WeltonBlade
Old Member
The following is a copy of the programme notes from the Hull City v L**ds game last Tuesday written by Adam Pearson. It is in this format though because he also took the trouble to email all supporters on their database to ensure maximum publicity. I've met Adam Pearson previously on a business level and always been impressed by his straight talking.
There is so much in this that is interesting and you can't help but wonder what would come out of The Lane if Birch would either by brave enough to be honest or, as in Pearson's case, someone new could shed light on the behaviour of the old regime! My Tigger loving colleagues reckon that, post these dramatic wage cuts, they have better players. I also love the L**ds comments.
Adam Pearson’s programme notes from Hull City’s home match against Leeds
United at the KC Stadium on Tuesday 1st February, 2011
It’s the end of another transfer window and one of the busiest we have had for a
while with some major transfer ins and outs for the club.
The pace at which the team and squad have evolved this season is pretty
remarkable and I think only Andy Dawson will be in the team tonight of those that
started against Swansea City back in August. It is always difficult to build a new
young team during the season and certainly two windows is not enough time. It
generally takes at least eighteen months to build a new side that is successful
therefore I think to be competing in the top half at this stage of the season is a very
good achievement by the management team and of course the players, who have for
the last three months showed a real appetite for the battle that is so competitive
every week in the Championship.
I will try to cover all the player issues of this window as factually and in as much
detail as possible so that everyone concerned can see the thought process behind
the squad rebuilding. Firstly in the case of Jimmy Bullard I was really disappointed
with the Hull Daily Mail’s coverage of the deal. They claimed that Jimmy was allowed
to leave for a £10,000 contribution per week from Ipswich Town. I called the paper
and gave them the correct facts but they still persisted in saying that Ipswich were
stating it was around £10,000 per week. This is really disappointing because in over
eight years at Hull City I can’t ever remember giving them an incorrect figure or
statement, so for them to doubt our word publicly was disappointing.
So for the record the guaranteed loan contribution to Jimmy’s wages from Ipswich
between now and the end of the loan contract is £321,480 exactly, which by my
maths is nearly double the £10,000 per week quoted by the Mail. That is the factual
contribution and it’s a shame to have to discuss this in public, however the Mail
seemed to be implying that Ipswich had “nicked” him out and that we were being
foolish in releasing the player for this amount. Well in this economic climate that is an
awful lot of money for a Championship club to pay for any player let alone one who
has had serious long term injury problems, and remember they have to pay it
whether Jimmy is fit or not. We let Jimmy go because he needs games to reignite his
season and because he actually wanted to make the move to Ipswich! It’s a move
that is in the best interests of both parties. Jimmy is an undoubtedly talented player
who has two and half years left at this club. His contract alone is 21% of our total
playing wage budget for next season so we hope he comes back in the summer
match fit and that he’s ready to go as part of the squad for next year with a clean
start and some games behind him.
The sheer size and length of the contracts that the Premier League signings were on
have made it very difficult to realise any transfer fees, such is the sheer scale of the
players’ contractual wage value. It is going to be difficult to move say Kamel Ghilas
on a permanent deal even on a free, as the contract is so long and heavy. This is a
player who we paid £2.6m for and a £500,000 agent’s fee! Clubs are just too well run
these days to allow you to trade out of these kind of deals. The same on Kamil
Zayatte who was earning four times the normal rate for a Championship centre half,
so you just have to be delighted to lose the wage burden for the long term.
Ian Ashbee has also left the club this week which again is a major departure which I
am sure has been queried by some supporters. Ian has been a magnificent servant
to this club for over eight years and his role in the development of the club from what
was the old Division Three to the Premier League was very, very significant on and
off the pitch. He has had a fantastic journey with Hull City and has been very
influential in creating the modern successful Hull City. I remember signing him in the
portakabin at Boothferry Park on a free from Cambridge United and I’m quite sure
neither of us had any idea of the success the club would have under his
captaincy. When Nigel and I became aware of Preston’s pursuit of Ian it was no
surprise to us as they obviously need a leader on the pitch, however we thought Ash
would want to see it out here at Hull particularly when he was captain, playing well
and influencing the team. However when Ash handed his transfer request in on the
eve of the QPR game then it was clear he wanted to go. The timing on Preston’s part
was very poor for us giving us no time to replace Ian and disrupting our preparations
for the QPR game. We knew they’d been talking to Ian for a couple of weeks so we
can only guess why they left it to the last possible moment. The contract offered to
Ian and the length of contract offered is something that we could just not match at
this time. Ian needed that security and we understand that completely, however we
have to run the club on a proper business footing now and we can’t commit to
contracts on sentimentality or popularity stakes. Ian will always be welcome back
here and I’m sure we will have a fitting dinner at the stadium in due course to honour
his achievements here, but football waits for no one and it’s time to move on and
build a new team under Nigel now. The club though will miss Ian undoubtedly and
we wish him all the very best at his new club. I know it’s difficult for supporters to
lose favourite players who have been with the club a long time but we have to move
on. The two guys in the midfield frame tonight, James Harper and Corry Evans, need
your support now. Players respond to positive backing and those two could do with it
tonight for sure as they look to take over the mantle.
