Hull City 1 - West Bromwich Albion 1

Date:	Saturday 24th February 2024
Competition:	Sky Bet Championship
Hull: 6.3	(4-4-1-1) Allsop, Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Giles, Philogene, Morton, Seri (Slater, 78), Zaroury (Tufan, 78), Ömür (Connolly, 64), Carvalho Unused subs: Pandur, McLoughlin, Docherty, Traoré, Sharp, Jacob
WBA: 6.6	(4-2-3-1) Palmer 5.9, Furlong 6.7, Kipré 7.0, Pieters 6.5 (Ajayi, 84 5.9), Townsend 6.8, Yokuslu 7.2, Mowatt 6.7, Fellows 6.4 (Reach, 64 4.8), Diangana 3.8 (Swift, 69 4.8), Johnston 6.4 (Chalobah, 84 5.7), Wallace 5.9 (Weimann, 69 4.7) Unused subs: Griffiths, Bartley, Marshall, Ávila Gordón Manager: Carlos Corberán 6.6
Scorers:	Carvalho (35); Furlong (43)
Referee:	Stephen Martin 6.3
Attendance:	22,654 Home Fans 5.0 Away Fans 7.6

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Ratings submitted so far: 11

Brendan Clegg:

Probably in the minority but I was disappointed with that. I thought we showed them too much respect and didn’t go for a game that was quite winnable. Carlos has earned the right to do what he wants but I do think he’s too clever sometimes.

The lineup wasn’t what I’d hoped. Weimann being a fit striker on goal scoring form, I’d have started him and gone for the win early before shutting the game down instead of the other way around.

Instead we had Wallace up there with Grady in the hole. I thought we were the better side up until they scored but we just couldn’t make the ball stick. Despite that we hit the post from a decent move and in our best attack, MJ (showing what damage I think he’d do in that central role) drove at them, sat a defender down but then elected to shoot when we were 3 on 1 over to his left with Wallace and Grady waiting. We should’ve been 1 up.

Their goal was what happens when you nap for a moment against an EPL player who is potentially the best in the championship - you get punished, with Palmer possibly a bit culpable.

Credit to us for rallying and Furlong showed Okay, Chalobah and BTA (chances in recent games) how to attack and header a ball downwards for a deserved equaliser.

Second half they pressured us but we rode it out and I really thought with 30 to go it was there for the taking - Grady for Weimann and have a right go at them.

Instead CC went for Reach, who might’ve done okay but who absolutely weakened us or our our ball due to his lack of pace.

We proceeded to take off MJ and Wallace for Swift and Weimann and ended up with a solid but very slow side.

Hull should’ve punished us but hit a post and missed the rebound.

We did the same from Reach after they coughed up possession, and Swift really had to finish the rebound but scuffed it enabling the keeper to save.

We played the last 25 like a training match, insomuch as we tried experimental subs and the players tried extravagant things - Weimann going for a lob and miserably failing when played through and Swift walloping one over the stand when we were in a great position.

In the end it’s a good point and a decent week, and generally things are on the up for us with little to complain about. Results went our way too. I just think shifting the dial a fraction more towards “try to win” instead of “do not lose” might’ve got us to the same points total as Ipswich currently, especially our away form.

And also, there are still so many points to play for... worry about winning your current game not forecasting the next.

Palmer - 6 bit of an off day, maybe should stop the goal, still decent
Furlong - 8 big goal and strong performance
Kipre - 7 Pretty dominant
Pieters - 7 Solid. Playing too well to drop but will be on the radar, some poor passses
Townsend - 7 Tough opponent but dealt with it well, some great tackles
Mowatt - 7 Lots of work bjt little to hit
Yok - 7 Had control of it
Fellows - 6 poor service but made things happen
Grady - 4 Worked really hard but surrendered it too cheaply or tried to do too much
MJ - 6 lively, needed him in it more
Jed - 6 Stretched them but also couldn’t make it stick. I’d have kept him on wide.

