Let me say straight off, I’ve never seen first games as really meaning much.
They’re sort of in-between, as not really a friendly, but not really a proper game, where you can judge much at all.
You only have to look at some of the opening day results to see that.
But if I’m going to judge, I have to say that I thought Hull were awful and we weren’t much better.
Was I alone in thinking Jack was playing generally way to deep, to keep him out of any real trouble? Maybe.
I thought Steer had a pretty good game and I wouldn’t blame him for their goal. He did all you could ask in getting the ball away, only for our defenders to be half asleep.
But the MOTM for me was easily Hutton.
He’s the only one that I saw actually drive at the opposition and when you consider that’s not really his job, you have to wonder what’s going on?
Isn’t that exactly what Hourihane was bought to do?
Don’t get me wrong, he does get up there occasionally, but it’s nowhere near often enough.
And although I keep hearing he does the dirty work, I don’t see he does that enough either.
He’s far too anonymous for my liking, as much as the stats might say otherwise. Ok, he got a decent return, last season, but how good could that be if he was given his head?
Elmo produced the goods, but I wasn’t impressed overall.
Kodjia was greedy, yet again, but I’ve previously said I can live with that. But he looks out of sorts.
I seriously suspect he’s just not up to speed and it’ll come back.
And those players apart, I’m struggling to see anyone else as being anything more than total average.
Taylor? Oh dear.
Interestingly, Bruce is just saying that things are going to change, in that we need to go with a younger side.
Which is just as well, because I don’t see the new owners living with Bruce for long if things don’t change.
Hull, as poor as they were, made a couple of driving runs, straight down the middle, that had me thinking “why don’t we do that?”
And there lies Bruce’s problem for me.
His midfields are far too much designed to be an extension of the defence and they offer nothing in the middle.
Yes, Bruce brought on a couple of kids, but they need to be thrown in quicker, as much as I’m cautious.
It’s just that I see the current midfield going nowhere fast, especially against better sides.
Ok, we got three goals today, which is great.
But I just see us as frankly average and Bruce’s defensive attitude will not win him any favours from the owners.
Unless we’re top two, come October, Bruce will be gone.
It’s as simple as that for me.
As much as I think he’s been our best bet in giving us stability during some torrid times.
