Our daily blog with the latest news, transfer rumours and gossip about Hull City in the Premier League.Tom Huddlestone is Steve Bruce's best signing of the summer, according to more than 900 fans who voted in our latest poll.
We asked supporters to rate Bruce's work in the transfer market.
And almost 60 per cent of fans said Bruce deserved a full five out of five for bringing in ten players this summer.Poll results: Rate Steve Bruce's work in the summer transfer market5/5 ... 59%4/5 ... 36%3/5 ... 4% 2/5 ... 0.5%1/5 ... 0.5%Best summer signingTom Huddlestone ... 62%Maynor Figueroa ... 15%Allan McGregor .... 7%Yannick Sagbo ..... 5%Ahmed Elmohamady .. 3%Danny Graham ...... 3%Jake Livermore .... 2%Others ............ 3%Huddlestone at heart of 4-3-3
Meanwhile, fans would hand Huddlestone his debut at Chelsea.
We asked supporters to pick their first XI and formation for tomorrow's trip to Stamford Bridge.
Huddlestone was picked by 96 per cent of over 700 supporters who took part.
He should play at the heart of a 4-3-3 formation, fans say. Robbie Brady (83 per cent) and David Meyler (48 per cent) were the picks to complete the midfield three, edging out Jake Livermore (45 per cent) and Robert Koren (44 per cent).
Danny Graham (84 per cent) and Yannick Sagbo (65 per cent) were the picks to play alongside Sone Aluko (93 per cent) upfront.
Maynor Figueroa (96 per cent) was again the first name on the teamsheet, with Curtis Davies (94 per cent) close behind. James Chester (92 per cent) and Ahmed Elmohamady (90 per cent) complete the defence.
Allan McGregor (95 per cent) was a clear favourite in goal.
Bruce has favoured the 4-3-3 formation in pre-season and 47 per cent of supporters believe it is now the way forward. There was still strong backing for 3-5-2 though, at 35 per cent.Mourinho expects a tough startJose Mourinho is set to hand debuts to Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel when his new-look Chelsea side welcome Hull City to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The Blues boss will also have decisions to make on players who were on international duty in midweek.
Cesar Azpilicueta, who was an unused substitute for Spain in Ecuador, and Victor Moses, who was in South Africa with Nigeria - and had not reported for training yesterday - are likely to miss out.
David Luiz, who had a limited role on the pre-season tour to the United States - and is attracting transfer interest from Barcelona - was an unused substitute for Switzerland in midweek and may also be doubtful.
Mourinho has never suffered Premier League defeat as Chelsea boss at Stamford Bridge - a run of 60 games - and will return as an English top-flight boss following a gap of 2,164 days since the 0-0 draw with Blackburn in September 2007.
But he says he will take nothing for granted against Steve Bruce's side.
"The start is difficult, I don't like to play against teams that come up from the lower division because they come with a fantastic mentality, they come as a team that, week after week have been winning matches, they come with a fantastic attitude," he said.
"It happened to me at Inter when we played against Bari; they came to the San Siro and drew 2-2, so these teams come with a great mentality and it's a difficult start. We have to play two days after against Aston Villa, after that we have to go to Old Trafford, so it's a very difficult start."
While the Portuguese, who signed a four-year contract in June, knows the stadium well, new signings Schurrle and van Ginkel do not.
Mourinho will take his squad to train at Stamford Bridge today, so they can experience their surroundings before the competitive action begins.
The Portuguese, who returned to Stamford Bridge with Inter in March 2010, will also take the opportunity to savour his surroundings ahead of an expected emotional return to a club where he is adored.
"We will train there because I want some boys to adapt and to know where the dressing room is, where the dugout is, how to get to the pitch, where the tunnel is, because some of them have never been to Stamford Bridge," he said.
"To be back there (is) a different feeling.
"I had that when I played at Stamford Bridge with Inter, but now I go to my dugout, I go to my stadium, I go to my people, so I have to control (my emotions) a little bit, because I will feel something different, for sure.
"But a couple of minutes and after that I have to be focused on the game."
Mourinho is confident his team are one of six sides vying for the title in a competition he believes is collectively stronger than the one he left nearly six years ago.