Reach - 6 Did okay overall but imagine pace there when it opened up
Weimann - 5 We create chances when he’s on, he should’ve done better with one of them
Chalobah - 6 I thought he passed it really well when he came on to be fair
Swift - 4 Missed a huge chance and wasted another situation
Semi - 6 Solid enough

Looking for a big performance on Friday night. I think Southampton’s results are showing that we had an off day against them, as good as they were on the night.

Kev Buckley:

Episode 34- The one with four wingers: Hull City 1 WBA 1

Clearly, "the boy Marshall", brought in as cover for the central striker role, might as well have stayed playing in the reserves at WHU, because, based on what Corberan has seen of him since he was brought in on loan, he's not going to be given a start, even when we have no recognisable number nines available.

The manager chose to start this one with four wingers in his XI, not only preferring Wallace to Marshall (or Weimann?), but also trying to make a case for Grady being thought of as a number ten. the saving grace in all this was that at least Corberan didn't ask Fellows and Johnston to play on their opposite sides in the Wingerpalooza.

Unlike a number of our away games, we didn't really start this one on the front foot, but then neither did the Tigers, with both sides content to knock it around, and it wasn't until the eight minute that one of the four wingers really got into the game, Johnston having a run down the left, although the final cross was blocked.

Hull's probing and recycling saw them play a ball into acres of space in our left-back area, as the quarter hour passed, with Kipre, still partnering Pieters in the centre, despite Ajayi being back and available after AFCON, blocking the eventual shot.

Johnston had a dribble across the box, from the left, a couple of minutes afterwards but his right-footed shot was off target, and shortly after Hull had shouts for a penalty as the ball hit Fellows on the arm in our box, he'd soon be up the other end playing in Wallace whose shot hit the woodwork before Mowatt couldn't make anything of the rebound.

Around 25, Yokuslu would overplay and get caught in possession with Palmer eventually having to beat away the shot, although neither side could really having been accused of "going for it" - more of a loitering with intent to commit something.

With ten minutes to go to the break, though, Albion switched off as Hull took a corner quickly, and Palmer was beaten by a fine strike from the edge of the box.

Although it had not been a typical away performance leading to us going behind, the stats around what happens when we typically do must have had many worried but, as the half ended, Furlong, often being the near post flick-on target, for once got above the ball from a corner and so headed it down so that it bounced over the keeper and into the far side netting.

Palmer was almost chipped, just five minutes into the second half, but on the hour mark, Corberan decided to use his fifth winger, taking off Fellows and bringing on Reach so as to see us playing with three left wingers and a right-winger up front. Hmmm?

That, not unsurprisingly, changed little in the six minutes before two more wingers were taken off, although with the manager having now exhausted his supply - then again, I suppose he could have deployed Pipa or Weimann in a wide role, such are the number of players in the squad with a claim to being able to do a job out wide - a number ten, Swift, came on for Diangana, and Weimann came on for Wallace.

With ten to go, Hull hit the post with Palmer beaten and then blazed the follow-up over the bar, before gifting the ball to Reach, still masquerading as a right winger, who used his left foot to curl one around the keeper and onto the far post, with the rebound taking the ball across the goal and so opening it up for Swift to pass the ball into an empty net, however, he could only drag it off-target, back past the far post that Reach had just hit.

Johnston, in being subbed off with Pieters, ensured that none of our four starting wingers would see the game out: Ajayi slotting in at the back, with Chalobah nominally replacing the Celtic man but not really being asked to do a wide-left role: so I guess that means we just played without a left winger for the last five minutes. Hmmm?

Can't help feeing that Wallace is wasted when played as a 9 and, even though I am a big Diangana fan, he's just not a 10, and he needs to be given a chance to run at people down the left, where, it seems, everyone else in the squad, albeit not Pipa in this one, gets a chance to play.

Recovering after going behind, so as to get a point away from home against a side who might have gone above us, was made even better when both Sunderland and Watford lost at home, whilst Norwich could only draw, which saw us end the day four points clear of the pack.