Hull City
Av Attendance 2019/20: 11614
Manager: Grant McCann
Preferred Formation 2019/20: 4-2-3-1
Last game v City: Imps 2-0 Hull, 28th February 2004
Summer Ins: Lewie Coyle – Fleetwood, Josh Emmanuel – Bolton, Richie Smallwood – Blackburn, Greg Docherty – Rangers
Summer Outs: Elliott Bonds – Cheltenham (loan), Kevin Stewart, Jon Toral, Will Mannion, Robbie McKenzie
This is the one many fans have been waiting for. Derbies with Hull City were as big as anything Scunthorpe or Grimsby used to offer and many Imps fans will remember the tussles around the late nineties and early noughties which were as tasty off the field as they were on it. At one point in recent memory, The Tigers were Premier League and we were playing North Ferriby in the National League. What a great leveller football is.
Many are predicting a tough season for Hull, but I don’t see it. They were (for want of a better word) crap last season, gutless, spineless and surrendering long before the season resumed, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be the same this time out. Grant McCann knows this division from his time at Posh and Doncaster, whilst much of their side from last season has stayed together. Tom Eaves should score for fun at this level, Doherty and Honeyman are both excellent players for the third tier and Hull will be one of the ‘big guns’ everyone wants to take down.
Expect some fiery matches, but don’t expect them to go through the division like a dodgy fish curry.
Ipswich Town
Av Attendance 2019/20: 19549
Manager: Paul Lambert
Preferred Formation 2019/20: 3-4-1-2
Last game v City: Ipswich 1-0 Imps, 25th Jan 2020
Summer Ins: David Cornell – Northampton, Oli Hawkins – Portsmouth, Stephen Ward – Stoke
Summer Outs: Will Keane, Danny Rowe, Jordan Roberts
Odd isn’t it, we don’t play Ipswich for 55 years, now they’re like old friends coming to visit. we clashed four times last year, twice in the league and twice in the cup. They had the edge, but in truth, we should have won both cup games. The worrying thing about Ipswich is their lack of change from last season. They were collapsing when play ended and Paul lambert looked lost on the touchline, and their business this summer has been unremarkable. In fact, I’d say they in negative equity at the moment, with business needed to flesh out their squad.
Their pre-season has been woeful, fans are already on edge and I can’t see how Lambert is going to move things around. Unless there’s big business to be done, I fail to see what they’ll offer this season that they weren’t able to last time out. My bold prediction is Lambert to be gone by Christmas, if they can afford to sack him, after a poor start. They visit us on October 24th and if Lambert doesn’t have them in the top six, even at that early stage, the pressure is going to be on.