore both joined from Tottenham in the summer and have shone in midfield. Honduran defender Maynor Figueroa made nearly 150 Premier League appearances for Wigan before joining Bruce’s side in June, whilst centre back Curtis Davies also has previous experience in the top flight. Goalkeeper Allan McGregor was recruited by Bruce from Besiktas. Before his year at the Turkish club the Scotland international played in the Champions League with Rangers.

In January, Bruce further invested in Premier League quality with the purchases of strikers Nikica Jelavić and Shane Long from Everton and West Brom respectively. Both have hit the ground running with a flurry of goals in a handful of games.

But its not just the improved quality of squad that has lent itself to Hull’s success; After all, Fulham’s squad is of proven Premier League quality but are languishing at the bottom of the table.

Steve Bruce has learnt lessons in his time at Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Sunderland and knows how to operate a team like Hull City.

Whilst Crystal Palace under Tony Pulis are defensive and look to steal a goal at the other end, and Cardiff have been far more attacking incomparison – Bruce has found the balance between both to gain results.

Solid at the back and dangerous going forward, Hull’s style of play suits its players and the belief shown by their manager has spurred them on this year to several famous results, including a victory over title contenders Liverpool.

The success hasn’t only limited itself to their league positioning. Hull’s victory over Sunderland in the FA Cup has secured a visit to Wembley for a semi-final fixture against League One side Sheffield United. Hull are odds on favourites to reach their first-ever final at the new Wembley stadium.

The next four encounters for Bruce’s side are all against sides in the bottom half of the league. A strong end to the season wouldn’t shock anyone after the miracles the former Manchester United defender has performed so far.

With uncertainty over the ownership of the club, there have been doubts cast over the long term future of their manager. Should Bruce leave, it will be with his head held high, it would also be a huge mistake on the part of Assem Allan. With his reputation in tact, it will be no problem for the Northumberland born boss to find another post. It will be hard for Hull however, to find another Steve Bruce.

Will Hull City beat the drop? Has the lingering “Tigers” rebrand talk got the potential to destabilise Steve Bruce’s squad? And is Bruce now ready to manage a top table team?

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