After a disappointing few months under the guidance of Tim Walter, Hull City were looking to make a statement for the first game of the Ruben Selles era.
They were so close to achieving that, if it wasn’t for a Rocco Vata strike in the 88th minute for the Hornets, resulting in the Tigers remaining in 24th position.
Despite their current position looking precarious, they only trail 21st place by one point – highlighting the frantic nature of how things can change.
After Chris Bedia opened the scoring on Wednesday night, Hull moved to 20th place, which would have been a huge result for Ruben Selles and his side.
‘Moments’ within performances
With Watford having an underwhelming record compared to their home form this season, it was an opportunity for Hull to accumulate a vital win on the board.
Collecting points has been a struggle for the Tigers throughout the campaign, as their performances have warranted a greater return.
However, especially under Tim Walter, they were unsuccessful at finishing their chances, causing additional strain on their defenders to see games out.
With underwhelming chance conversion being a relevant topic throughout Hull’s season, it escalated to their general play decreasing in quality, ultimately costing Tim Walter his job.
With a new manager arriving at the club, the players understandably showed more promise against Watford on Wednesday night, looking like an exciting side.
The word ‘moments’ was frequently repeated in Selles’ press conference after the game, as the ex-Reading manager mentioned ‘We had a lot of moments, where we were the team we wanted to be’, as stated by Hull Live.
Identity is an important topic that the Hull hierarchy looks for within a game model, as they previously sacked a manager due to his supposed stale brand of football.
Therefore, it’s vital that Selles can produce signs of a promising style of play, whilst accumulating the necessary results to steer the Tigers away from safety.
Selles later applauded his sides’ attacking play during certain moments, reinforcing the team’s progress after only two coaching sessions.
Hull managed to break through Watford’s rest defence regularly through passing combinations, whilst posing a threat on the counter-attack – highlighting the variety of attacking play they can produce, to open up an opponent.
Kamara’s threat
Linking back to Hull’s promising passages of attacking play, Abu Kamara delivered a fine performance, posing a threat on the right side.
After Walter rotated the winger’s position throughout his tenure at the Tigers, switching him between left and right-midfield, it escalated to Kamara finding it difficult to make an impact, often getting contained effectively by the opposition.
However, Ruben Selles used him as a right-winger on Wednesday night, allowing him to get his left foot into play more often.
Although the forward didn’t collect any goal contributions, his extra burst of pace allowed him to beat his direct marker, subsequently lifting dangerous crosses into the penalty box.
Given that Hull has numerous injuries in that position, Kamara will have multiple opportunities to play in his designated right-wing position in the coming weeks, as Mohammed Belloumi & Liam Millar are expected to be out for the season.
Moreover, Turkish international, Omur, has failed to live up to expectations in the right-sided role, giving Selles plenty of dilemmas if Kamara fails to perform.
Getting the supporters on the side
Throughout Walter’s reign, the manager paid little attention to bringing the supporters on his side.
The Luton game was a pertinent example, as he blamed the dampness of his clothing, as an excuse for failing to acknowledge the supporters.
The manager showed little understanding of the process of building a rapport with the supporters, resulting in the fans failing to appreciate his methods.
Although the sample size of games is minimal, Selles made an effort to thank the supporters against Watford, clapping the fans with his players enthusiastically.
Selles reinforced his desire to create a bond with the supporters, as he later reflected on Hull Live , that ‘it’s good to get emotion, a little at the end together’.
Although proof will be in the pudding, it’s hugely positive that Selles is considering the external emotional perspective, as retaining ‘buy-in’ for a manager is vitally important, as well as the atmosphere they can create.
Christmas on the road
Although Selles was starting to form a positive relationship with his supporters at the MKM Stadium, three out of their next four games are away from home, with the Tigers travelling to Coventry, Preston & Blackburn throughout the festive period.
Selles’ away record with Reading this season hasn’t been convincing, as he’s only won two out of nine away fixtures, meaning it’ll be interesting viewing if he adapts his game model to a more pragmatic approach.
Despite an underwhelming record on the road for Reading’s side during this campaign, they may have a chance to claim vital away points, given Blackburn is the only side in the top six out of those sides, for home form across the season.
Conclusion
Ruben Selles arguably did the best job across the EFL during 2024, stabilising Reading on the pitch, amidst the financial troubles off it. He maximised the talent of his marquee players, whilst embedding talented youngsters into the team regularly.
Whilst he leaves Reading with tremendous gratitude, he’s got a difficult challenge at Hull City, as he’s got a young and diverse squad from various leagues, that’ve struggled to connect during the season, meaning he has to find an effective equilibrium of gaining enough results, whilst building a coherent style of play.
Whether results come quickly remains to be seen, but the fans seem united to their club again, which helped the team gain morale, across a strenuous period.