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If You Count Your Chickens Before They've Hatched, They Won't Lay An Egg


AK22

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Bloody hell, £155k wage budget in League One?! As you say, absolute no brainer. Assuming £1.9m is not big enough either (which is unlikely!), you have plenty of room to manouver with the budgets too. I can only assume their finances are sound with their high budgets. Another big plus is you have 3-4 games over the festive period to see who can hack it and who cant then the transfer window opens and your budget can be used. Great stuff AK22 :thup:

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Hull City A.F.C.

Wage: £1000 per week

Contract Length: 2 years

Transfer Budget: £1.9m

Wage Budget: £155k per week

Current Player Wage Total: £109k per week

665.png

Year Founded: 1904

Nickname: The Tigers

Rivals: Leeds, Scunthorpe, Sheff Utd, Grimsby

Stadium: KC Stadium

Capacity: 25586 all-seater

hull-city-kc-stadium.jpg

2015/16

Media Prediction: 1st

Title Odds: N/A

As it stands 19th December 2015: 9th

Table | Fixtures

Board Expectations

npower Football League One: Win Promotion (Won't be judged at the moment)

FA Cup: Third Round (Won't be judged at the moment)

Carling Cup: Second Round (Knocked out already)

Johnstone's Paint Trophy: Not important (Knocked out already)

Initial Impressions

Squad Overview | Finances | Facilities

How on earth did I get this job?! In theory, I've really landed on my feet here; a great squad, impressive facilities and money to spend, there's no reason why this club shouldn't be challenging for promotion. Or is there? Obviously, something wasn't going to plan previously, which ultimately, cost my predecessor their job. On the surface, I can't see what that is at the moment, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. My only concern for now is if I'll get the required response out of the team, as with only four season's experience, they might find it difficult to motivate themselves for me.

I've inherited some pretty decent talent, who are on some pretty hefty wages too. Djako Arafat seems like a good striker for this level, and the defence should be solid too, as the likes of Wayne Bridge, William Edjenguélé, Rémi Gomis and Germán Lux should work effectively as a cohesive unit. We're currently 11 points off leaders Gillingham, which may be too big a gap to close down, but only two points off the playoffs. Realistically, this has to be our aim, and I'd be pretty disappointed if we don't get there considering the strength of the team, and the fact I've got the January window to dip my toe into the transfer market if needed.

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Two brilliant job offers there AK! Which one are you going to take? Or will you stay loyal to Kingstonian?
Hull looks like a cracking offer! That budget ought to see you fly out of League One and a good way up the Championship.
Bloody hell, £155k wage budget in League One?! As you say, absolute no brainer. Assuming £1.9m is not big enough either (which is unlikely!), you have plenty of room to manouver with the budgets too. I can only assume their finances are sound with their high budgets. Another big plus is you have 3-4 games over the festive period to see who can hack it and who cant then the transfer window opens and your budget can be used. Great stuff AK22 :thup:
Hull looks like a brilliant chance to jump up the league :thup:
That offer from Hull would have been incredibly hard to turn down. Good luck! :)

Thanks for the comments :)

There was absolutely no way I could turn Hull down. On paper, it looks like the dream job for an ambitious League Two manager to take. It's a big step up though, especially considering this was a Premier League club only six seasons ago, and I'm going to playing with a lot more money, and some bigger egos too, but I feel totally ready for it. We've got to be aiming for promotion this season or next, and then potentially trying to regain Premier League status soon after. Not that I'm getting too far ahead of myself yet, I just want to hit the ground running with a win away to Crewe in my first league fixture, and see where we go from there.

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Well-earned move.

Thanks deltablue.

Welcome to Dull... er I mean Hull.

Whatcha mean?! :D There's plenty to do in Hull if you love fishing boats and, er, Rugby League. Not so much for football fans though :D

Great move AK22. Definitely the right one for you and your growing career! Hull looks great on initial glance; maybe teh previous manager just didn't get on with the chairman?

To be honest, I just think they panicked. I'm sure anyone could have got this side into the playoffs.

Congratulations on getting the Hull gig!

