Nigel Adkins spent Sunday morning walking the banks of the Humber, telling his Twitter followers it was “an opportunity to reflect on a busy 59 days since joining Hull City”.
Tomorrow brings up two months in the role of head coach and perhaps only now is the magnitude of the challenge that faces Adkins beginning to sink in.
Ten Championship games have returned only seven points and the win over Brentford that began Adkins’ reign on December 9 remains his one Championship victory. Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Preston North End was a fifth consecutive away defeat, leaving City below the dreaded line in 22nd and a point adrift of safety.
Adkins’ reflections the morning after the Deepdale demise cannot have been as bright as the midwinter sunshine that accompanied him.
For all he breezed into the KCOM Stadium in a whirlwind of positivity before Christmas, Leonid Slutsky’s successor is struggling to find the answers to guide City clear of relegation trouble.
Performances might have warranted a greater yield, such as the double-header against Leeds United and the visit of Derby County, but City have reached the stage where results are all that matter. Supporters fearful of back-to-back relegations grew tired of hard luck stories long ago.
Only Reading and Sheffield Wednesday (six apiece) have collected fewer Championship points than City since Adkins was appointed in the second week of December. Burton (10), Sunderland (11), Bolton (13) and Birmingham (14) have all been more productive, with the latter of City’s relegation rivals turning a three-point deficit into a four-point advantage.
The pendulum will surely swing again between now and May 6, but Adkins will have to coax far more from his players to make it so.
City are flagging at present. Confidence levels are rock-bottom and the enthusiasm Adkins instilled through his first month has gradually ebbed away in the second. Saturday’s defeat at Preston, City’s 14th of the season, illustrated that perfectly.
While the Tigers were disciplined enough to keep things tight through the opening half hour, taking the lead through Jarrod Bowen’s well-worked goal, the response to Preston’s equaliser inside five minutes was listless.
A controversial penalty ought to have galvanised Adkins’ men but, instead, it broke them. Adversity, no matter how big or small, tends to do that to this City side.
That suggests a group of underachieving players are at the root of problem but, just as it always was, it is the head coach who must find the answers.
And Adkins no longer appears quite so sure of his plans. The 4-2-3-1 system he stuck to resolutely through the first eight league games of his reign has been abandoned against Leeds and Preston over the last week, while the last three Championship fixtures have seen 18 different players make the starting XI.
New date set for Hull City's crucial Championship fixture with drop rivals Barnsley
Injuries, most notably to club captain Michael Dawson in the wake of his touted move to Nottingham Forest, have played a significant part in the chopping and changing, but the consistency of selections Adkins was previously searching for has gradually disappeared in a winless run that now stands at nine games.
It was City’s struggles in front of goal that ultimately forced a rethink and those attacking flaws remain the greatest concern. Since netting three times in 21 minutes against Brentford, the Tigers have since scored the same amount in almost 14 hours of Championship football.
The drought was ended by Bowen’s strike at Deepdale but City’s attempts to force an equaliser in the second half remained feeble. Not once did Preston keeper Declan Rudd have a notable save to make, even when the visitors rallied in the closing stages.
Adkins is worthy of supporters’ sympathy after a transfer window came and went without any real show of support from owners Assem and Ehab Allam, but a meagre return of seven points from a possible 30 ensures he is struggling to convince fans he will be the man to secure survival.
The stark reality is that City, in Adkins’ words, are “in the mire” as they plan for their weekend trip to Nottingham Forest.
There is no easy way out from here. Somehow, the Tigers need to find twice as many points from the final 16 games of the season as they have managed in the 30 that have led to this gloomy juncture.
Anything less and City will be contemplating life in League One for the first time since 2004-05. Adkins showed he was capable of sparking City into life during his first days in charge and again more recently when stylishly brushing Nottingham Forest aside in the FA Cup fourth round 10 days ago.
Now he has to find a prolonged lift and, far more importantly, a spike in results. City cannot hope to go on as they are.
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