Steve Bruce has admitted that the club need to make at least four or five signings in order to think about a return to the Premier League by either winning or finishing second in the Championship.

Despite being one of the newly relegated teams, Hull are already behind Derby in the rank of favourites for promotion according to popular bookmakers. These odds can be improved only by signing some top quality players while also retaining existing big names like Curtis Davies. It has been speculated that the former Aston Villa defender could be poached by Premier League clubs.

Davies has so far remained silent on the issue and has pledged his future with Hull, but the persisting interest from top division clubs could change the outcome. Bruce is aware that most of the signings made by him last summer have not worked out. Hence, he has little time in order to get things right at the KC stadium. The former Sunderland boss often starts extremely well with results petering out towards the end of his career at a club. It remains to be seen if Hull will remain patient with Bruce even if the club has a poor start to the season. The opening match of the season is against Huddersfield Town.

“I would have thought we need at least four or five (new signings) at the moment. We’ll not have Robert Snodgrass and Mo Diame for the first month so with those two out we’ve got 19 players, and two of those are goalkeepers.We are a little bit thin on the ground, but I’m quietly confident we’ll bring in some fresh faces and have a squad capable of challenging for promotion.The football is just starting now. We’re all back to work after one of the quietest summers I can remember and you can see things picking up,” said Bruce.

The remaining matches of the season for Hull City will see them facing off against Arsenal, Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

Hull City essentially is going to have to play with some of the top clubs of the English League before the season reaches it’s end and the results of these matches is going to determine if Hull City is able to stay in the Premier League for another year or suffer relegation.

These upcoming matches of Hull City are not going to be easy for the team of Steve Bruce and his players but the captain of the team still believes that they are capable of surviving and making it through these tough opponents.

Curtis Davies is the captain of Hull City and the 30 year old defender is hoping that the quality of his teammates will be enough for them to dodge the spots that no club wants to be in.
Curtis Davies told the media: “A lot of our players have played in the Premier League but I’m not sure how many have actually had a relegation battle. Myself and Liam Rosenior have been through it with other teams but I’m not sure how many others have.’’

“It’s good we have the experience but we’re hoping the quality shows and we have enough to get over the line. We know it’s not going to be easy but we believe we have enough to do it.”

Davies started off the season by being a consistent and regular starter but the defender has lost his impact at Hull City as he was an unused substitute in all of the matches of his team of the month of March but the experienced defender is hoping that he can end the season on a high note and help Hull City escape the bottom zone.

After reaching the FA Cup final last season, Hull City were expected to progress to much better things this season.

It has not been the case as Steve Bruce has been unable to match the expectations while also struggling with off the field issues.

In order to help the former Sunderland manager, the club recently brought in former Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan, who is currently out of work after having left United following the exit of Sir Alex Ferguson. There has been an improvement in performance from Hull over the last few matches. Defender Curtis Davies says that the presence of Phelan is starting to have an impact on the team.

Hull have managed just four wins this season. Despite signing goalscorers like Jelavic in the summer from Everton, they have been able to get only 23 goals in 25 league matches.

Defensively, they have been poor and have conceded more than 30 goals in these matches. Ahead of the away match against Manchester City, Davies says that the recent improvement in performances has not translated into results but he is hoping to get something out of the match against the reigning champions. City have been suffering from poor form at home this season.

“Coming in straight away, his talk was good. He touched on the fact that he can’t affect what’s happened before.Everything that’s gone on in the past, where we are in the league, he can’t affect.He wants to help us moving forward. He wants to help the manager, with Berch (Keith Bertschin), with Clem (Stephen Clemence) and the players, to start getting results.He gave us that idea that if we jump on board with him, we can start getting better and moving up the league,” said Davies. Phelan knows Steve Bruce extremely well from their Manchester United days.

Curtis Davies believes that his performances for Hull City this campaign are below his usual standards, and he believes that he can improve a lot.

The former Aston Villa defender is considered as one of the experienced members of this Hull City team, which saw a massive influx of new players in the summer. Despite spending big, manager Steve Bruce has been unable to get good results. They have been involved in several draws and this certainly does not help them in their efforts to avoid relegation. Pressure is mounting on Bruce after Hull slipped into the relegation zone following a 0-0 draw with West Brom.