Cheers abulezz.

No one in human history has ever said that before.

True :D

Good luck with the job at Hull,hope you can make a fantastic start and close the gap on the top teams!

Well, we won our first four games anyway :)

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Hull City A.F.C.

665.png

Season Review 2015/16

Competitions

npower Football League One: 6th

Position Graph | Fixtures | Playoffs

npowerFootballLeagueOneOverview_Stages-2-1.png

FA Cup: 4th Round | Carling Cup: Knocked out before arrival

Johnstone's Paint Trophy: Knocked out before arrival

Season Summary

Match of the Season:

Losing in the playoff final was quite a disappointing way to end a fairly successful first six months. My tenure at the club started well, winning our first four fixtures without conceding, including a cracking 1-0 FA Cup Third Round win against Premier League side, Blackpool. Our steady recovery saw us climb up into the top six, where we would stay for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, we never found a way to break into the top two, getting to within a point at one stage, and had to rely on the playoffs if we were going to achieve promotion at the first time of asking.

Going into the playoffs, it was pretty clear that we were favourites to win them. Up against Gillingham, Notts County and Wycombe, we were by far the biggest club, and our class was expected to prevail over the rest. We dispatched The Gills 5-4 in the semi-final, after a pretty uncomfortable second leg, where we waited until the 93rd minute to secure the victory. This result set up a final against Wycombe, a side who finished just one point above us in the league. As anticipated, a nervy game followed, which was settled by the odd goal in favour of our opposition. Delight for them, devastation for us.

Ultimately, it was down to some pretty poor results in March that cost us an automatic promotion place. A major injury crisis struck the squad, wiping out my first choice back four, and three of my most offensive players. We quickly went from the side with the best defensive record in the league, to a side unable to keep a clean sheet and devoid of any creative spark. Better strength in depth will be the order of the day next season.

Financial

Bank Balance: £2.79m

Average Attendance: 17287 | Season Ticket Holders: 15003

Loads of money here, obviously helped by the amount of season ticket holders. The FA Cup money, combined with a solidarity scheme payment, helped to keep things ticking over nicely too. I should get a fair chunk of money to spend over the summer, in what will be probably the largest budget in the division.

Squad

Squad Overview | Transfer Summary

Team of the Year | Overall Best Eleven

Fan's Player of the Year: Rémi Gomis

Manager's Player of the Year: Alex Pearce

Top Goalscorer: Walter López (11 goals)

As talented as the squad looks on paper, there are quite a few cracks that will need filling-in over the summer. All season long we struggled to find a regular goalscoring threat, highlighted no better by the fact that our topscorer was our left-sided midfielder, Walter López. A 20 goals-a-season striker will be top of my wishlist over the summer, and with the finances available to me, I'm confident of finding a suitable candidate. I'm also going to need some better defensive cover, as we got annihilated when injuries struck. Alex Pearce is a quality centre-back, who I'm desperate to keep hold of, but a couple of decent back-ups will help the squad no end.

Other News

Kingstonian - They survived another season in League Two, finishing 18th, and 21 points clear of the relegation zone. They're also having some youth facilities built. Foundations for the future being built, at last!

Career Summary

[size=2]Season     Team              League                   Finish    Cups                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12    Unemployed
2012/13    Kingstonian       Blue Square Bet South    3rd       FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round, FA Trophy 2nd Round
2013/14    Kingstonian       Blue Square Bet Premier  3rd       FA Cup 1st Round, FA Trophy 1st Round
2014/15    Kingstonian       npower League Two        16th      FA Cup 1st Round, Carling Cup 1st Round, JPT 1st Round
2015/16    Kingstonian       npower League Two        17th**    **Resigned 19/12/2015
          Hull City         npower League One        6th       FA Cup 4th Round[/size]

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Considering the situation when you took over, that is a good season. Yes, you are gutted at the play off final, but you woulf no doubt have taken 6th if offered when you took over. Also, this will enable you to annihilate all and sundry next season and enable you to blood some youngsters in the JPT.

Well done mate :thup:

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AK I've followed this career since you started it and have only just got round to saying anything, but good luck and surely promotion next season!

