Hull chairman slams ´short-sighted´ predecessor

Hull chairman Adam Pearson has slammed “short-sighted” predecessor Paul Duffen for lacking both “business sense” and “moral responsibility” in spending money the club “did not have”.

The Tigers were left in the bottom three of the English Premier League and three points adrift of safety, with three games left, after a 2-0 home defeat by Aston Villa on Wednesday.

There has been speculation Hull’s financial problems could see them follow already relegated Portsmouth, who revealed debts of 120 million pounds on Wednesday, into administration and a return to the Championship would do little for their finances.

Duffen took over from Pearson in June 2007 and led Hull into the top flight but resigned in October, with Pearson returning to his previous role.

Pearson used his programme notes for the Villa match to lay into Duffen’s stewardship of the club.

“The prospect of relegation should not need to be the doomsday scenario that everyone currently discusses and worries about,” he wrote.

“The financial planning just needed a bit of basic strategy and common sense applying to it back in summer 2008 and even more so when the team survived on the last day of the season in 2009.

“In my personal opinion the decisions made by Mr Duffen at that point were extremely short-sighted and lacking in business sense and specific football knowledge. He seems, albeit with the advantage of hindsight, to have had no understanding of the industry, Hull City AFC or the city of Hull itself.

“The problems which were apparent throughout 2009 should have been at the forefront of the summer transfer and business dealings. Instead, the wage bill was increased even further.

“The safety valve of pragmatic realism was cut off and the club under Mr Duffen spent money it didn’t have.

“This is not ambition or ‘giving it a go’ or ‘living the dream’, it is, in my personal view, poor business sense and lack of moral responsibility.

“Just under six million pounds spent on agents’ fees in two years and the deal breakdown and size of agent payments is morally abhorrent.

“A wage bill of just under 40 million pounds when the club turnover is 50 million pounds in the Premier League. These figures, added to the significant transfer fees owed, clearly show that the maths don’t add up.”

Pearson added: “Of course the future is very tricky, it’s bound to be when you consider the figures I mentioned earlier. The club desperately needs to stay in this league.”