Defensively Zak is still a good player, but with the ball runs sideways a lot and obviously has lost quite a bit of pace. Always gives 100% though.

I think a lot of this starts from I don’t like Grix? Then find reasons to back it up. I might be wrong. He’s got playing better he’s improved the defence massively. Yes Smith won an equal amount of games but that’s a false comparison as everyone knows. The Houghton thing whilst you could criticise it it shows a human side. People have been wondering why Balmforth wasn’t playing and to his credit Grix refrained from saying why. Damned if you do damned if you don’t. Then there is crediting others for our improvement - he’s the head coach! I say all this as someone has to defend him. Tony Smith is a good resource for him at the moment but Grix makes the decision now. He’s done ok. Don’t get the negativity after our early season poop?

Grix was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time, to take up the poison chalice.

The guy seems pretty honourable to me, if a little blunt, and anyone taking that role in the mess we were in was going to cop it, with hindsight Frannie Cummins would probably have been a better choice, his communication and knowledge of the game certainly comes across well.

But both inexperienced in this high pressure position, and all in all, Grix has steadied the ship, and in very difficult circumstances achieved as much as he could.

It’s not a case of trying to find reasons to back it up.He was part of a coaching team that was responsible for some awful performances and batterings and the head coach and assistant left yet he stayed…..in football if the manager gets the sack,all his back room staff go as well so why didn’t he?.Then his continuous talking of Balmforths performances or none performances,seemed as though it was “well Tony didn’t like him so I don’t”,still in contact asking Smiths advice,who got us in this mess is equally baffling.He has had better players at his disposal and may have stop the batterings for now but still have big teams to play.He hasn’t convinced me at all and I still say he is out of his depth and a lot may be down to Cummins and Ellis but we can all have our opinions and is good to have a reasonable debate over it.

What has happened at Hull following the departure of Smith seems pretty typical for when a head coach/manager leaves mid-season. Someone stepping up on an interim basis. If you’d got rid of all your back room staff, you’d have had no backroom staff. There aren’t many examples of people going into clubs from outside on an interim basis. Rangnick at Manchester United, and probably a few others. But the PL is a world away financially and has much bigger pool of candidates - most of whom won’t be being asked to chuck in a job as an electrician or PE teacher or whatever.

Grix had only been here a number of months, so in my opinion was rightly given a bit longer to prove himself. I think getting rid of him there and then would have been quite harsh on him especially if he had mainly just been working with the team in a way that he was directed to by Smith.
Now what Grix has done and his performance since been given control is a different matter. If his time as interim head coach isn't up to the clubs expected standard then they will deal with it.
He's had an awful lot to deal with in his time as interim coach. A team that wasn't properly prepper for the season in terms of fitness, skill, conditioning. Plenty of players, some high earners, leaving the club. Plenty of new faces coming into the club. A team very low on confidence with a fan base that was the most frustrated in the league and pretty much ready to turn on the team every game as soon as the first try gets conceded. All this while knowing that most likely his future at rhe club was a serious doubt, certainly as a head coach, but possibly even as an assistant.

He's made some bad choices with team selections and I question some of his remarks in the media, bit I'm still glad he was given the chance to show what he can do. We've got our new head coach signed up and it's now up to him to decide who he wants by his side, and if he choose one of those men to be Grix then so be it.