Just thought I'd also say, your '11 career is the reason I started one this year.

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A great move, fully deserved! Good luck with Hull.

Bloody hell, £155k wage budget in League One?!

I got a similar budget when I moved to Sheff Utd in L1 and then went on to win the league by nearly 30 points and am currently top of the Championship - first season - by 13 points. So definitely a promising proposition.

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Disappointing Im sure, but then again, you did not have the ful season to work with the squad. You wil have that luxury going into next season - anything less than automatic promotion will not do!

Yeah, definitely more pressure next season, as I'll be fully judged on our league performances now. Failure's not an option!

You did well finishing 6th but unlucky with the playoff final defeat.I'm willing to bet next season will be more successful as you'll get to play a whole season :D

Thanks, B.W.G. I'm looking forward to getting a full season under my belt.

Considering the situation when you took over, that is a good season. Yes, you are gutted at the play off final, but you woulf no doubt have taken 6th if offered when you took over. Also, this will enable you to annihilate all and sundry next season and enable you to blood some youngsters in the JPT.

Well done mate :thup:

Cheers Daz. TBH, I really don't care about the JPT, as it clutters up the fixture list too much, so I'll be using it to give the reserves some game time, and use some of the under-18s too.

Never underestimate the 'first full season' benefit.

Hopefully so, deltablue.

It must be disappointing to lose in the playoff final, but I'm sure it won't be long till you get Hull back in the Championship.

That's the plan, but I think it will be difficult, especially as Leeds were one of the sides relegated from the Championship last season.

Good season under the circumstances. With that much money I think auto promotion is something in your plans for next season.

Third highest wage budget, behind Bristol City and Leeds, so might have to settle for playoffs again. The board want us to reach the playoffs again.

AK I've followed this career since you started it and have only just got round to saying anything, but good luck and surely promotion next season!

Just thought I'd also say, your '11 career is the reason I started one this year.

Cheers Pooku, hopefully I'll have as much fun as I did on my FM11 career. Good luck with your career too :)

AS the others have said, I'm sure you'll win promotion with a full season under your belt. I think it's rather impressive you managed to finish so highly despite not having an out-and-out goalscorer in the team.

This is the first team in a while where I've struggled to find a regular scorer. I've just signed Charlie Austin, so he's the 'Big Hope' for next season.

Unlucky AK. At least you have a full season next time round.

Thanks Nobby, I'd be disappointed if we don't finish above sixth.

A great move, fully deserved! Good luck with Hull.

I got a similar budget when I moved to Sheff Utd in L1 and then went on to win the league by nearly 30 points and am currently top of the Championship - first season - by 13 points. So definitely a promising proposition.

That's good to know Paolo. If we can get out of League One, I don't see any reason why we can't compete in the Championship. We've just got to get there first! :)

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That's pretty much the exact same situation I found at Celta, a squad obviously more than good enough to be at the top, but puzzlingly left in a poor position by the previous manager. I lost in the playoffs final too so know how you're feeling - it's more than a little frustrating!

With the comfort of a full season to prepare things, you should aim for 1st place really. Good luck.

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Now that you have a full season, you can put your stamp on Hull :) Still, a good year and congrats.

That's what I'm hoping to do. I've signed nine new players over the summer, so it's definitely starting to feel like 'my team' now.

That's pretty much the exact same situation I found at Celta, a squad obviously more than good enough to be at the top, but puzzlingly left in a poor position by the previous manager. I lost in the playoffs final too so know how you're feeling - it's more than a little frustrating!

With the comfort of a full season to prepare things, you should aim for 1st place really. Good luck.

The media prediction is only 6th, but the team is good enough to play in the Championship. They should never have got relegated either, but then again, I suppose if that haven't had happened, I'd probably still be at Kingstonian.

Not had chance to be around here recently and things have certainly changed in here! A great move to Hull...athough Hull always reminds me of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlPkbLhoeyA

:D

Ha ha, quality, me too! Although I'm not planning on making too many trips to Amsterdam, well not by boat anyway :D

The League title is yours for the taking :cool:

We'll see, but hopefully we'll be right in the mixer for it.

