Well we are almost a month into the summer transfer window and the Tigers are still without a summer signing.
We have been in open negotiations with a few players, not least Fraizer Campbell of Manchester United (following a season long loan to Spurs), Marc Antoine Fortune of Nancy, France (following a five month loan spell with West Brom) and now Bobby Zamora of Fulham. All strikers that we so desperately need but with no success in making a signing.
Why is this? Some people would say it is because Phil Brown chastised his charges on the field at Eastlands. Some would have you think it is just Phil Brown and his antics in general.
Some would say it is Paul Duffen's inability to handle players agents. Others would suggest that we won't meet player wage demands.
Whilst some people would argue that players don't want to be in a relegation battle all season long.
I would argue that it is all of them and none of them at the same time.
Currently we have failed to sign three strikers. Michael Owen who signed for Manchester United from relegated Newcastle United. This one is a "no-brainer" as our American cousins would say. Who in their right minds would sign for Hull City if they had the choice of signing for Manchester United?
Secondly Fraizer Campbell. He had a instrumental part to play in propelling Hull City into the Premiership with some all important goals in our promotion-winning season and is highly regarded by the management and the fans of Hull City. However he chose to join Sunderland where he sees there being more potential for his future.
Marc Antoine Fortune had a very successful loan spell with the Baggies at the Hawthorns where he displayed a degree of talent that drew attention to him from other clubs, not least Celtic when his former WBA manager took the vacant managerial position. Tony Mowbray managed to lure Fortune to Celtic with the promise of European football.
Now, the three high profile players that we have failed to sign so publicly show one thing from the club and the management in general and that is intent. Okay, we didn't manage to sign any of them and the loss of Campbell probably hurt most of all after his spell with the club, but it shows that we are not intent on just making up the numbers in the Premiership.
The reason they didn't sign for the Tigers was probably because they saw their futures panning out better at other clubs rather than with Hull City in the short term.
Ah, you say but Phil Brown's antics caused them to not sign? That may be the case but when Phil Brown started getting more and more brazen in his comments that saw his stock tumble in the media the team's performances had already started to take a nose dive.
Brown's attempt to stop the rot at Eastlands was an attempt to nip the slump in the bud. That Boxing Day game was on the end of a series of games that had seen us only record one win in ten games and that was a lucky 2-1 victory against Middlesborough. We had picked up only six points from a possible 30.
It would have been interesting to see how the second half of the season would have panned out if in the following game of the season the Tigers had clung on for the draw they clearly deserved. Aston Villa, who had been scoring freely in the Premiership up to that point, were the Tigers' opponents at the KC and they left with a very lucky victory.
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