Hull City: Tigers’ players mock club’s plight by posing for nine-man team photo on pre-season training camp in Austria
Curtis Davies and Jake Livermore laugh in face of adversity at Tigers' woeful pre-season preparations
HULL CITY'S own players have mocked the club's shocking preparations for the new season by posing for a NINE-MAN squad photo.
The Tigers have endured a miserable build-up on their return to the Premier League following promotion in the play-offs last season.
Boss Steve Bruce quit in frustration at the way the club is being run, and they are still no closer to naming a replacement.
Not one first team player has been signed since the end of last season and injury to captain Michael Dawson has left them struggling to name eleven players regarded as senior professionals.
But after flying out to Austria to for their pre-season training camp, Hull's players were not letting the off-field crisis dampen their spirits.
Defender Curtis Davies posted a picture of the group as they took in the scenery up in the mountains, captioned "Hull City squad photo 2016/17"
Davies also uploaded a clip of the remaining players enjoying a toboggan ride before an evening training session.
And midfielder Jake Livermore also joked that the club chef should swap roles and play up front.
Hull begin their season when they take on champions Leicester next week, with Bruce's assistant Mike Phelan in charge on a caretaker basis.
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Midfielder Mo Diame, who scored the winning goal that earned promotion in the play-off final in May, was sold to Newcastle last week in a £4.5million deal.
And chairman Assem Allam seems reluctant to sanction any transfer business with the club up for sale.
The Allam family are still upset at the Football Association's decision to ban them from changing the club's name to Hull Tigers in 2014.
Furious supporters have lost faith with the board and are desperate for a change of ownership, but a proposed takeover bid was shelved just before Bruce quit last month.