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Hull City A.F.C.

665.png

Pre-Season Summary 2016/17

Wage: £1300 per week | Contract Length: 2 years

The board seem fairly impressed by the improvement shown towards the end of last season. A new two year contract and a 300 quid pay-rise? Thanks, that'll do nicely.

Board Expectations

npower Football League One: Playoffs

FA Cup: Third Round | Carling Cup: Second Round | Johnstone's Paint Trophy: Not Important

Transfer Budget: £1.82m

Wage Budget: £155k per week | Current Player Wage Total: £99k per week

Media Prediction: 6th | Title Odds: 16/1

It's hard to comprehend the fact that my wage budget is £147k larger here at Hull, compared to what I started last season with at Kingstonian. We've got to be striving for promotion this season as a bare minimum. The form showed in the second half of last season proves we're capable of competing at the top of this league, so we need to ensure we make a stronger start to the campaign this time around. Leeds and Bristol City were two of the teams relegated out of the Championship last season, both of which are on the wealthy side, so we face a tough task of going up in the automatic promotion places. The playoffs are a more realistic aim, but I still think we'll be pretty close to the top two.

Transfer Activity

Transfer Summary

Club Signing of the Window: Charlie Austin

Total Amount Spent: £195k | Total Amount Received: £0

Nine new signings joined the club over the summer, with the main aim of strengthening key positions. Charlie Austin was signed to be the big goal threat that we were missing last season, so I'm hoping he can impose himself on the League One defences and bag us plenty of goals. The wise heads of Bradley Orr, Serginho and Cheyne Fowler should all add experience to the squad as a whole, as well as being decent enough to hold down regular first team positions. Another player with considerable experience, Nile Ranger, was signed on loan to be our third-choice striker. I'm really pleased with the signings made, all of which should add value to the team, and improve our strength in depth overall.

Tactical Outlook

This is my initial formation and team instructions:

HullCityTactics_TeamInstructions-1.png

HullCityTactics_TeamInstructions-2.png

I'm sticking to what I know, and continuing with the tactics used to great effect at Kingstonian. They may be a bit too cautious at times, considering we will start as favourites in several matches this season, so I may need to tweak as we go. One possibility will be to change the deep-lying playmaker to an advanced playmaker, giving us another player with a more attacking mentality. Alternatively, I'm considering playing with attacking fullbacks, who will double up against the opposition, and create plenty of chances down the wings.

Other News

European Championship 2016

Hosts: France

Group Stages 1 | Group Stages 2

Knockout Rounds

Final: Norway 0-2 France

Once again, the French win a major tournament on their own soil, beating surprise-package Norway after extra time in the final. Scotland were the pick of the Home Nations, reaching the quarter-final before being knocked out by Portugal. In England news, John Terry has stepped down as skipper, only to be replaced by a 38 year old Frank Lampard! God help us all! :rolleyes:

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Seems like there might not be too much pressure from the board for automatic promotion this season, but there's a lot of pressure from the FMCUers! Good luck with the upcoming season.

I'm curious, given that Hull seem like a big side with a big budget for this level with good players on the books, as to why your media prediction is only 6th. Who is predicted to finish above you and do you have any idea why? (Guessing Bristol City and Leeds are two of the teams for obvious reasons, but what of the others?)

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To be honest AK22, you are virtually pressure free here. The baord expect only a play off spot? With that budget and those signings (Charlie Austin is a terrific capture), I fully expect a top two finish, with Champions being the obvious objective.
Should go up with that side.
Good luck for the new season,should be able to challenge for promotion with your squad :)

I totally agree, I've got a great squad. Unfortunately, we've started on the complacent side, and had some proper sloppy games.

