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Hull City opened the Premier League season by beating champions Leicester City 2-1 at the KCOM Stadium last weekend but, in truth, the club is in near-suspended animation. Two of the 13 senior players currently available to caretaker manager Mike Phelan, filling in after manager Steve Bruce resigned on July 22, are goalkeepers. Until current owners the Allam family are able to sell the club, with a Chinese consortium reported to be close to making an offer, then no incoming transfers are expected, even if the club have been linked with Legia Warsaw's Nemanja Nikolic, who played for Hungary at Euro 2016. So what is going wrong? Down to bare bones It has been a cruel summer. Five senior players are injured, including club captain Michael Dawson, out until October with a knee injury, and Bruce's son Alex, who is recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon. Besides that Saturday starting XI, all of whom completed the 90 minutes, only Shaun Maloney was available as a senior outfield player, with the oldest of the six other subs being 21-year-old forward Greg Luer. Against Leicester, Phelan's necessary innovations paid off. Central midfielder Jake Livermore starred at centre-back, a role he had not fulfilled since being a Tottenham reserve, and left winger Sam Clucas excelled alongside Tom Huddlestone in midfield, where Livermore usually plays. Clucas set a unique record on Saturday of having appeared in the five divisions from Conference to Premier League in consecutive seasons. Having been rejected by Leicester, his career was rejuvenated at the Glenn Hoddle Academy in Spain, before he moved on through Hereford United, Mansfield Town and Chesterfield. Clucas' penning of a three-year contract on Wednesday suggested Hull's transfer machinery might finally be creaking back into life, but while the takeover plays out, Phelan and his players are finding strength in adversity. At the final whistle, after Robert Snodgrass' winner had sunk Leicester, the entire squad formed a huddle in the middle of the field, a gesture to demonstrate a sorely tested team spirit. It was a nice moment, yet there is a season of Premier League football to be played and a tough away trip to Swansea awaits this Saturday. Hull have hope now but their house must be put in order. Phelan -- or whomever becomes the next permanent manager -- needs more players to realise that hope. A question of ownership Outside the KCOM on Saturday, Bruce's name was sung by fans, as red placards of protest were waved. "He's a really honest man and well respected in the city," Bernard Noble of the Hull City Official Supporters Club told ESPN FC. Bruce, one of English football's great diplomats, had been a significant buffer between owners and fans. Assem Allam, the 77-year-old Egyptian-born local industrialist, who is both owner and chairman, bought the club in 2010 when it was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, but is a divisive figure among supporters. "There would be no club to talk to you about without him," added Noble. "He saved our club." Yet Allam angered a large contingent of fans by attempting to rename the club "Hull City Tigers," a proposal rejected in April 2014 by the Football Association before a second attempt was made, and again rejected in July 2015. That created a rift yet to be healed and Allam's Rolls Royce is no longer found outside the executive entrance of the KCOM on matchday. He is currently recovering from a serious illness, while son Ehab now guides club business. With Ehab, Bruce could never strike up the respectful relationship he had with Allam senior. He had frequently reminded fans of Assem's status of saviour, but cracks appeared in June when Bruce was forced to deny he would be leaving the club -- a rumour that became truth a month later. Other issues causing supporter disquiet have included a monthly membership scheme to replace season tickets. While cheap enough for many at a lowest-priced £13 a game, it did not provide concessions for children and pensioners and some fans had to move seats; the scheme ended up as another PR misfire for the Allam family. The end of the civil war could be in sight, though. Saturday saw Ehab welcome a delegation from China, associated with businesswoman Hawken Xi Liu, who Forbes Magazine listed as being worth £700 million in 2014, having made her fortune from converting Cold War air-raid shelters into shopping centres. Hull buzzes with rumours of the deal being close but also of other bidders, as well as a report in the Hull Daily Mail, in which a city councillor expressed surprise that no negotiation had yet been entered for the KCOM Stadium, which is owned by Hull City Council. In Bruce's shadow According to ESPN FC sources, Bruce's frustration at the failure of the Allam family to back him in the transfer market (alongside a dispute over his speaking to the FA about the vacant England manager job) caused the man who inspired the club to two Championship promotions in four years and the 2014 FA Cup final, a 3-2 defeat to Arsenal, to resign. Bruce's final major act as City manager was to guide them successfully through last season's Championship playoffs. That Wembley occasion, in which losing team Sheffield Wednesday's fans hugely outnumbered their East Yorkshire rivals, now appears tarnished. Indeed, midfielder Mo Diame, who scored the game's only goal, even chose to remain in the Championship by signing for Newcastle rather than stay on Humberside. Phelan has known Bruce since they became teammates at Norwich in 1985 and they also played together at Manchester United -- the club Phelan departed in 2013 after five years as Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant. From February 2015, he performed a similar function for Bruce, only to find himself stepping into a caretaker role as Hull went into summer meltdown after Bruce's exit. A thought was spared for his old friend on Saturday. "He remains a big influence on this football club, the most successful guy this club's had," said Phelan at the postmatch news conference. "For him to be sat at home on the opening day of the season must be unusual for him but he's been great and he's given encouragement." Hull now need to make the next step and either hire a new manager quickly, or give Phelan the reins full-time, if they are to progress.
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