SIMPLY A GREAT SIGNING AND TO END THE CLAMBER FOR HIM SO QUICKLY SHOWS WE MUST HAVE MORE WONGA THAN LEEDS

Sensational signing!

As has been said this can be compared to the signing of Knocker. Let's hope it leads to an equally successful era.

Congratulations and thanks to Pearson, McRae and Gentle for pulling this off.

As for the Leeds fans who said he was nailed on for them:

How was the interview, anyone?

Had the headphones on and nearly spilt me tea. Top Signing, well done to all involved at the club

top draw signing

shows real intent from the board and coaching team

well done AP and all involved in this exceptional signing.

I read an interview with Paolo di Cannio and he was asked about his own interview with the owner of Swindon Town. di Cannio asked him what the club's aspirations were and was told that: given the demographics (pop. 210,000), the most realistic expectation was a "good Championship side". di Cannio thought this the answer that would be expected from a realist as opposed to a fantacist and was the main reason for him taking the job. Now the City of Hull has only 50,000 greater population than Swindon, yet the current and previous owners have attempted to fool some of the population into thinking that Hull City could be a viable and sustainable Premier League side.

Good signing that. Gave tremendous service to Leeds and I can only wish him the best. Would have been nice to see him back at Leeds but it wasn't to be. He'll go well for you - he doesn't really do business any other way.

It'll take more than Gareth Ellis to get you back where you need to be, but there seems to be a fair bit going on at the KC, and this signing is a statement of intent. Good luck to you, the competition can use as many teams capable of challenging for titles as it can get, so good luck on getting up there. So far so good I'd say.

Stoke has only about 30,000 greater population than Swindon and are in their 4th year in the top flight with a go in Europe to boot. They're not even the only team in their city, either. I'm not convinced Hull City will establish themselves as a Premier League side (and as a further point, what counts as 'established'? If we're talking permanent fixtures in the division there are probably less than 10 teams in the country of whom you can confidently say that, with the bulk of those coming from only 3 cities), but I think it's silly to suggest that they couldn't, given some of the teams that have had decent runs of top-flight football.

That said, when I'm in Hull nowadays, the proportion of Hull City shirts to Man Utd shirts I see has changed a lot, compared to what it was 5 years or so ago (all anecdotal of course). Population size on its own isn't necessarily the best measure. It's real numbers through the turnstiles that count.

But I always think of Hull as a Rugby League town, and I'd like it to stay that way.

They could be soon!