Ryan Longman will be one of the many Hull City players’ experiencing strange emotions on Saturday afternoon when they come up against relegation rivals Peterborough United.
Friday afternoon’s appointment of Grant McCann by Posh will see the Northern Irishman come up against the club he managed for two-and-a-half years until last month.
McCann has barely been out of work for a month after Acun Ilicali’s takeover before having an interview at Sunderland and then being offered the chance to return to London Road for the second time, and in a quirk that football often generates, his first game in charge will be against the Tigers.
Get the latest Hull City breaking news, features and analysis here
Longman, who signed a permanent deal with the Tigers last month after spending the first half of the season on loan from Premier League Brighton, will be one of a number of players in City’s squad who were brought to the club by McCann, and the 21-year-old winger admits he owes his former gaffer a debt of gratitude.
“With Grant bringing me to Hull, I can’t thank him enough. He gave me the opportunity, he stuck by me,” Longman told Hull Live ahead of the relegation six-pointer on Saturday afternoon.
“Its football, isn’t it? It seems like there’s always these weird circumstances around the corner, you just don’t know what football’s going to throw at you.”
Grant McCann congratulates Richie Smallwood at the end of City’s 1-0 win at Bournemouth
(Image: Simon Whitehead/News Images)
McCann formed a close-knit relationship with his players at City, and despite his departure from the MKM Stadium last month, has remained in touch with them, including Longman, though the Tigers star says he has kept his distance since the Ulsterman took over at Posh.
“Yeah, I rang him and we had a good chat on the phone, we had a good one-to-one – I thanked him for the opportunity he gave me at this club, for sticking by me through the good and bad times. I need to focus on getting the three points on Saturday.”
Since McCann’s departure and new head coach Shota Arveladze has come into the club, City have once again found wins at Championship level hard to come by.
A win over Swansea City is all the only victory the Tigers have managed in the last six games, and Tuesday night’s dismal 2-0 defeat at home to Barnsley was a particular low point of a turbulent campaign so far.
Having taken a risk and made the change at such a crucial juncture of the season, Longman admits that adjusting to a new way of working is taking time, but believes three points are not too far away.
“I think he wants to bring his own style and way of playing into our team and I think game by game we are adapting to his style. It’s just a matter of time until we start winning and getting some three points on the board,” Longman said.
“The lads in the changing room are all here to do a job and I think the lads in this changing room are one hundred per cent on board and we want to do well for this club and make the fans happy.
“It takes time to implement his ideas, we’ve got to trust the process. We’ve got to keep cracking on, working hard in training like we’ve done today and we’ll do tomorrow.”
Saturday’s trip to London Road will bring to an end a month which has seen City play seven times in just 22 days, and with the chance to move 16 points clear of the drop zone against a relegation rival, Longman says this is an opportunity his side cannot afford to pass up.
“Every game in this league is a massive game and an opportunity to get points on the board,” he explained. “Peterborough is a big opportunity, but there are loads more games that are also opportunities that we can take points from.
“It’s just about taking it game by game. We’ve been knuckling down and working hard to get everything right. We’ve had a couple of good results recently against Sheffield United and QPR and I feel we are growing as a team.
“Against Barnsley, we just had a bad day at the office. It’s all it was and I think it was a blip and hopefully we can make that right.”
Go here to register for free to get our daily Hull City newsletter
Read More
Related Articles
Read More
Related Articles
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hull-city-grant-mccann-peterborough-6721696
