The Top Flight
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Hull City are final team relegated after loss to Crystal Palace

By Rayna Sidhu

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 14: Marco Silva, Manager of Hull City walks off the pitch looking dejected after being relegated to the Championship after the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Hull City at Selhurst Park on May 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 14: Marco Silva, Manager of Hull City walks off the pitch looking dejected after being relegated to the Championship after the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Hull City at Selhurst Park on May 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images) /
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Hull City have been relegated after a 4-0 loss away to Crystal Palace. The Tigers become the third and final team to lose their place in the Premier League after a disappointing season.

Hull travelled to Selhurst Park on Sunday needing nothing less than three points to avoid the drop. Wilfred Zaha put a spanner in the works almost immediately with a goal in three minutes. Christian Benteke doubled Palace’s lead in the 34th minute. Luka Milivojevic scored from the penalty spot in the 85th minute and Patrick van Aanholt added salt to the wound in the 90th minute to end the game 4-0.

This devastating loss marks the end of a tough and underwhelming season for Hull. They have been struggling in the bottom half of the league table for many months.

The club has had its fair share of problems this year, which is largely due – but not limited – to a change of manager. Mike Phelan was removed as manager in January. Marco Silva replaced him.

The last five months of the season are vital to the finishing position of a club. Hull underwent a big change with little reward.

They have only won nine games this season. They’ve lost 21 and conceded 75 goals overall. There are clearly problems throughout the squad. Defensive players are lacking any presence, and the attacking play is sloppy and slow. Silva was hard-pressed to find all of the necessary solutions before the end of the season.

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Clubs will ask themselves many questions after they escape or fall victim to relegation. It is the ultimate loss of a season and has a lasting impact. But it is worth questioning whether the lack of patience executive boards have with their managers is more damaging than progressive.

Hull City, as with their relegated counterparts, did not deserve to retain their place in the Premier League. That much is clear now. But was the timing of Phelan’s sacking really the best thing?

Although the Tigers were at the bottom of the table when it happened, he had been announced as their permanent choice three months prior. High expectations were already on the new manager before his appointment was even confirmed.

The growth of managerial turnover in the Premier League is astounding. It often ignores the fact that any new manager needs time and freedom to achieve the change they were hired for. This is something that Silva, for example, had little of.

Very few managers can take a struggling team once the season has begun and inject some life back into them. Sam Allardyce is famous for it because he is one of the very few who has earned that reputation. Most others don’t get as far.

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The best Hull City can now hope for is to take the Championship by storm and be awarded with promotion in the 2017/18 season. A change of manager just wasn’t enough to save them but they now have the summer to develop and prepare for the season ahead.

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