He said: "I believe stronger because there is a bigger number of teams that can fight for the title, probably stronger because I think more balance, but I think a few years ago the better teams were better."Dawson as manager?Andy Dawson says he is enjoying his first foray into coaching.
The Hull City legend coached a Scunthorpe team to victory over the Tigers' reserves this week.
In an excellent interview with the Scunthorpe Telegraph's Chris Sumpter, Dawson says he began working with younger players as he warmed the bench at the KC last season.
"Last year I didn't play as much as I would have wanted at Hull City," he said.
"I played a lot in the reserves and when you do that you start seeing things and trying to help the young lads.
"Obviously I was offered something doing that at Hull City and it's something I want to do in the future.
"I've been quoted as saying I want to carry on playing to get the best of both worlds, but it really is something I do want to do and enjoy.
"I believe I've got a little bit of something to pass on and hopefully these lads who I work with can improve with that."
Dawson is not committing to a career in management just yet, however.
"Let's not talk about that yet," he said, stressing that for the foreseeable future he remains a player, preparing for instruction on how his side will approach today's League Two test against Dagenham and Redbridge.
"I had a good day (in last Saturday's Hull City testimonial). It was a fantastic farewell really. Me and my family loved every minute of it.
"Three days later I'm back with Scunthorpe, taking the reserves.
"It's a new chapter. Onwards and upwards."Programmes go interactive
Hull City has launched an impressive, interactive version of the matchday programme.
Called #UTT Matchpack, it features previews of the game and interactive content including videos, and is available here on iTunes.
The first issue, for this weekend's Chelsea match, is for iPad only and is free for now. The club is hoping it will be available for all devices from the Norwich match onwards.
It includes interviews with Steve Bruce, Sone Aluko and Danny Graham, along with stats, video and travel advice.
Aluko is particularly positive about the prospects for Sunday afternoon.
"It'll no doubt be a tough 90 minutes, but we'll make the trip to Stamford Bridge with the sole intention of getting something from the game.
"People may say the pressure will be off us somewhat with Chelsea being the overwhelming favourites ... but I can assure you that won't be the case.
"We'll be putting pressure on ourselves to perform to the best of our abilities in order to try and pick up a positive result."August 16
Is that it for Steve Bruce and Hull City in this summer's transfer window? Possibly not.
The signing of Tom Huddlestone from Tottenham - along with his teammate Jake Livermore on loan - for something in the region of £5m means Bruce has pretty much maxed out his transfer budget and he says he is content with his business to date.
However, he will continue to monitor the market in the final 18 days of the transfer window and admits he is keen to bring in "one more" player.
"I suppose every manager is never satisfied. I'd be happy with one more but if we couldn't manage that we've still done very well," he tells today's Mail.
"I knew I couldn't sign six or seven players for £5m but I think we've done really good business within the budget we've set ourselves to make sure the club is not falling to bits."
Impressive wheeling and dealing has allowed Bruce to bring in ten players so far. And if he can move on some of his fringe players - and not just Aaron Mclean and Cameron Stewart - we might yet see another new face at the KC. Given the chance, would you swap Nick Proschwitz and Matty Fryatt for another striker of Premier League quality?
The key, as ever is value. Bruce has reiterated that his transfer policy is to make the club competitive without sending it into trouble.
He told our Back Where We Belong supplement - which is on newstands now - about the difficulties of pulling that off in a world where even Cardiff and Norwich are spending almost as much on a single player as City's entire budget.
"(In the Championship, you're racing a Ford against a Ford," he said. "When you get to the Premier League your Ford is racing a Ferrari. More often than not the Ferrari wins. You can hope for a puncture from time to time but you need that little bit of luck.
"There's seven or eight teams out there where any member of my squad would struggle to get into theirs. In the Championship I probably had five or six players that any other side in the division would have snapped up."
So, how do you rate Bruce's success in the transfer market? Take our poll at the bottom of the page.• Thanks to the many thousands of readers who have followed our Transfer Talk blog over the past few months. We'll continue to talk about all the latest rumours here as they emerge.Fryatt's inspired by Rickie LambertMatty Fryatt sees England's latest goal hero Rickie Lambert as a role model he can draw on as he enters the final 12 months of his Tigers contract.
