Will Tigers have the teeth to survive?

Hull City

In:
George Boyd - Peterborough – Free
Tom Huddlestone - Tottenham - £5m
Curtis Davies - Birmingham City - £2.25m (reported)
Maynor Figueroa – Free
Allan McGregor - Besiktas - £1.8m
Ahmed Elmohamady - Sunderland - £2m
Danny Graham - Sunderland – Loan
Yannick Sagbo - Evian – Undisclosed
Gedo - Al Ahly – Loan
Jake Livermore – Tottenham - Loan

Out:
Sonny Bradley - Portsmouth – Free
Mark Cullen - Luton – Free
Andy Dawson - Scunthorpe – Free
Danny East - Portsmouth – Free
Jamie Devitt - Chesterfield – Released
Paul McKenna – Released
Seyi Olofinjana – Released
Jay Simpson – Released
Jack Hobbs - Nottingham Forest – Loan
Corry Evans - Blackburn Rovers – Undisclosed
Conor Townsend - Hull City - Loan

Hull City return to play with the big boys after a three year absence, and they will hope that their rebranding as ‘Hull City Tigers’ will give them a little ferocity for the new season. Manager Steve Bruce is no Premier League new comer, having managed Sunderland for a number of seasons, and they will be hoping that his experience will guide them to avoiding relegation this season. Bruce has not splashed the cash in any sense of the words, spending moderately in bringing in some proven top flight experience in the shape of Maynor Figueroa, Danny Graham, Ahmed El Mohamady as well as Tottenham midfielders Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone whose signing broke the club’s transfer record. New signing Yannick Sagbo has alreay found the back of the net and seen red in three short fixtures for the club. Bruce has put together a side that will give survival a real go, however I simply don’t see them avoiding a one way ticket back to the championship at the end of the season despite some significant acquisitions.

Grade: C-

Yes, it was a good window by Hull City standards, Livermore, Huddlestone and Graham are all real steps up for the Tigers, but their defence remains shaky and Steve Bruce will struggle to guide this side to survival this season.


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