Hull City 2 v Charlton Athletic 0

I couldn't bring myself to write-up the Plymouth game, I was so pissed-off. Today I thought we would see a renewed intent and purpose. A team determined to atone instead of lamely "going again." Instead, after an hour and a bit I have given up on Valley Pass and have decided to start the obituary early.

Hull City were low on confidence going into this match having lost three on the spin.  In the first half we gave them the lead and they should have been at two-up before the break. After the break and the usual Bowyer changes we looked little better and then Darren Pratley somehow managed to get a straight red card which has ended the contest for me.

Not sure where to begin but it was piss-poor from start to finish. Team selection was again a mess. Bowyer to blame and he needs to stop pissing about quickly or he will find himself up Shit Creek paddle-less. Stuck with Pearce and Pratley at the centre of defence - Pearce went to sleep for Hull's opener and Pratley got himself sent-off on 65 minutes. Matthews was at left back with left-footed Purrington on the bench. Maatsen was playing on the right with Forster-Caskey on the left. Albie Morgan went missing and up-top, once more, the big hope was Omar Bogle. 

None of it worked. Our midfield couldn't retain possession for more than five seconds. Service to the front two was poor but when it did get forward, Bungle was there to immediately lose possession, miss-kick, get out-jumped, stumble, fall-over, put it into touch or blow it some other way. That left our back four once more dominating possession by spraying it around amongst themselves in ever decreasing arcs until Amos was forced to hoof it upfield or we lost possession and were forced into panic defence.

The Hull opener, when it came, was easy-peasy. A break down our right, a cross into the box and a man let go by Pearce to knock it in. Woeful. What response did it provioke? Zilch. We simply carried on losing possession, passing it around the back four and watching Hull miss chance after chance when they did get forward. 

Gilbey was brought on for Watson in the first-half after Watson took a knock but I didn't see him touch the ball until ten minutes into the second-half. By then Bungle had been hooked and Paul Smyth introduced. That did nothing to sort the midfield mess but at least Maatsen had been moved back to where he should have been on the left-hand side of the pitch. 

Pratley's red card was from nowhere and lots of conjecture about what it was for but I can only assume dissent given it was a straight red and there had been no scything tackle before it. If it was dissent, I have had it with him. He is a battler but also a liability in central defence when he lacks pace and is at risk using his tackling speciality of wrestling opposition players to the floor. If he's helped ensure there was no way back today, we will have to find another choice at centre-half (Barker?) and stick with him. 

Not sure I will bother with Valley Pass again until there's some point watching. That starts with no more Bogle. He is the worst 'centre-forward' I have ever seen play for us. Worse than Mike Small, Russ Abbott, Leroy Ambrose and all the others my mind has mercifully erased from the memory banks. Bowyer must know that but why persist when he could have played Davidson (pre-loan) or Smyth. I would honestly have played anyone else in the squad who thought they could give it a go than put Bogle in, knowing full well he would thwart our attacking options. 

A Covid-induced break in the league for six weeks or so might help us with injuries. Failing that, Bowyer needs several players quickly and several need to be moved on to remind the others that they get paid good money to perform and not just appear in the red shirt. 

i see it finished two-nil. The slide out of play-off contention continues.