I had Austin briefly at Southend, he's an excellent targetman even at Championship level, you've got yourself a great signing there.
Just read through this thread, great job done at Kingstonian and good luck with Hull, I expect Charlie Austin to be a great signing!
I don't like using the loan striker as a target man, I prefer poacher but when you sign Charlie Austin he fits the target man well for League 1. He should get you promoted single handed with his goals and assists!
Charlie Austin did well for me at Burnley and went on to get a few England caps so you've got a star there. Good luck for the new season :thup:

Charlie Austin should be great for me as he's definitely one of the best of strikers in the league. I was also trailing Billy Sharp, who was my preferred choice, but his wage demands were far too high. Normally, when playing a lone striker, I tend to favour a target man, and Austin and Sharp were the best two available, both have great workrate and strength, and pretty decent composure and finishing. If I was playing someone in an attacking midfield role, then I could play a poacher instead, as they would feed nicely off their supply. However, with my current setup, I feel a target man is the way to go at the moment.

Seems like there might not be too much pressure from the board for automatic promotion this season, but there's a lot of pressure from the FMCUers! Good luck with the upcoming season.

I'm curious, given that Hull seem like a big side with a big budget for this level with good players on the books, as to why your media prediction is only 6th. Who is predicted to finish above you and do you have any idea why? (Guessing Bristol City and Leeds are two of the teams for obvious reasons, but what of the others?)

Cheers. Yes, the FMCUsers expectation's are certainly quite high by the looks of things! :)

Here's the media expectations:

1st Bristol City

2nd Leeds

3rd Gillingham

4th Doncaster

5th Notts County

6th HULL

Obviously, Bristol and Leeds are above us as they're the teams relegated from the Championship, but I'm not too sure why the other three are. Gillingham and Notts County finished 3rd and 4th last season, but our squad is much stronger than theirs, and our wage bill are a lot higher too. Doncaster is a bit of a puzzler, they're majorly in debt and have a pretty average team.

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Hull City A.F.C.

665.png

Mid-Season Update 2016/17

npower Football League One: 4th

Table

Fixtures

A steady, if not spectacular, start to the season so far. Fourth is a decent position to be in at the halfway stage, and we're six points better off than this point last year, but it does look like we will may have to settle for the playoffs again. Leeds have showed their class, putting themselves in a commanding position at the top of the table, and somehow, Gillingham have managed to cling on to their coat tails too. It's going to take a superb effort by us in the New Year to chase them down, and if we do, we will need to eradicate the sloppy performances that have cost us so far. We really shouldn't be losing to Rochdale, Plymouth or Wrexham!

Our performances in the major cups have left a lot to be desired too. Being beaten 4-0 at home to League Two side, Burton Albion, was the lowest point of my Hull career so far, and the defeat to Rotherham in the FA Cup was not a lot better either. I know this frees up the fixture calendar for us, so that we can now focus on the league, but I've underachieved on the boards expectation, which has put my job security slightly to the left side of stable. One positive, though, is the performances of the reserves in the JPT. Even though I don't really care about the competition, we've managed to find ourselves in the North Final, and only two games away from a day out at Wembley.

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You can still close in on the top 2, though it won't be easy.
Solid start,as deltablue said,you can still close in on the top two.Would just be helpful if one of them had a mini implosion :D

Thanks, we will need to top two to have some sort of breakdown though. Stranger things have happened ;)

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Hull City A.F.C.

665.png

Season Review 2016/17

Competitions

npower Football League One: 1st

Position Graph | Fixtures

npowerFootballLeagueOneOverview_Stages-2-1.png

FA Cup: 1st Round | Carling Cup: 1st Round

Johnstone's Paint Trophy: Winner

Season Summary

Match of the Season:

Two crucial decisions really turned our season on it's head, and ultimately, helped us achieve the promotion to the Championship we desired. Firstly, at the halfway stage, I switched to a more attacking formation. Out went the Makalele-esque holding midfielder, in favour of a second striker in a poacher role. This turned my formation into a 4-4-2 with advanced wingers. Not my favoured set-up, but it got us scoring more often, and sent us on a 25 game unbeaten streak, pushing us to the top of the league. The second big decision was to sign Billy Sharp in the January window. I had considered signing him back in the summer, but was reluctant to adhere to his contract demands. However, the opportunity to sign him came round again, and I took the plunge this time. His 14 goals were pivotal in our promotion campaign, meaning I can now justify the £12k per week I had to pay him.

