Archive for February, 2009

Hull City need more supporters and fewer consumers

February 15, 2009 at 12:45 · Filed under News ·Tagged , , ,

Once again, there were rows upon rows of mute people sat in the Hull City end at Bramall Lane yesterday. Who are these silent folk and what is their motivation for coming to games?

We have far too many passive consumers at Hull City – buying the tickets and the merchandise but giving nothing else – and that’s diluting the proportion of supporters.

The idea of noisy fans being a twelfth man is probably over-rated, but equally it must have some sort of positive effect on the players, however small.

So anyone who doesn’t leave the ground hoarse from supporting the team hasn’t put in a shift, to use the vogue phrase.

If you want to watch a football game in silence, why not stay at home and watch it on the internet? You can even turn the sound down if you like.

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Manucho is a world beater – well, at least a sizeable chunk of it

February 4, 2009 at 20:30 · Filed under News ·Tagged , , ,

Despondent about Hull City’s attacking options? Not surprising, but don’t write off young Manucho just yet.

Mateus Alberto Contreiras Gonçalves, as not even his mother probably calls him, was for many pundits the best player at the Africa Cup of Nations last year, and here are his goals for outsiders Angola.

A tidy diving header had enough pace to beat the South African keeper from 20 yards:

Another strong header at the back post against Senegal, one of two he scored in the game:

And the pick of the bunch, a Geovanni-style potshot from 30-odd yards against Egypt that flies into the top corner:

Cynics may say you could make any player look good on a selective clip on YouTube. And they’re probably right.

But to score four goals in a high-pressure, high-quality tournament is a major achievement.

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