Iain Dowie likes to urge his players to read self improvement books – Chicken Soup for the Soul remains a favourite – but, very soon, the only manual Hull’s squad may require is a guide to Championship grounds.
On a night when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink was carried from the pitch unconscious, Dowie’s team saw their grip on the Premier League loosened by opponents with Europe on their minds. Depending on West Ham’s result at home to Wigan, it is now conceivable that, should they fail to beat Sunderland here on Saturday, Hull could be effectively relegated.
A fine goal from Gabriel Agbonlahor followed by a James Milner penalty proved sufficient to keep Villa’s faint hopes of Champions League qualification alive in a game where Martin O’Neill’s almost certainly Europa League bound side were rarely fully extended.
With the fear of relegation intensifying in east Yorkshire, the time for regret and recrimination has arrived. Accordingly Adam Pearson, Hull’s chairman, had some harsh words for his predecessor, Paul Duffen, in the match programme. “In my personal opinion the decisions made by Mr Duffen in the summer of 2008 and, even more so, in 2009 were extremely short-sighted and lacking in business sense and specific football knowledge,” wrote Pearson. “He seems to have had no understanding of the industry, Hull City AFC or the city of Hull itself.”
So far so damning but the criticism became even more coruscating: “Grounding core beliefs were lost somewhere between summer 2008 and autumn 2009,” added the current chairman. “The safety valve of pragmatic realism was cut off and the club under Mr Duffen spent money it didn’t have … in my personal view it is poor business sense and a lack of moral responsibility. Just under £6m spent on agent fees in two years is morally abhorrent. A wage bill of just under £40m when the club turnover is £50m in the Premier League. The maths don’t add up.”
Hull were soon in deficit on the pitch. A trio of hapless attempted clearances by Dowie’s players, the last from Paul McShane, sent the ball ricocheting, bagatelle style, around the box. Finally, having cannoned off John Carew, it fell to Agbonlahor wide on the left and, from a tight angle, he expertly directed a right-foot shot over Matt Duke and into the top corner.
Agbonlahor’s 16th goal of the season prompted some concerted rejigging on Dowie’s part, Hull’s manager switching his formation from an originally cagy 4-3-2-1 to a less risk-averse 4-1-3-2 as he sought an equaliser.
As the tension rose, home tempers began fraying and Stephen Warnock accused Craig Fagan of elbowing him as they challenged for a high ball. Incandescent, Ashley Young steamed towards Fagan before McShane dived in to protect his team-mate.
When the dust finally settled, Dowie’s men seemed re-invigorated and after George Boateng, now Hull’s midfield anchor, won possession impressively, Brad Friedel was required to save well with his legs from Vennegoor of Hesselink. The rebound fell to Kevin Kilbane but, much to his chagrin, the defender then saw two strikes thwarted by first Friedel and then James Collins.
In the technical area Dowie cursed but at least his revamp appeared to be effecting an improvement. And especially as Jimmy Bullard was now properly able to use his passing ability to shape the play from a deeper position.
The game was delayed for seven minutes at the outset of the second half as Vennegoor of Hesselink received treatment on the pitch for a serious-looking injury suffered in a clash of heads with Richard Dunne, which knocked teh Dutchman out. When the striker, still to regain consciousness, was eventually carried off on a stretcher Jozy Altidore came on in his stead.
Shortly after play resumed Villa, remembering they were still pursuing European horizons, threatened to score a second when McShane’s shocking backpass sent Carew racing clear on goal only to be denied by Duke. Hull’s keeper, normally second choice to the benched Boaz Myhill, then did well to tip an Agbonlahor shot over the bar.
Sensing the Championship beckoning Bullard tried, desperately, to drive Hull forward but, too often, found himself second guessed by Milner and Stilian Petrov. Undeterred Fagan became even more manic than ever, deservedly earning a booking for a brutal bodycheck on Young.
Villa won a penalty when Boateng tripped Milner in the area and a midfielder much coveted in Manchester stepped forward to convert it in style.
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