Hull FC coach Lee Radford: Challenge Cup clash with Salford Red Devils is ‘massive’

LEE Radford says it will take an improved performance by his Hull FC players to stay in a competition he's described as massive for the club.

The Hull coach will enjoy his first taste of Challenge Cup action tonight when the Black and Whites host Salford at the KC.

Desperate to take a step closer to Wembley, Radford says for many of his players who played in last year's disappointing 16-0 final defeat to Wigan, there will be some extra motivation.

Pointing to a new era at the club, the rookie coach insists his only focus is the immediate goal of navigating past a dangerous and wounded opponent in Salford.

RELATED CONTENT

• Hull FC: Joe Westerman aims to erase Challenge Cup final scars

• Hull FC v Salford Red Devils: Challenge Cup team news and preview

And despite beating the Red Devils 30-8 just six days ago in Super League, Radford has called for an improvement by his players tonight, aware the Red Devils will be desperate for a response.

"The cup is big for this club and this is a massive fixture for the club," said Radford.

"We left Wembley Stadium empty last year. We showed some unbelievable efforts leading up to the final and then to not deliver on the big stage was heartbreaking and that never got fixed at the back end of last year.

"But that's last year's squad, last year's coaching staff and this year is different.

"Some individuals certainly have a point to prove after last year's final. As a club we want to be as successful as we can and that starts tonight against very good opposition.

"I certainly think we'll need to be better this week."

Having lost the 2008 final as captain of Hull and the 2013 final as assistant coach of the Black and Whites, Radford is desperate to add a winners medal as a coach to the playing one won with Bradford Bulls.

Hull's first of four hurdles on the path to Wembley is a sizeable one in the form of big-spending Salford.

The Red Devils have had the pressure increased by ambitious owner Marwan Koukash.

Having under performed at the KC last week, Radford expects Brian Noble's side to arrive back in the city with a point to prove and an air of desperation.

Pointing to how his own side used a similar situation to inspire their win over Salford last week, the Hull coach is anticipating a response that will require the very best from his players.

"They are where we were a week ago because we didn't do ourselves justice against Widnes and they'll think that after playing us last week," added Radford.

"It's a game on paper they feel they should have won and will be after a response. There is some pressure internally from the man above them and they have some things going on in the background with regards the coaching set-up and they have Gareth Hock back, so there will be a response.

"We will have to be better. We need to be as good as we were energy wise.

"The crowd know how important the cup is to this club and they can really help us. Last week, when we were on our try line defending like we did, they really helped us with their noise.

"It has an effect on the players on the field and hopefully we can give them reason to cheer."

Book Hull City Match Tickets online

Source : http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-FC-coach-Lee-Radford-Challenge-Cup-clash/story-20904950-detail/story.html

West Ham Looks Forward to A Beastly Game with Hull City on March 27!

West Ham United and Hull City-both the teams are standing very close in the points table in the English Premier League table. West Ham stands at number 10 with 31 points winning only 8 out of 28 matches played with GD of -4. Hull City stands at number 12th with 30 points winning 8 out of 28 games played. The fans are lining up online to purchase the West Ham tickets for they are still practically one of the top 10 teams.

West Ham vs Hull City Match Postponed

 

On March 08, West Ham vs Hull City was due, but due to the quarter finals at the FA cup, the match has been postponed to 27 March 2014. Looking at both the team's recent history, West Ham has suffered defeat and tasted victory in their previous 2 matches against Everton and Southampton respectively. They were defeated against Everton with 1-0 margin on March 1, but easily won against Southampton with 3-1 victory on February 22.

West Ham Looking Forward to Beat Hull City

 

In order to stay strong in the tournament, West Ham will have to win their upcoming matches. Just some time ago, the team went into the relegation zone due to poor show on the field. Hull City were defeated in their last game against Newcastle with 4-1 score but had won a clean sweep against Cardiff by 4-0 on February 22 2014.

West Ham will hope that their injured players will be back in the team until 27th March. Vaz Te is out with knee injury. It is expected that Joe Cole and Diame get over with groin strain and knee injury soon enough. The star player O'Brien has a dislocated shoulder and will be available only next month in April. The inquiry for the Hull City Tickets is picking up every single day for their match against West Ham in the English Premier League.

Can Hull City’s small squad cope with two massive games in three days?

