I'm watching. All I can say is nice to have Bowen back and staying through at least January. That plus their late signings/loanees have improved the team quite a bit. I'd consider them a top half of the table team that probably needs a few things to break their way to get into the playoff hunt. Lichaj looking solid but Reading doesn't have a ton of quality up front. Seems like minutes are there for the taking for Nova.
Well, got a bit dicey at the end and Joao, Reading's #9 got a lot going. He's basically Nova's direct competition and looked good.. De Wijs was on a card but had some great battles with Joao. He's often the whipping boy of the Hull fans and he may well still lose his place at LCB to the new loanee from Everton or Tafazoli. Kingsley, the LB Hull City fans will be happy to see go was probably most at fault on the goal. He had played pretty well up until then but confidence must have been shaken and he started making mistakes after the goal. Hull signed a LB from Leicester who I expect we'll be seeing a lot of soon. They held on for some needed points against Reading. Lichaj and the defense held up okay under a lot pressure for the last 30 or so minutes. Lichaj was outnumbered a few times and made good decisions to at least slow down play. Solid performance for him, an honest shift. Got forward a bit in the first half but not a ton in the second as Hull was clearly just trying to hold on.
.@EricLichaj was on hand to sign some copies of Saturday’s match day programme and we’re giving them away! Retweet this post to be in with a chance of winning a copy!#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/t1E5tT0II6— Hull City (@HullCity) August 14, 2019
Returning soon... The skipper set to return! 🙌Head Coach Grant McCann has said that club captain Eric Lichaj will be available for Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship trip to Millwall.➡️ https://t.co/5GzK1nnYgt#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/L2HDAkg3bR— Hull City (@HullCity) August 28, 2019
Started & played 90: 📝 The team news is in!Here's how the Tigers will line up to take on @MillwallFC this afternoon...🔶 Skipper Eric Lichaj returns.⬛️ Pennington & Magennis make their first league starts.#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/8q5NIdjPxn— Hull City (@HullCity) August 31, 2019 Ended 1-1 with Hull having 9 men on the pitch (one red card, one injury after using all subs). Total of 3 injuries for them in the match.
You can always be a Non-League legend too, or pub or Sunday league. Always deeper levels to mediocrity!
It was an ugly game for Hull and one they probably needed to win. They aren't getting three points when they should early in the season. It was an away game so a point is probably good enough if avoiding relegation is your goal. As for Lichaj, he and the defense looked pretty solid. He picked up a late yellow when they were down to 9 players as @BostonRed mentioned.
I always kinda thought he did his career backwards. Had he started at Forest and moved up to a lower level EPL team, he probably would have stuck. By the time he was consistent enough for the EPL, he had a life at Forest and massive support of the fans. He's made a better living than most Americans in Europe so I'm sure he's not complaining. And, he got his dog for scoring on Arsenal!
Just my opinion but yeah, I think after a few years with Forest, he could have made a move to the EPL and stuck. He moved to Forest before the 13/14 season and it's not as though he was totally out of his league when he was with Aston Villa. He made 17 appearances and played over 1,000 minutes in the 12/13 season. But, he definitely became a better player at Forest and in retrospect, probably after the 16 season would have been a great time to try to get on with a Crystal Palace/West Ham type team. He would have been 26/27 which is about as old as any of those clubs will consider and they have to be confident you can help them immediately. He also probably would have done well with a newly promoted club that would have had to absorb pressure because he's a really good on the ball defender. That may have been an easier path to the EPL but as fun and no guarantee of staying up.
I was reading the Hull newspaper this morning and came across this about Lichaj in their player ratings: Eric Lichaj Recalled after injury and slotted straight in at the problematic position of left-back. Epitomised City’s dogged defending throughout, not buckling under waves of late pressure. Good to have the skipper back. 7
Starts: 📝 The team news is in!Here's how the Tigers will line up to take on @LaticsOfficial this afternoon...🔶 Callum Elder makes his Hull City debut⬛️ Youngsters Keane Lewis-Potter & Elliot Bonds feature on the bench#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/UnTGZqel68— Hull City (@HullCity) September 14, 2019
So cool he's captain. Has quietly done really well, much better than expected, especially from someone so unheralded.
