Hull City Season Preview: Steve Bruce's men must work hard to avoid relegation dogfight

Steve Bruce kept his Hull side up fairly comfortably last season

Hull made the FA Cup Final yet finished 16th in the league in their first season back in the top flight, but what of the upcoming season? Luke Moore runs the rule over Steve Bruce's men...

Last Season

Against many people's predictions, Hull survived their first season back in the top flight fairly comfortably. Their 16th place finish is a bit of a misnomer; safety was assured well before the end of the season, the Tigers were nine points clear with just five games to go. Although they took their eye off the ball somewhat due to the FA Cup semi-final and final, overall Steve Bruce and his charges would have been very satisfied with their season's work.

Ins and Outs

No players of note have left the KC Stadium this summer so far, and Bruce has been able to tie up some decent transfers to help improve the team in time for this campaign. Jake Livermore's deal from Spurs has been made permanent, Robert Snodgrass, one of the more talented members of last year's relegated Norwich side, has signed on to give them more valuable Premier League experience and Tom Ince has moved from Blackpool via a loan stint at Crystal Palace. 

Manager

Steve Bruce is developing into an astute, experienced manager with Hull City and has the best win percentage of any Tigers manager since Brian Little at the turn of the century (Bruce is also operating at a higher level). He showed good adaptability as well as keen motivational skills to keep his side in the Premier League comfortably at the first time of asking. Once widely derided for his propensity to blame referees at every opportunity and a tendency to jump ship from management jobs, there was a half hour discussion on BBC Radio 5 Live earlier in the summer about how he should be considered as the next England manager. 

His stock will rise even higher if he improves on last year's fare.

Expectations

Now Hull have a foothold in the top flight, it is fair to suggest they would like to consolidate and try to improve on last season's league position. Of course, a cup run a la 2013-14 would be welcomed by supporters too, but the Tigers won't want to risk relegation in such a competitive division. Also, there's a chance Bruce's men will have the Europa League to contend with this year, should they navigate the remaining qualifying rounds. That will test the club's resources to the limit and could affect their domestic form in a big way.

Best Bet

It's difficult to predict the sort of season Hull will have this season. They've not lost any players of note, and have strengthened their squad quite effectively. That said, the Europa League could become a distraction and 'second season syndrome' might take hold. It's going to be a real dogfight down the bottom this season, with up to 11 teams possibly in the relegation mix, including Hull. I can't see a big enough improvement for them to trouble the top ten (they finished 12 points below the top half last year), but I also think they'll have enough to stay up. 

If you do fancy them to suffer relegation this year, the price of 4.57/2 is hardly generous.

Value Bet

The price about the Tigers to lift this season's FA Cup is a huge 70.069/1. If they get a decent draw again, there's no reason last year's finalists can't get reasonably far in the competition once more this season. It has to rank as a good back-to-lay bet at a massive price.