Hull City face a good old fashioned relegation six-pointer and an FA Cup fifth round replay within three days this weekend.

That will be a big test for the small amount of resource Steve Bruce has available to him.

Thanks to some stupid agreement between the FA and Uefa that says they won’t broadcast live domestic games on Champions League nights – and the insistence of a terrestrial broadcaster that they get to show the game even though they’ve stuck it on a channel no-one watches - the cup replay with Brighton will take place on Monday night.

So 50 hours after trudging off the field at Cardiff, The Tigers will take to the field to try and ensure a very rare FA Cup quarter final appearance at home to Sunderland. And they wonder why Premier League clubs don’t prioritise the FA Cup?

Hull City had to suffer snide remarks last week as everyone took ‘made six changes for a cup tie’ as a sign of disrespect for the competition. The fact that three changes were enforced and a fourth was the return of our best goalkeeper to the side was ignored.

Unfortunately for the replay, there will have to be changes. Not only will at least eleven of the players have played two days earlier and three of those, defenders James Chester and Liam Rosenior and forward Sone Aluko, have just recovered from injuries while strikers Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic are cup-tied.

MORE: Cardiff City and Hull City – two clubs united in a common cause

The Tigers’ manager Steve Bruce has a selection problem on his hands (Picture: Getty Images)

Steve Bruce has to balance fatigue and risk of injury in his squad but knows that he doesn’t have a lot of options in some areas. The midfield reinforcements are all attack-minded players while Maynor Figueroa is the only fit left back available. With injuries to Paul McShane and Robbie Brady – defensive options are limited full stop.

That builds pressure on the likes of Curtis Davies, Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore and Ahmed Elmohamady who have been forced into playing most games this season. Despite the The Tigers having a relatively successful Premier League campaign, they are the only players who haven’t had a spell out injured or suspended.

A draw at Cardiff would be a valuable one for Hull City because it would maintain the gap between the two sides with the number of points available diminishing by the week.

The FA Cup is a great competition and one that fans, players and management would love to progress in but that progress will be seen as a bonus by those within the club. All of their focus will be on getting something, anything, at the Cardiff City Stadium.

MORE: Why Shane Long has already improved Hull City

Tickets for Hull City Fan

Source : http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/21/can-hull-citys-small-squad-cope-with-two-massive-games-in-three-days-4312862/

Hull City transfer talk, January 19th: Tottenham slap £10m price tag on Jake Livermore, whilst Aaron Mclean takes massive pay-cut at Bradford

Our daily blog with the latest news, transfer rumours and gossip about Hull City in the Premier League.

Livermore may cost more than Tigers hoped

After coughing up £14m to land Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long last week, The Mirror are reporting Hull City’s transfer spending spree may not be over.

They are suggesting boss Steve Bruce is still wanting to turn Jake Livermore’s loan deal into a permanent switch.

Apparently the Tigers are willing to stump up £6m for the midfield man who has impressed since arriving at the KC on loan in the summer.

However, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has slapped a £10m price tag on the player frozen out of the first-team picture by former manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Mclean takes massive pay cut in departure from Hull City

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Aaron Mclean has taken a pay cut of well over half his cash at the KC Stadium to return to League One side Bradford City.

The striker had been on the Bantam’s radar for a while, though any talk of interest in the last transfer window was fanciful.

Championship clubs, thought to be Doncaster and Barnsley, showed an interest but the 30-year-old wanted a challenge to get his teeth into. Not to mention an assurance that he would be back in the old routine – playing up front again.

Mclean told The Telegraph and Argus: “I had to think about it because I had to work so hard to get to the Premier League. It was a difficult decision to work out where I would go next.

“This move had to be the right move, both footballing-wise and for my career. I didn’t want to go to a Championship team and be part of a squad or playing out of position again.

“I remember coming here with Peterborough and thinking ‘wow, how many people’.

“I had a look around again on Wednesday and it was even bigger than I remembered. The stadium is huge.

“I can imagine when they’ve got a full house, it’s really rocking.

“The chairman said if you work hard for these fans, they’ll really get behind you. That suits me down to the ground because that’s all I’ve done my whole career – that excites me.”

hull city Football Match Tickets

Read more: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-City-transfer-talk-January-19th-Tottenham/story-20464660-detail/story.html#ixzz2rIqVb3So