As solid as our league performances were, we were severely helped by the incapability of the teams around us. Leeds had a meltdown of epic proportions, only managing to win 24 points from 23 games in the second half of the season. This saw them drop from comfortable league leaders, down to seventh, and outside of the playoff places, costing their manager their job. Gillingham had a wobble too, slipping well off the pace, which allowed us to secure promotion with two games to go. Bristol City equalled our points total, but due to our superior goal difference, we did enough to become champions.

The cherry on the top of our successful season cake was the victory in the JPT final. A 2-1 win over Gillingham secured the first trophy of my career, and was the club's first milestone on the way to a double-winning season. Considering we played most of the match with ten men, it was a testament to the players that we managed to hang on for the victory. 86000 was a pretty decent crowd for an all-League One affair too!

Financial

Bank Balance: £0m

Average Attendance: 18184 | Season Ticket Holders: 15733

Well, all the money's gone, so it's a good job we're going up. Contract renewals have cost us a pretty penny, also not helped by a drop in sponsorship revenue and the lack of a major cup run. A season of consolidation in the Championship should help matters greatly, though.

Squad

Squad Overview | Transfer Summary

Team of the Year | Overall Best Eleven

Fan's Player of the Year: Alex Pearce

Manager's Player of the Year: Billy Sharp

Top Goalscorer: Charlie Austin (18 goals)

PFA League 1 Team of the Year: German Lux, Alex Pearce and Adnan Januzaj

The squad has held up well this season, no big injury scares, and enough alternatives to shake things up every now and again, when required. The signing of Billy Sharp in January gave us new impetus upfront, and we finished the season with three strikers in good form. It's unfortunate that Djako Arafat couldn't agree terms with us, as I feel he would do well at the next level up, but alas, he decided to sign for Genk, where he will move to in the summer. As sharp as we've looked upfront (I'm not apologising for that pun :D), our solid defensive unit (the best in the league) should also be commended, with Alex Pearce and Matthew Lowton the pick of the bunch. I've had to pay through the nose to renew Pearce's contract, making him the highest paid player at the club, but I'm certain his presence in the back four will be crucial to a successful campaign next term.

Other News

I've had my first job offer from a non-UK club. FC Petrolul of the Romanian top tier came calling after we had concluded our final fixture of the season. They offered me a 100% payrise, but very little wage or transfer budget, and the fact they had been relegated, there was little there to persuade me to jump ship. I've also been heavily linked with Inverness Caledonian Thistle (SPL), but I really fancy a crack at the Championship with Hull, so it would take a pretty tasty offer to make me leave the KC Stadium at this stage.

Kingstonian - They had another solid season in League Two, equalling their best ever position of 16th. Their squad is still full of players from my regime, so it's satisfying that I left them in good knick when moving on.

Game Set-up - As I will now be playing at the second tier of English football, I've decided to change the game set-up and add/remove a few leagues. The third and fourth tier of Sweden and Scotland have gone, as well as the fourth tier of Italy, the third tier of Portugal, and the Blue Square Regional Leagues (tier six). It's very unlikely I'll need to worry myself with job offers from these leagues, so to replace them, I've added the MLS and Australian A-League, who both are of a similar level to what I'll be playing with Hull next season.

Career Summary

[size=2]Season     Team              League                   Finish    Cups                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12    Unemployed
2012/13    Kingstonian       Blue Square Bet South    3rd       FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round, FA Trophy 2nd Round
2013/14    Kingstonian       Blue Square Bet Premier  3rd       FA Cup 1st Round, FA Trophy 1st Round
2014/15    Kingstonian       npower League Two        16th      FA Cup 1st Round, Carling Cup 1st Round, JPT 1st Round
2015/16    Kingstonian       npower League Two        17th**    **Resigned 19/12/2015
          Hull City         npower League One        6th       FA Cup 4th Round
[/size]​2016/17    Hull City         npower League One        1st       FA Cup 1st Round, Carling Cup 1st Round, JPT Winner

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