View From The Town End: Hull City

This week sees Hull visit the Madejski and ahead of the game Les Motherby from Amber Nectar shared his thoughts with us.

How's the season gone so far?

All over the place. We’ve been a flat track bully duffing up teams anticipated to be near the bottom, we put 4 past both Burton and Bolton, but then we’ve gone to pieces against teams that are alright but nothing particularly special. We lost 5-0 at Derby and couldn’t get the basics of defending right. At home to Sunderland we put in a truly abject first half in which the players seemed bereft of ideas and confused by the formation they lined up in.

Are fans still behind the manager?

Mostly. There’s a strong sense that Leonid Slutsky has been sold up the river by the vice-chairman. He watched player after player get sold, tersely answering that ‘the supermarket is closed’ when Swansea were linked with Sam Clucas, who did indeed join Swansea showing the supermarket is actually open 24/7. The players that have come in don’t seem to have been chosen by him and those deals were done so late that Slutsky has said he’s still doing the pre-season work of instilling his philosophy 8 games in. He’s not entirely blameless though, some of his formation choices and player selections have been surprising.

What about behind the scenes, have things moved any closer to resolution?

Not really. There is a mutual enmity between club and supporters that will only cease when the current owners go. They vowed to sell the club and walk away within 48 hours several years ago.

Who should Reading watch out for on Saturday?

Young Jarrod Bowen has seized the opportunity granted to him by the wholesale departures, showing remarkably confidence for a 20 year old forward. He’s displayed a handy knack for notching away goals.

Which Reading players are you wary of?

Sone Aluko scoring against us a year after we gave him away for free seems nailed on.

Any good or bad memories of games between the sides?

Err, not really. Reading – Hull City encounters don’t seem to live long in the memory. I am however still miffed about a pair of trainers I ruined when a falling piece of Madejski Stadium balti pie dyed a part of them yellow.

Score prediction?

1-1 draw.