The squad is changing at a tremendous pace and we have to be patient. We are not
going to become a fluent and high scoring team overnight, it just does not work like
that. A team has to be created then allowed to evolve and find its own identity and
style. I would say we are about halfway through that process. Hopefully by sheer
willpower, desire and good management we can keep accumulating points and
challenging around the Play-Offs, however we won’t be the finished article overnight,
that takes at least three windows if not four. Over 30 players have left the club in
nine months reducing the wage bill from a ridiculous £39m to £13m and that is
probably unique player turnover, so please bear with us while the team finds its feet
and the Manager makes his mark on the style and format of the club.
We have brought in Corry Evans, Tijani Belaid and extended the loans of Cameron
Stewart and Brad Guzan over the last two weeks, as well as completing the £2.5m
purchases of Aaron Mclean, James Chester and Matty Fryatt earlier in the
window. We have also extended the contracts of Jamie Devitt, Tom Cairney and
Mark Cullen with an eye on the future makeup of the squad. These home grown
players along with Liam Cooper who is doing extremely well at Carlisle United have
an important future in the squad and their time will undoubtedly come.
We have, over the last two days, made offers for Cameron Stewart and Corry Evans
to join us on permanent deals. They are fine young footballers and, just as
importantly, they are good characters who want to work hard at their game to
progress to the top. All three young players from Manchester United have been
exemplary since they joined the club. Cameron has hopefully now joined us
permanently for £300,000 and we will be working hard to secure Corry permanently
just as soon as Manchester United give us the green light to do so. James Chester
alongside Anthony Gerrard was excellent against QPR and looks already to be great
long term value at £300,000 as a player for the future who will progress with the
club. It’s only 18 months ago that the old board spent £1.7m on loaning Ibrahaim
Sonko for a year, three days after selling Michael Turner for buttons so you can see
the different recruitment policy that Nigel is following. It’s one of building for the
future rather than just the now. These signings wouldn’t be possible without the
continual funding from the Allam family, and their financial support already has been
colossal and completely transformed the club from one in danger of oblivion only
three months ago to one with a very bright future today.
Obviously replacing experienced pros with youthful players starting out in their
careers is a risk and there will be highs and lows for sure, however if we can get the
mix right then the future will be strong for many years to come. We must on the
whole recruit our experienced players on Bosman’s and pay the fees for young and
upcoming players who can increase in value and underpin the financial well being of
the club for years to come. We must be patient both with the players and
management team because this is a medium term project and they must be given
time to get the balance and recruitment absolutely right. We have now got one of the
best management teams around and for the good of the club they must get the
appropriate time, support and patience. Those clubs who support the management
team over the long term are those that are subsequently successful, that is a fact.
One addition to the management team is Joe Corrigan who has joined us initially
until the end of the season as Goalkeeping Coach to replace Mark Prudhoe. I am
sure you will join me in welcoming Joe to the KC tonight.
QPR on Saturday was a very tough game against an experienced and expensive
team brought together over two years, but I thought we richly deserved a point and
could have nicked it in the last ten minutes for sure. We will need to show the same
level of desire, work rate and intensity tonight against Leeds United that is for sure
as they are a very good side with good individuals and a very fine manager, however
if we do we can keep our run going of that I’m sure.
Unfortunately tonight Leeds will have the entire North Stand and this has to be the
last time that happens if at all possible. We get tucked away in the corner with a
couple of thousand tickets at Elland Road and it can’t be right that we have to give
the whole stand to Leeds when they come to the KC. They are entitled to 10% under
Football League rules, however because of segregation requirements we can’t get
Hull City fans in that end as well, so we have had to give the whole stand to Leeds,
although the capacity is cut due to the visiting supporters having a tendency to stand
all game!! Next season we are, if at all possible, going to attempt to relocate away
supporters for every game so that we can have a North Stand full of season ticket
holding Hull City supporters. We feel sure this will improve the atmosphere at the KC
and give the home supporters their right to be behind both goals with decent facilities
below. Obviously there are health and safety issues to overcome but where there’s a
will there’s a way and it’s time to turn the KC into a ground that is laid out to benefit
our team and our supporters.
