Hull Fans Welcome Jay Jay

Hull fan Robb takes time out to welcome Jay Jay Okocha

Many things have happened in the city of Hull this summer, some good, some bad.

But inside the football club, new owner Paul Duffen signaled his intent and ambition with audacious attempts to sign big players, Juninho for one.

That attempt fell through. However the rumours about the club signing Jay Jay Okocha started to surface a few weeks ago, of course, we didn’t believe them, did we??

Yesterday, after going through a behind closed doors friendly against Sheff Wednesday, Jay Jay was introduced to the media as a Hull City player. A player that we’d watched and admired for many years in the Premiership, plying his trade across Europe, going to World Cups with Nigeria and being one of Pele’s top 100 living footballers in the world. Excuse me while I pinch myself, and wake up.

But no. It IS true, and there he is with the number 44 shirt. The amber shirt of the Tigers now sports the name of one of the most exciting players of recent times. A player that hopes to ‘improve the club’ and is excited by the new motivation this new challenge has given him. A player that will give the opponents a little spurt of worry and fear, just by his reputation.

Jay Jay says he wants to try and help Bolton legend Phil Brown to reproduce at Hull City what they achieved at Bolton. Talking to the Yorkshire Post Jay Jay outlined his ambition, ‘Hull have the potential to be bigger than Bolton. In this region, you do not have any other clubs. In Bolton, there were so many clubs around them. That is why this club has more potential to be bigger than Bolton.’

When listening to the press conference, I had the same feeling I had when it was announced that Peter Taylor was to be made City manager, complete disbelief tempered with relief and excitement. It can’t be, surely not, but it was.

No doubt about it. This club now has the ambition and the players to follow it up. Henrik Pedersen, Caleb Folan, Wayne Brown, Dean Windass, Michael Bridges and now Jay Jay. Oh, to be a forward and get the quality of openings that Jay Jay will provide now.

I can’t get used to this good vibe from the Tigers, I’m not used to it…!