‘It feels like City are on the cusp of something special – we’re about to find out’
MERCURIAL: Jaden Philogene. Pictures courtesy of Hull City
Eye of the Tigers, a column by Sam Hawcroft
What really are our play-off chances?
City have been hovering around the final play-off spot for most of the season – so, the question is, can they claim sixth place come May 4? Or even go one better?
Obviously, I don’t know, and neither does anyone else, but it won’t stop me having a stab at it.
The Championship is a strange, many-headed beast, usually being formed of distinct sections by the time we start to reach what pundits like to call the business end of the season.
There’s the relegation fodder at the farthest reaches, with Rotherham already cast adrift and floating off in the direction of League One, and Sheffield Wednesday also likely doomed to return whence they came. As I write this, only five points separate 22nd and 15th place, so Stoke, QPR, Millwall, Huddersfield, Birmingham – even perhaps Swansea and Plymouth – are all at risk of being caught in the vortex.
Then there’s the middle of the pack – your Cardiffs, Middlesbroughs, Bristol Citys, Watfords, Sunderlands (sorry, I’ve been watching too much Bryan’s Gunn on Twitter, sorry X) – who are most likely going nowhere and, barring a miracle, will just fall short of the hallowed top six.
In the coming weeks, City play a couple of those who are hot on our tails – Preston and Coventry. These are huge six-pointers that will almost certainly make the difference as to whether we can pull away from this chasing pack and put a bit of distance between them.
We also have to play the current top two, Leicester and Leeds, and the latter are in storming form at the moment, whereas the former have wobbled a bit. Ipswich have been solid top-three contenders throughout – and despite Southampton’s recent dip in form (WHAT a first half we had at St Mary’s!) they have hovered around third/fourth spot since November.
There is a clear gap opening up between fourth and fifth, so you’d think that we’d struggle to break into that section unless one of them was to seriously nosedive and we were to put a great run together. But stranger things have happened – after the dire show at home to Swansea on February 10, not many people would have predicted we’d win three away matches on the bounce before a creditable draw against a well-drilled West Brom side just one point ahead of us.
Consistency has been a bit of an issue throughout this season, so we’d need to show we are able to continue in this vein. We have 12 matches left as I write this – a maximum of 36 points, of course. Half of that would put us on 73 points, which, going on last year’s table, would be good enough for at least fifth. And when you look at it that way, that looks achievable, doesn’t it?
I suppose the next question would be – do we want to go to the play-offs? Do we even want promotion? Are we ready for it yet? These might sound like ridiculous questions, but they’re still worth asking.
DARING TO DREAM: Liam Rosenior
For many, the Championship is still just on the right side of “real football”; it’s often more entertaining, it’s usually cheaper – and the novelty of the Premier League soon wears a bit thin when you’re getting battered week in, week out, especially if you’re not particularly starstruck by multimillionaire prima donnas.
It could be argued – and many have – that we’re not ready to go up yet. But you’d have thought that if anyone could ensure the Tigers have a sound footing, should we finish fifth or sixth, and then get though the play-offs, it would be Acun Ilicali and his team, who have already more than stated their intent with such loan signings as Fabio Carvalho and Anass Zaroury and, of course, landing the mercurial Jaden Philogene.
Maybe we all just want another grand day out at Wembley and the best thing would be to bow out gracefully, then regroup, consolidate and go again next year… but, on the other hand, maybe this is our time. It sort of feels like it, doesn’t it?
There’s a vibe, a febrile atmosphere building, as though we are on the cusp of something really special again. Would another season in the Championship knock the wind out of our sails? Statistically, or so I have read, most teams do not improve on their league standing for a third time in a row, which gnaws at my conscience a bit.
Let’s see what happens in March… and I might just drag my “Dare to Dream” T-shirt from the back of the wardrobe…