Hull City: Steve Bruce was unable to prevent relegation with £3m, 2015 export | OneFootball

Hull City: Steve Bruce was unable to prevent relegation with £3m, 2015 export | OneFootball

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·24 December 2024

Hull City: Steve Bruce was unable to prevent relegation with £3m, 2015 export

Article image:Hull City: Steve Bruce was unable to prevent relegation with £3m, 2015 export

N'Doye only lasted six months at the MKM Stadium

After a successful 2013/14 campaign, Hull City were unable to replicate such fortunes in the opening months of the following season.


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Despite venturing into the UEFA Europa League for the first time ever, an exit in the play-off round to KSC Lokeren of Belgium was an early sighter of what was to come between then and May 2015 for Steve Bruce's men, despite an approximate £40m spending spree across the campaign.

By the latter stages of the winter transfer window in 2015, Hull had won just four Premier League games all season against QPR, Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Everton, and were in all kinds of trouble towards the bottom of the table, having been well-beaten by the likes of West Ham United and Newcastle United in successive games.

Goalscoring was a major issue as well.

Nikica Jelavic was unable to carry over his strong form in the closing months of the 2013/14 campaign, whilst eventual cult hero, Abel Hernandez, was still aclimatising to life in the English game, despite an initially bright start to his individual season in HU3.

Bruce looked to rectify such problems with the signing of Senegalese striker, Dame N'Doye, on Deadline Day.

But, despite an initial purple patch, another seven-figure investment into his striking department couldn't stop Bruce from taking the Tigers back into the second tier after two seasons.

Dame N'Doye's initial purple patch for Hull City

Article image:Hull City: Steve Bruce was unable to prevent relegation with £3m, 2015 export

Prior to moving to the MKM Stadium. N'Doye had no experience of the Premier League, but had featured several times in qualifying and regular outings in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League for FC Copenhagen and Lokomotiv Moscow.

Across two-and-a-half years for the Russian side, the 34-time international netted 27 goals in 68 appearances, which included 13 goals in 27 games in his final full season at the RZD Arena.

After initially agreeing a £3m deal with Lokomotiv, N'Doye put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half year deal with the club, who had only scored 20 goals in 23 top flight games at the time of his arrival.

However, N'Doye initially delivered what his services were acquired for, making the strongest of first impressions on his full debut in a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at the MKM Stadium - setting up Jelavic's opener in the first-half, before scoring the match-sealing strike from close range on 74 minutes.

The same partnership would prove crucial as the Tigers recorded back-to-back wins the following game, the 6"1 man's header in the 88th minute securing a vital three points against fellow strugglers, Queens Park Rangers.

A week-and-a-half later, the Senegalese would add a nonchalant back-heel against Sunderland to his variation of goals for Bruce's men, regardless of the fact it couldn't yield a third-straight home win.

Hull would then fail to win any of their next four games, before N'Doye secured yet another priceless success with his only brace for the club in a 2-0 success at Selhurst Park.

The first of those came on 52 minutes as he couldn't miss from yards out after neat combination play between Tom Huddlestone and Robbie Brady, before a neat finish on the counter in the dying moments secured a vital victory.

However, that would prove to be N'Doye's final goal for the club, and Hull's second-to-last maximum of the season.

After defeating Liverpool 1-0 the following midweek, a run of three defeats in four games culminated in relegation after a drab goalless draw with Manchester United, in what was the striker's final competitive outing in Black and Amber.

Article image:Hull City: Steve Bruce was unable to prevent relegation with £3m, 2015 export

Although Bruce was able to retain a strong core of players who were able to right the wrongs of the prior campaign thanks to N'Doye's compatriot, Mo Diame's wonder strike against Sheffield Wednesday, the forward would have no involvement whatsoever, leaving in pre-season.

Despite having two years left to run on his contract, the 30-year-old agreed a three-year contract with Turkish Süper Lig outfit Trabzonspor, who activated a £2.2m buyout clause.

N'Doye would score 16 times in 72 appearances for the Istanbul-based outfit, which included a brief loan spell back in the Premier League with Sunderland just six months after leaving these shores.

The striker would score his solitary goal for the club, ironically against Palace in a 2-2 draw, as the Black Cats retained their top flight status at the expense of Newcastle United.

Article image:Hull City: Steve Bruce was unable to prevent relegation with £3m, 2015 export

After three years in Turkey, N'Doye returned to Copenhagen six years after his exit from Parken Stadium.

The veteran striker was able to make 68 appearances for the club across the final two seasons of his career, which saw him become 'Byens Hold's all-time leading goalscorer courtesy of a hat-trick against Aalborg just three matches into his second stint with the Danish side.

He would leave the club at the end of the 2019/20 campaign having scored 118 of his 185 career goals for them.

Regardless of his exploits on the continent, some may only be familiar with N'Doye's name through his time in England, which failed to live up to the hype despite a strong start to life in Black and Amber for the now-retired 39-year-old.

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