We need your support at its best tonight to try and get the gap between us and
Leeds down to four points. With the effort and commitment the team showed on
Saturday it should prove to be a cracking derby match to savour.
Adam Pearson
There is so much in this that is interesting and you can't help but wonder what would come out of The Lane if Birch would either by brave enough to be honest or, as in Pearson's case, someone new could shed light on the behaviour of the old regime! My Tigger loving colleagues reckon that, post these dramatic wage cuts, they have better players. I also love the L**ds comments.
Adam Pearson’s programme notes from Hull City’s home match against Leeds
United at the KC Stadium on Tuesday 1st February, 2011
It’s the end of another transfer window and one of the busiest we have had for a
while with some major transfer ins and outs for the club.
The pace at which the team and squad have evolved this season is pretty
remarkable and I think only Andy Dawson will be in the team tonight of those that
started against Swansea City back in August. It is always difficult to build a new
young team during the season and certainly two windows is not enough time. It
generally takes at least eighteen months to build a new side that is successful
therefore I think to be competing in the top half at this stage of the season is a very
good achievement by the management team and of course the players, who have for
the last three months showed a real appetite for the battle that is so competitive
every week in the Championship.
I will try to cover all the player issues of this window as factually and in as much
detail as possible so that everyone concerned can see the thought process behind
the squad rebuilding. Firstly in the case of Jimmy Bullard I was really disappointed
with the Hull Daily Mail’s coverage of the deal. They claimed that Jimmy was allowed
to leave for a £10,000 contribution per week from Ipswich Town. I called the paper
and gave them the correct facts but they still persisted in saying that Ipswich were
stating it was around £10,000 per week. This is really disappointing because in over
eight years at Hull City I can’t ever remember giving them an incorrect figure or
statement, so for them to doubt our word publicly was disappointing.
So for the record the guaranteed loan contribution to Jimmy’s wages from Ipswich
between now and the end of the loan contract is £321,480 exactly, which by my
maths is nearly double the £10,000 per week quoted by the Mail. That is the factual
contribution and it’s a shame to have to discuss this in public, however the Mail
seemed to be implying that Ipswich had “nicked” him out and that we were being
foolish in releasing the player for this amount. Well in this economic climate that is an
awful lot of money for a Championship club to pay for any player let alone one who
has had serious long term injury problems, and remember they have to pay it
whether Jimmy is fit or not. We let Jimmy go because he needs games to reignite his
season and because he actually wanted to make the move to Ipswich! It’s a move
that is in the best interests of both parties. Jimmy is an undoubtedly talented player
who has two and half years left at this club. His contract alone is 21% of our total
playing wage budget for next season so we hope he comes back in the summer
match fit and that he’s ready to go as part of the squad for next year with a clean
start and some games behind him.
The sheer size and length of the contracts that the Premier League signings were on
have made it very difficult to realise any transfer fees, such is the sheer scale of the
players’ contractual wage value. It is going to be difficult to move say Kamel Ghilas
on a permanent deal even on a free, as the contract is so long and heavy. This is a
player who we paid £2.6m for and a £500,000 agent’s fee! Clubs are just too well run
these days to allow you to trade out of these kind of deals. The same on Kamil
Zayatte who was earning four times the normal rate for a Championship centre half,
so you just have to be delighted to lose the wage burden for the long term.
Ian Ashbee has also left the club this week which again is a major departure which I
am sure has been queried by some supporters. Ian has been a magnificent servant
to this club for over eight years and his role in the development of the club from what
was the old Division Three to the Premier League was very, very significant on and
off the pitch. He has had a fantastic journey with Hull City and has been very
influential in creating the modern successful Hull City. I remember signing him in the
portakabin at Boothferry Park on a free from Cambridge United and I’m quite sure
neither of us had any idea of the success the club would have under his
captaincy. When Nigel and I became aware of Preston’s pursuit of Ian it was no
surprise to us as they obviously need a leader on the pitch, however we thought Ash
would want to see it out here at Hull particularly when he was captain, playing well
and influencing the team. However when Ash handed his transfer request in on the
eve of the QPR game then it was clear he wanted to go. The timing on Preston’s part
was very poor for us giving us no time to replace Ian and disrupting our preparations
for the QPR game. We knew they’d been talking to Ian for a couple of weeks so we
can only guess why they left it to the last possible moment. The contract offered to
Ian and the length of contract offered is something that we could just not match at
this time. Ian needed that security and we understand that completely, however we
have to run the club on a proper business footing now and we can’t commit to
contracts on sentimentality or popularity stakes. Ian will always be welcome back
here and I’m sure we will have a fitting dinner at the stadium in due course to honour
his achievements here, but football waits for no one and it’s time to move on and
build a new team under Nigel now. The club though will miss Ian undoubtedly and
we wish him all the very best at his new club. I know it’s difficult for supporters to
lose favourite players who have been with the club a long time but we have to move
on. The two guys in the midfield frame tonight, James Harper and Corry Evans, need
your support now. Players respond to positive backing and those two could do with it
tonight for sure as they look to take over the mantle.
