Liam Rosenior has endured a challenging start to his Hull City tenure, but has done superbly well with four points out of six so far.

It looked for all the world like Millwall away would be a sobering experience for Rosenior, as the Tigers lost top scorer Oscar Estupinan in the first half to a red card at the New Den. To his credit though, his team dug in and ground out a point, earning a goalless draw on the road and keeping a clean sheet for the first time since the second game of the season away at Preston North End. 

  • The promising signs have been evident already

Cardiff City were next up, and City went 1-0 up early on in the game before squandering another chance midway through the half to make it 2-0. The first half City were superb - keeping Cardiff at bay and frustrating the home side.

Some questionable passages of play at the back let Cardiff back into it at the start of the second half and just after the hour mark ex-Tiger Gavin Whyte’s header looked to put to bed any chance Rosenior’s men had of getting anything out of the game.

That was until Regan Slater popped up with a quick fire brace to send the travelling supporters wild and secure a 3-2 away win to give City hope of climbing the table before the break for the World Cup. 

One thing that is clear is that Rosenior has already begun to get some excellent football out of a squad of players that until recently were consistently inconsistent.

  • Playing at home is a different challenge

The biggest challenge - in my humble opinion - is playing at home at the MKM Stadium. 

City’s supporters at home can make a huge difference to the team. One only has to look at the opening three home fixtures of the season to see the stadium rocking and positively affect the football they were playing at the time. 

Things turned sour quite quickly under former manager Shota Arveladze, and the playing out from the back style that City had was quickly worked out by visiting teams that realised the Tigers didn’t often have an answer to being pressed high up the pitch.

  • The players feed off the crowd

Even at the last home game - the final one of Interim Head Coach Andy Dawson’s spell in charge - saw the Tigers often dominate possession, but were pressured into making mistakes and the crowd quickly turned. The exasperation from some sections of the crowd does have an affect on the players and City fans must have the patience to wait for opportunities to open up. 

I absolutely think that Rosenior’s brand of football will often lead to City defenders making mistakes - case in point her being the first Cardiff goal conceded on Tuesday night. 

  • It might be a risk - but playing out from the back will see the Tigers get it right 

However, they will score an awful lot of goals if the way the new boss wants the team to play clicks - and it did towards the end of the Cardiff game. Under other managers, I am confident that the team would probably have lost 2-1, or even 3-1. Rosenior has proved himself already as tactically astute, and this will only grow as he gets time with the players. 

The lack of pressure on City away from home allowed the team to be patient and get the result they needed - and that’s what fans should do at home, too. We may be in for risky passages of play out from the back, but fans need to trust in Rosenior to get it right - and early signs show that City fans have every hope of this actually being the case.