You get players in who haven’t been moulded into your team, so the pre-season, which is created to get people ready for the start of the season, is kind of pointless if you’ve got players coming in in the last week. They beat Liverpool at Turf Moor recently.
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And, despite seeing his already threadbare squad hampered further by injuries, Phelan guided Hull to wins over champions Leicester City and Swansea City, before losing in stoppage time to United. The common-sense view is you haven’t got the players in to work with, yet you’re going into one of the most powerful and richest leagues in the world. Ryan Mason will be involved in the squad, as will numerous other new signings.
Burnley were too timid when the ball finally broke for them, Andre Gray twice declining to shoot after good play from Boyd and Gudmundsson, allowing Curtis Davies to block a belated effort from Dean Marney. “We had a discussion last week and we’re still talking about it”.
“The Burnley game is a big one”, said Phelan.
“We had a great chance just after half time and had that gone in it might have settled us down”.
The 53-year-old Phelan was awarded Premier League manager of the month for August ahead of the game, but this point may be even more precious as it leaves his side on seven from a possible 12, with Burnley still on four. It’s irrelevant. It’s still about preparing the team. The away end thought he had scored but realised as soon as the forward threw his hands to his head they were wrong. But we just focus on the game. The players are performing to the best of their ability.
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Phelan, who started the season with just 13 fit senior players, added: “To throw them right in probably would have been unfair, not only to the substitutes but to ones who’ve done so well for us. Why wouldn’t I want to be sitting in this chair a little bit more often?”