The squad is changing at a tremendous pace and we have to be patient. We are not
going to become a fluent and high scoring team overnight, it just does not work like
that. A team has to be created then allowed to evolve and find its own identity and
style. I would say we are about halfway through that process. Hopefully by sheer
willpower, desire and good management we can keep accumulating points and
challenging around the Play-Offs, however we won’t be the finished article overnight,
that takes at least three windows if not four. Over 30 players have left the club in
nine months reducing the wage bill from a ridiculous £39m to £13m and that is
probably unique player turnover, so please bear with us while the team finds its feet
and the Manager makes his mark on the style and format of the club.
We have brought in Corry Evans, Tijani Belaid and extended the loans of Cameron
Stewart and Brad Guzan over the last two weeks, as well as completing the £2.5m
purchases of Aaron Mclean, James Chester and Matty Fryatt earlier in the
window. We have also extended the contracts of Jamie Devitt, Tom Cairney and
Mark Cullen with an eye on the future makeup of the squad. These home grown
players along with Liam Cooper who is doing extremely well at Carlisle United have
an important future in the squad and their time will undoubtedly come.
We have, over the last two days, made offers for Cameron Stewart and Corry Evans
to join us on permanent deals. They are fine young footballers and, just as
importantly, they are good characters who want to work hard at their game to
progress to the top. All three young players from Manchester United have been
exemplary since they joined the club. Cameron has hopefully now joined us
permanently for £300,000 and we will be working hard to secure Corry permanently
just as soon as Manchester United give us the green light to do so. James Chester
alongside Anthony Gerrard was excellent against QPR and looks already to be great
long term value at £300,000 as a player for the future who will progress with the
club. It’s only 18 months ago that the old board spent £1.7m on loaning Ibrahaim
Sonko for a year, three days after selling Michael Turner for buttons so you can see
the different recruitment policy that Nigel is following. It’s one of building for the
future rather than just the now. These signings wouldn’t be possible without the
continual funding from the Allam family, and their financial support already has been
colossal and completely transformed the club from one in danger of oblivion only
three months ago to one with a very bright future today.
Obviously replacing experienced pros with youthful players starting out in their
careers is a risk and there will be highs and lows for sure, however if we can get the
mix right then the future will be strong for many years to come. We must on the
whole recruit our experienced players on Bosman’s and pay the fees for young and
upcoming players who can increase in value and underpin the financial well being of
the club for years to come. We must be patient both with the players and
management team because this is a medium term project and they must be given
time to get the balance and recruitment absolutely right. We have now got one of the
best management teams around and for the good of the club they must get the
appropriate time, support and patience. Those clubs who support the management
team over the long term are those that are subsequently successful, that is a fact.
One addition to the management team is Joe Corrigan who has joined us initially
until the end of the season as Goalkeeping Coach to replace Mark Prudhoe. I am
sure you will join me in welcoming Joe to the KC tonight.
QPR on Saturday was a very tough game against an experienced and expensive
team brought together over two years, but I thought we richly deserved a point and
could have nicked it in the last ten minutes for sure. We will need to show the same
level of desire, work rate and intensity tonight against Leeds United that is for sure
as they are a very good side with good individuals and a very fine manager, however
if we do we can keep our run going of that I’m sure.
Unfortunately tonight Leeds will have the entire North Stand and this has to be the
last time that happens if at all possible. We get tucked away in the corner with a
couple of thousand tickets at Elland Road and it can’t be right that we have to give
the whole stand to Leeds when they come to the KC. They are entitled to 10% under
Football League rules, however because of segregation requirements we can’t get
Hull City fans in that end as well, so we have had to give the whole stand to Leeds,
although the capacity is cut due to the visiting supporters having a tendency to stand
all game!! Next season we are, if at all possible, going to attempt to relocate away
supporters for every game so that we can have a North Stand full of season ticket
holding Hull City supporters. We feel sure this will improve the atmosphere at the KC
and give the home supporters their right to be behind both goals with decent facilities
below. Obviously there are health and safety issues to overcome but where there’s a
will there’s a way and it’s time to turn the KC into a ground that is laid out to benefit
our team and our supporters.
We need your support at its best tonight to try and get the gap between us and
Leeds down to four points. With the effort and commitment the team showed on
Saturday it should prove to be a cracking derby match to savour.
Adam Pearson
