Despite the uncertainty of the Championship relegation battle, we’re fairly certain one team we can include for next season is Hull City.
The Tigers finished bottom of the second tier after a horrible collapse in the second half of the season, bringing Grant McCann back down to League One after he left Doncaster last season. With Wigan’s appeal still pending and Sheffield Wednesday possibly set to lose points, it could be undecided for a few weeks who joins Hull, but unless something catastrophic has been hidden at Derby, clubs in one of our leagues will be heading to the KCom next season.
Hull yesterday released their retained list, with a majority of the squad under contract for next season. Only Kevin Stewart, Jon Toral, Will Mannion and Sunderland-target Robbie McKenzie have been released, whilst Angus MacDonald has been offered a new deal. The statement that followed said, rather predictably: “The Club would like to place on record its thanks to all the players who have not been retained for their contribution whilst at the KCOM Stadium and wish them well in their future careers.”
After such a worrying run of form last campaign, having a bulk of the squad still under contract could be seen as something of a concern. Carrying Championship wages, albeit the lower end, into League One can be a huge burden. Just ask Sunderland. Hull supporters are concerned not only with the state of their squad, but also the club’s ownership and manager, as they face up to life outside the top two divisions for the first time since 2005.
One player they’re concerned over losing is Robbie McKenzie, a 21-year-old homegrown defender with 26 Championship appearances to his name. McKenzie was born in Hull and had made 35 appearances across all competitions, but he’s now searching for a new club, which surprises some of these supporters.
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McKenzie’s a weird one. Was a regular in the couple of months leading up to the season stopping. Not been in the squad since…. already lined up a deal somewhere else maybe, hopefully for him.
— Adam (@adamcoatham) July 23, 2020
https://twitter.com/J0ePublic/status/1286333080551206912
https://twitter.com/StuWallis/status/1286350442050523137
Think they were saying that playing him in multiple positions they’ve ruined him by not sticking him to the position that was naturally his. Jack of all trades, master of none as they say. I’m surprised Batty is retained as GM not a fan of him either.
— Chris Robertson (@chrissyrobbo77) July 23, 2020
I’m at a loss. if we aren’t going to spend we need to build for the future, Mannion and McKenzie will not be on huge money, why haven’t we offered them!? Why are we treating loyal youngsters like shit? Doubt we’ll even replace them Ehab will just stick a wheelie bin at full back.
— Andrew Mussett 🎗 (@andrewmussett) July 23, 2020
What value would you put on that retained playing squad! you could argue far less than what we had under Taylor during our first promotion in from the 4th tier.
— Liam O'Boyle🐯 (@liamoboyle2) July 23, 2020
https://twitter.com/BlazaStuart/status/1286331000541380612
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