Starts: 📝 The team news is in!Here's how the Tigers will line up to take on @LutonTown this afternoon...🔶 Reece Burke returns. Leo Da Silva starts in midfield.⬛️ Stephen Kingsley comes in at left back.#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/F6v57ZeMPV— Hull City (@HullCity) September 21, 2019
Hull wins 3-0 and with this win we have 1 Yank in the upper third of the Championship (Cameron with QPR, #4), two Yanks in the middle of the table (Lichaj with Hull, #14, and Ream with Fulham, #12), and four in the bottom third (Holmes/Derby/18; Robinson/Wigan/19; Miazga/Reading/20; CCV/Stoke/23). Not counting Luca de la Torre, who doesn't play.
Hard to believe both he and Robinson have stayed in England while Lovitz is called into every camp. Btw, I watched Hull's Wednesday game and they picked up a big win against Sheffield Wednesday after drawing with Cardiff over the weekend, two upper championship teams. Lichaj was excellent but ended up being the talk of the game when he admitted a foul he committed was probably in the box. They got the win and it looks like the back line has gelled, they like the new manager, and captain Eric Lichaj is leading the team with great respect!
Started & went 90 in 3-0 loss: 📝 The team news is in!Here's how the Tigers will line up to take on @htafc this afternoon.🔶 Tom Eaves starts up top.⬛️ Dan Batty is included in the midfield trio.#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/Q1MgFdJsoM— Hull City (@HullCity) October 5, 2019
📝 The team news is in!Here's how the Tigers will line up to take on @QPR this afternoon.🔶 Tafazolli, Elder & Irvine start.⬛️ Jon Toral returns on the bench.#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/z8Qk2R46EO— Hull City (@HullCity) October 19, 2019 Looks like Lichaj and Geoff Cameron both starting. It's a battle of the underrated Yanks Abroad!
Starts: 📝 The team news is in!Here's how the Tigers will line up to take on @NFFC this evening...🔶 4 changes.⬛️ de Wijs, Toral, Magennis & Da Silva start.#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/txkiyeOBti— Hull City (@HullCity) October 23, 2019
It's really not even a question of whether Lichaj is better than Lovitz. Lovitz is the worst LB I've ever seen play for the USMNT and I have watched basically every game going back to the 94' World Cup. Not even saying Lichaj should definitely be called in, just saying Lovitz should not be. However, I do think Lichaj is looking a bit worse of late. He had one of the worst performances I've seen him put in against QPR over the weekend. In yesterday's game, the Hull paper rated him a 7 with the following commentary: The one-time Forest skipper was back leading City and endured some uncomfortable moments up against the lively Ameobi on his flank. Much better in the second period as he helped to repel waves of pressure. 7 I agree that he was better in the second half but overall, he wasn't up to his normal defensive standard and almost gave up a pk though I think the Forest player took a bit of a dive despite their fan's Twitter outrage. I'm sure it was a big win for him and it was definitely a big win for Hull who blew a game they should have won right before the break. Big game against Derby this weekend who also has some attacking talent. Hopefully, he'll be up to the challenge and maybe we'll even get to see some battles against Duane Holmes!
Started & went 90 in yesterday's 2-0 win: 📝 The team news is in!Here's how the Tigers will line up to take on @dcfcofficial this afternoon...🔶 Josh Bowler makes his first league start for the Tigers.⬛️ Jarrod Bowen starts up top.#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/zJJGv2rzlW— Hull City (@HullCity) October 26, 2019 Thank you so much for your support today 👏#hcafc | #theTigers— Hull City (@HullCity) October 26, 2019