Davies has not featured in the Hull team since the 3-0 defeat against Manchester United. He is hoping to return to the starting line-up with much better form after having this forced break at a crucial time in the season. As the captain of the team, the 29-year-old is aware that he must set an example when it comes to form. Even though they have taken two points from the last two matches, it is victories that will help the club jump significantly above the relegation zone. Their last victory in the league came in the first week of October against Crystal Palace.

“I’ve been average, not anywhere near my usual standards if I’m honest.I set high standards for myself last season and that’s frustrating. I need to put my finger on it and get back to where I was. The sooner I do that, the better. I’m not saying I’m going to turn the team around because there’s 11 players on the pitch but when you’ve got a good feeling in yourself, that can help everyone around you through individual confidence.I could make excuses for how I’ve played but I don’t know,” said Davies.

With the Premier League having been played 4 matches, some clubs and managers are flying high with superb performances being displayed so far and this is the case of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea as they still are undefeated and appear to be unstoppable with Diego Costa firing from all cylinders.
There are some managers and clubs however, that are struggling to secure even one single and a perfect example of this would be Alan Pardew with Newcastle United.
Newcastle United finished the previous season of the Premier League in a positive note as they secured the 10th spot but things have taken a turn for the worse as Pardew has not collected a single victory from the 4 opening matches of the season.
The pressure is starting to build on Alan Pardew as rumors are already stating that he might be sacked if positive results aren’t shown within the next few weeks.
Hull City’s Steve Bruce is a manager that has recently been linked with the managerial position at Newcastle United if Alan Pardew is indeed sacked but Bruce has stepped up to the media and shut down those claims involving him with a move to the St. James Park.
“I find it very disrespectful that I am linked with somebody else’s job when he is still in the job. I have only been at Hull a couple of years and they have been really good. They gave me the chance to get up and running again and for that I will always be grateful.”

Steve Bruce does not look like he wants to move away from Hull City anytime soon as he denied all those rumors involving him with Newcastle United but the future of Alan Pardew is at risk if the English manager is unable to start picking up victories in the Premier League.

Despite being promoted to the Premier League only last summer, Hull City will be enjoying days travelling to European clubs in the coming campaign. This is after the club qualified for the Europa League by virtue of having appeared in the FA Cup final. Even though they were beaten by Arsenal 3-2 in the final, they have been given the European spot since Arsenal had qualified for the Champions League. It will be a joyous occasion for the Hull players, who are expected to struggle against relegation in the coming campaign.

For the time being, defender Curtis Davies is concentrating on the positive mood at the club. He says that he cannot wait to play in the European match. Hull City have not reached the group stages of the competition yet. They have to go through a couple of qualifying matches before reaching the group matches. They will be taking on either Vojvodina of Serbia or Slovakian team AS Trencin in the third qualifying round. The sheer number of matches in the Europa league is likely to drain the players towards the end of the campaign. Hence, manager Steve Bruce is concentrating on getting a couple of recruits before the transfer window closes.

The club are currently involved in the pre-season camp that has been taking place in Portugal. “I can’t say any of the lads knew much about them, but if you’re in a European competition you must have done well in your own country, either by virtue of a league finish or a cup win. They must have done something right so we need to go there and take it seriously. We need to make sure in the upcoming week we get the right amount of work in to be ready for a European tie,” said the former Villa defender.

Hull city defender Curtis Davies has revealed that he tried to inspire the players during the half-time team talk against Sheffield United. Hull city took on Sheffield United in the semi-final of the FA Cup. The winner of this match will be taking on Arsenal in the final of the competition. For Hull, this match gave them a great opportunity to reach the finals and even possibly win it. However, the first half was not exactly going according to plan. United managed to take the advantage with only a few minutes remaining on the clock.

However, Hull managed an impressive second half to win the match 5-3 and set up a date against Arsenal. After having come up to the Premier league only in the summer, this has been seen as a major achievement from the club. They will now be able to get European football with a win in the competition. Davies says that he tried his best to help the players get this arousing second-half performance by putting in a team talk of his own.

United are currently playing in League One – two divisions below the Premier league. Davis says that this was a major embarrassment for the Hull city players, who earn in millions.

“I told the players we weren’t playing good enough and we needed to up it. We were playing a League One side and they were out-playing us. It is one thing to be out-muscled and maybe they work a bit harder, but we were being out-played by them and that was embarrassing. I wasn’t happy with the way we weren’t keeping the ball and we were doing silly things with it. I’m just glad what I said got the right reaction,” said Davis, who has been an inspiration play for the club since joining from Birmingham in the summer.