The German has a big decision on his hands going into the weekend
Tim Walter says it’s important to have Carl Rushworth in his Hull City squad as he faces a big decision ahead of Friday night’s Yorkshire derby with Sheffield United.
Rushworth arrived on deadline day from Brighton and Hove Albion to provide strong competition for Ivor Pandur and another summer arrival in Anthony Racioppi, along with Thimothee Lo-Tutala and Harvey Cartwright.
Pandur has started all four Championship games so far and has settled into his role looking more comfortable with each passing week. As for Racioppi, who played in the Champions League for Young Boys last season, he has played just once with that coming in the Carabao Cup loss at home to Sheffield Wednesday last month.
City’s decision to sign Rushworth surprised many, given Racioppi’s arrival, but the 23-year-old Halifax-born stopper has been a long-term target and the club moved quickly to sign him on loan when it became apparent late in the window that the Seagulls would allow him to leave on a short-term basis.
Walter says it’s imperative his squad has competition throughout, something he openly admits wasn’t there in the early weeks of pre-season training.
“That’s (competition) good to have in every position,” he told Hull Live. “If you have a challenge, then it’s better to get to a point where you can perform better, and that’s important for our team because this is what we didn’t have at the beginning.
“There was no competition in the training sessions, and then you can’t perform on the pitch because the opposition are much further ahead than we are, and therefore we needed more bodies, and that’s what we have at the moment and I’m happy about it.”
READ NEXT…
Wigan boss Shaun Maloney opens up on ‘difficult’ Charlie Hughes Hull City transfer
The exciting defender could make his debut against Sheffield United on Friday evening
Wigan Athletic chief Shaun Maloney has opened up on what he described as a ‘difficult’ transfer that saw Charlie Hughes join Hull City midway through last month.
As reported by Hull Live, City activated a release clause in the fresh contract Hughes signed at the DW Stadium last year at the height of the Latics’ financial troubles, paying up £3.5m to snap up the highly-rated England Under-20 defender.
Maloney, who is a former Tigers player and still holds City in high regard from that spell in East Yorkshire, admits the whole process was a challenge as he faces up to life without a player he, and the club, were desperate to keep hold of.
“It was a very difficult situation for everyone involved,” Maloney told Wigan Today. “Because in that instance, there were things within that transfer that we were obligated to do. And that goes back to last summer, when we were obviously going through the well-documented financial difficulties under the previous ownership. So although it was so long ago, it’s still having a massive influence on certain situations.
“The fee was undisclosed on both sides, but I know some figures came out from elsewhere, and the fans will obviously have their thoughts on that. I think in that instance…it was very difficult for the ownership, because issues relating from before they came in were still having a massive impact on their running of the club and transfer negotiations.”
Maloney was full of praise for the 20-year-old central defender and the role his family played 12 months ago in signing terms with his hometown club that would at least protect the Latics moving forward, should he leave the club. Although some Athletic fans feel the fee City paid was below market rate, Maloney has only good things to say, and wants the youngster to return for a proper goodbye in the coming weeks.
“I don’t think anybody should ever forget how difficult a position we were in last summer, after a period of time where people weren’t getting paid,” the Scotsman continued. “I’m a big fan of the PFA, going back to my playing days, but there were certain things the players could exercise that put us in a vulnerable position.
“That’s where you have to give massive credit to Charlie and also Thelo (Aasgaard), who stayed with us and had belief in the ownership that was coming in. They could have left for nothing, and there was big interest in both of them at the time from the league above.
“Regarding Charlie, and I include his father in this, he made a big point of not wanting to leave this club for free and I hope that comes across very clearly. Charlie and his father made sure he didn’t leave our club for nothing, because of what this club had done for him.
“They’re brilliant people, and I really hope Charlie is able to come back, maybe on a midweek when he doesn’t have a game at Hull, to say a proper goodbye. It would be nice for him to say thanks, but also for the fans to say thanks for everything he’s done.
“He gave me everything every time he took to the field, and it would have been much easier for him to have left than to stay with us. Thelo too. He and Charlie made the decision to stay here, at the club that brought them through, and I hope everyone is aware of that.
“I look back to that time, and it was actually on the same day Mr Danson was completing the takeover. The notice period for the players became live, and it became very difficult for Mr Danson at an already busy time. He was in the process of buying a club that faced the possibility of losing many of its brightest assets for nothing. Thankfully he did that, but it’s something that has continued to affect us for some time.”
Leave a Reply