Hull City: Abel Hernandez deserves serious credit despite luckless campaign - View | OneFootball

Throughout the most successful period in Hull City's history from the early 2000s to late 2010s, Tigers supporters remain fond of numerous players to this very day.

Despite a fractious relationship between the Allam family and the fans towards the latter stages of the aforementioned period, it was one which saw the club's record transfer fee broken on numerous occasions.

Abel Hernandez's move to Hull City

One of those instances came when Uruguayan striker Abel Hernandez joined the club in the summer of 2014, after the most prolific season in his career until then the season before - netting 14 times in 30 appearances for Palermo in the 2013/14 campaign.

City would then break their transfer record to secure his services on Transfer Deadline Day of the 2014 summer transfer window for an estimated £10m fee - a record at the time, alongside a plethora of what were exciting deals at the time that included his compatriot Gaston Ramirez and Hatem Ben Arfa in loan moves from Southampton and Newcastle United under the management of Steve Bruce.

The centre-forward started off in relatively strong form, netting on his debut with a well-placed header against West Ham, before further goals against Manchester City and Arsenal.

However, his form would coincide with a poor run of results, as Hernandez would only score once more all season - in a 3-2 defeat to Chelsea on March 22nd 2015.

In a season that promised so much for the Tigers to begin with - including a venture into the UEFA Europa League - based off their incomings, there was a major sense of underachievement at the season's conclusion as the side were relegated on the final day, having accumulated 35 points all season.

receive a three-game ban after punching Manchester United's Phil Jones during that last day outing.

The Uruguayan's best season in Black and Amber

After the disappointment of relegation, Bruce and a strong squad of players at Championship level were tasked with bouncing back at the first time of asking. Hernandez, in particular was one of those who more than redeemed himself throughout his best-performing season at the MKM Stadium.

The number nine proved to be more than capable of filling the void left by Nikica Jelavic - who left for West Ham - netting in back-to-back games for the first time at the club against Charlton Athletic and Preston North End, before notching another five strikes and registering another assist as the Tigers sat top of the table following a 3-0 victory against promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough in November 2015.

Despite a slight dip in form, Hernandez was back to his best in the crucial festive period, recording ten goal contributions in as many games (nine goals and one assist) from December 16th until February 13th as the Tigers continued to mount pressure on their promotion rivals, including a hat-trick in a 6-0 victory over Charlton Athletic.

However, Hull would then hit a major slump in form that saw them fall out of the automatic promotion picture altogether, with their star striker going nine games without finding the back of the net, before restoring confidence ahead of the play-offs with four goals in his last five appearances of the regular season.

That run of form would also prove pivotal in the play-offs, as Hernandez set the semi-finals against Derby County alight with his opener at Pride Park, a game which the Tigers went on to win 3-0, before a nervy affair in East Yorkshire that saw them edge through 3-2 on aggregate, before defeating Sheffield Wednesday in the final at Wembley Stadium.

Hernandez's final two seasons with Hull City

Similarly to his first season with the club, the 16/17 campaign was rather hectic at the MKM Stadium, as Hull began the season infamously, only having 13 senior players to take on Leicester City - who were beginning their defence of the Premier League.

However, the squad more than rallied, defeating the Foxes 2-1 on home turf - becoming the first team in Premier League history to beat the champions on the opening day of the following season - before Hernandez netted his first of the campaign in the 2-0 win at Swansea City a week later.

The striker would then go on to suffer an injury in the middle of the season as Mike Phelan went on to be dismissed, before being replaced by current Fulham boss, Marco Silva.

Hernandez netted twice in the Portuguese's first league game in charge - a 3-1 win against Bournemouth - before his final goal came in a 4-2 success over Middlesbrough late in the season.

However, the striker's season was somewhat summed up by a bizarre incident in a 4-1 FA Cup defeat at Fulham, missing two penalties in as many minutes.

After being relegated again, former Russia boss Leonid Slutsky took the reins upon the club's return to the Championship, and despite seeing numerous big names depart, he still had a more than capable outfit which would also include the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki.

Hernandez was on hand to remind everyone of his second-tier exploits with a hat-trick against Burton Albion in the second game of the season, before suffering a major setback just three days later, as an achilles tendon injury sustained against Wolves ruled him out for seven months.

By the time he returned from the long-term layoff, Hull were in deep trouble at the wrong end of the season - three points ahead of the bottom three after 35 games - with Nigel Adkins now at the helm. However, Hernandez's return couldn't have come at a better time, going on to score five and add two assists as the Tigers secured survival with three games to spare.

But, those seven appearances would prove to be his last for the club, after he turned down a contract offer which "exceeded what the club would normally offer at Championship level" before subsequently plying his trade for CSKA Moscow, Al-Ahli, Internacional and currently, Fluminese.

In total, the man who "Came from Italy, to play for Hull City" scored 39 times in 111 appearances, and will go down as a cult hero for many years.