Southampton striker Lambert scored the winner against Scotland on his international debut at Wembley this week and Fryatt says he believes he can make a similar impact in the Premier League.
"He's scored in every single league and then he's proved he's good enough to play in the Premier League," the Tigers striker told our our Back Where We Belong supplement.
"I'm not saying I've scored the goal he has, because he's been fantastic, but plenty of players and teams do well when they've started the season with question marks over them.
"You've got to back your own ability."Tigers face mountain of history at Stamford Bridge
History is against Hull City pulling off a shock win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday: • The Tigers have not won away on opening day since 2002, when they beat Exeter 3-1 in the old third division. • The last time they beat Chelsea was in 1988.• They have failed to win away at Chelsea in 19 competitive fixtures - losing 14.
On the other hand, City held Chelsea to a goalless draw at the Bridge in the 2008-9 season, and were unlucky not to hold on for a point on opening day of 2009-10, when the Blues required a Didier Drogba goal in stoppage time to claim victory. Spurs fans' parting gifts boost 'Huddlefro' bid
New Hull City signing Tom Huddlestone says it is the right time to move on from Tottenham - but has not fallen out of love with the Spurs fans.
He took to Twitter last night to say goodbye to the White Hart Lane faithful after claiming he had been misquoted by some sections of the media that reported he had taken a "parting shot" at André Villas-Boas.
Headlines stating Huddlestone felt he had been "forced out" of Spurs overplayed more nuanced remarks about how he reached his decision to leave for the KC Stadium.
Huddlestone said: "Would like to thank the Spurs fans, staff and players for the wonderful eight years I have spent there. Have some amazing memories that I will cherish and keep with me forever. A new chapter In my career is about to start and I'm very excited and can't wait to get started!
"Feel mis-quoted, enjoyed my season with AVB and my whole time with Spurs. If you read the quotes you get a clear picture, not the headline."
The love affair with Tottenham fans is clearly mutual, if the number of good luck messages are anything to go by.
And a number of supporters have donated cash in the past 24 hours to the midfielder's 'Huddlefro' charity page to thank him for his service.
Huddlestone is growing his bushy Afro haircut as a consequence of a charity bet.
"I started this off for charity about 18-20 months ago and said I wouldn't cut my hair until I scored my next competitive goal," he said.
"Unfortunately I then missed the rest of that season through injury and I didn't manage to score last season.
"Hopefully a goal will come sooner rather than later!"
The 'Huddlefro' has raised nearly £12,000 for Cancer Research UK. Anyone who would like to donate can do so at the Just Giving site.Cardiff Devils and Fulham Jaguars?
Cardiff owner Vincent Tan has hinted he could follow in the footsteps of Assem Allam by changing the name of his club.
Tan has previously had to deny he is planning to call the Bluebirds the "Cardiff Dragons".
But speaking at a press conference for his 'Thanks a Million' charity project, he said he admired Assem Allam's move.
He said: "I read a bit about Hull City's name change. They are back in the Premier League and I admire their owner Assem Allam for what he has done.
"One thing that I read that I liked is he says there are so many teams with the name city.
"There is Hull City, Leicester City, Cardiff City, Bristol City - everyone is called City.
"Who doesn't know Cardiff is a city? Who doesn't know Hull is a city?
"I think that his strategy is good but I'm not saying that we are making any similar changes.
"I don't want nasty e-mails written to me tomorrow but I always say 'never say never.'
"Businesses need to evolve. If we all stayed the same there would be no internet today and we would all be living in caves.
"But definitely we are not changing anything now."
Fulham owner Shahid Khan, meanwhile, has ruled out rebranding the club as the Jaguars.
"We won't be becoming Fulham Jaguars," he told Press Association Sport.
"I don't think they are the things [we would change].
"Fulham Football Club is how it was way before my lifetime and that is hopefully how it will be a long time after I am gone.
"Both Fulham and the Jaguars really have to operate as their own entities and they have their own core fans and obviously the sports are unique.
"We want to look for areas where they can work together and I think most of those are going to be on the business side.
"Anything historical like that, I absolutely have no intention of messing with."Poll: How do you rate Steve Bruce's summer transfer deals?
