Experts claim Premiership newboys Hull City are the 'new Bolton Wanderers' and bear all the hallmarks of the Trotters, being physical, gritty, resilient, and prone to booting the ball forward rather than passing it Arsenal-style.
Hull, who were promoted to the top flight after dispatching Bristol City 1-0 at Wembley last weekend, also lack sufficient funds to comfortably mix-it with the Big Boys, and will scrap it out at the foot of the table with other also-rans such as Stoke, West Brom, Wigan and Fulham.
The Tigers have been spoken about as the new Bolton however, primarily because their set-up consists largely of ex-Bolton players. Henrik Pedersen and Jay Jay Okocha are the best known of these, but Ivan Campo is ready to make the switch to the KC Stadium, and even manager Phil Brown used to 'chip it down the wing' at Bolton during the 1990s.
Another ex-Bolton player and manager, Sam Allardyce, was recently at the KC for the win against Crystal Palace, and in the Wembley dressing rooms for the aftermatch celebrations with his old mucker Brown.
The manager told fans at a civic reception and victory celebration at Hull City Hall on Monday:
"We'll give it our best shot in the Premier League nest season after I've brought in some more help from Bolton."
