Our daily blog with the latest news, transfer rumours and gossip about Hull City in the Premier League.
You know how mad transfer deadline day has become when The Mirror quotes Olly Murs on Hull City's attempts to sign Shane Long from West Bromwich Albion. The pop star tweeted: "Bit random but just seen that Shane Long leaving WBA for HULL CITY... What happened there??... (He's) quality!! Why they selling??"
None of that should surprise us, of course. Big Stan Collymore "called" the Long transfer on TalkSport shortly before it fell through. But, to be fair, after West Brom signed Stephane Sessegnon and Victor Anichebe, and with Long at the Tigers' training ground with Steve Bruce, few people saw Steve Clarke's last-minute U-turn coming.
Fans were convinced last night that City's Irish contingent had a role in convincing Long to choose the KC, and the Baggies star was given special dispensation by Republic boss Giovanni Trapattoni to leave their training camp to fly into Yorkshire. Following the dramatic denouement, David Meyler tweeted: "Gutted Shane Long hasn't signed. He would have been brilliant for us."The Daily Mail describes in breathless fashion how Long left the Irish training camp near Dublin and flew to Leeds-Bradford airport where he was met by Bruce. He had a medical at a clinic in Leeds and was then driven over to City's training ground by Bruce to complete the deal, only for West Brom to pull the plug just after 10.45pm when it became clear Romelu Lukaku was on his way to Everton. That left Long to head back to Dublin with his tail between his legs. Trapattoni will now hope the striker is in the right frame of mind for a crucial World Cup qualifiers against Sweden on Friday. Meanwhile, City fans will hope the Tigers will be in pole position to snap Long up in January.
Until the Long drama, City were being linked yesterday with a move for free agent Carlton Cole. It looks like he may be heading back to West Ham - the club he left at the start of the summer. Let's hope he's learned something along the way.
Meanwhile, the Nottingham Post says it expects Forest to go back for Matty Fryatt for a loan move next week, after contact with Hull City came to nothing yesterday. Interestingly, the Post suggests City were among clubs showing an interest in Middlesbrough's Grant Leadbitter yesterday - a top target for Forest, who ended up staying on Teeside.
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Robbie Brady targets World Cup Speaking of the Ireland camp, Robbie Brady is confident the Republic can get the two wins they need to keep them in the race for World Cup qualification. The Republic face Sweden in Dublin on Friday evening and then travel to Austria four days later with the three teams locked together on 11 points behind runaway Group C leaders Germany. Victory over the Swedes seems a must if Ireland are to stand a chance of making the play-offs, and a further point in Vienna would do their hopes little harm. However, having seen two points slip from their grasp when the Austrians snatched an injury-time equaliser in Dublin in March, Brady is gunning for the two wins which would significantly boost their hopes of making it to Brazil next summer. Asked if the two games would effectively decide who finishes second in the group, the 21-year-old Hull midfielder said: "That's it, that's what we are going in to do. We are not going in looking to scrape a draw, we are going in for wins in both games. The lads are all ready for it and we are more capable of getting the two wins." Giovanni Trapattoni's critics have repeatedly bemoaned his conservatism over the five years of his reign to date. But asked if he and his team-mates will have to take risks to keep their dream alive, Brady replied: "Take risks? All the lads will want to go out and win the game - I don't think they are going to be reserved over these two games. We need to go and score goals and win the two matches, so I don't think there will be any holding back over the next two weeks." That said, there is little doubt that Ireland would face an uphill task if they lost to the Swedes, but Brady for one is simply not allowing himself to contemplate that particular scenario. He said: "It would be a long stretch. But the lads will never give up and hopefully we will get the win on Friday night. It would be a good start for us if we got that." If Trapattoni's men are to get the result they crave on Friday, they will have to find a way of containing enigmatic Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Much of the talk before the corresponding game in Stockholm in March was of the Paris St Germain star's ability to win a game single-handedly. In the event, he caused few genuine problems as the Republic secured a creditable 0-0 draw, but there is little danger of anyone within the camp under-estimating a player whose best can be little short of brilliant. Brady said: "They are a good side, they have got some great players. He's a world-class player, so I don't think you can rely on him not turning up or it not being his day because we have all seen what he's done before. If he does blow hot and cold, there's still that chance where he will come up with something brilliant. Hopefully he doesn't now on Friday and we keep him quiet. The lads are looking forward to the task of keeping him quiet and hopefully we get the points that we need."McGregor and Boyd pull out of Scotland squad In all the excitement yesterday, you may have missed the news that goalkeeper Allan McGregor has withdrawn from the Scotland squad for the World Cup double header against Belgium and Macedonia because of a groin injury sustained in the defeat at Manchester City. McGregor, who is suspended for the Belgium game on Friday, joins City team-mate George Boyd (ankle) in pulling out.Liverpool kick-off time changed Hull City's home game against Liverpool on Sunday December 1 will now kick-off at the slightly later time of 2.05pm. The game will be shown on Sky Sports and was originally scheduled to start at 1.30pm. However, Tottenham Hotspur's involvement in the group stages of the Europa League has led to a slight adjustment of TV schedules that weekend.