City will need siege mentality in pre-season

CLOUD OF UNCERTAINTY HANGS OVER TIGERS

- By BARRY COOPER

Preseason is supposed to provide the backbone of a club’s campaign, with preparations on and off the pitch aimed at giving the players the best chance of success over the next 46 games.

Unfortunately for Hull City, it's the second successive summer where they head off to Turkey with some significant degree of uncertainty and major worries about their prospects going into the new season.

Twelve months ago, Tim Walter trudged off to Riva with a skeleton squad largely made up of academy players. His frustration was apparent throughout.

Those preparations for the season were less than ideal and ensured the Tigers started the season badly. Despite a three-game winning streak, things continued to go downhill with the German ultimately losing his job.

Their final day survival at Portsmouth was fortunate, but their predicament couldn't have come as a surprise given the shambolic nature of last summer.

Essentially, City were set up to fail and staying in the league was the luckiest of lucky escapes.