Hull City's new reality hits home as Tigers roar back to life after Allam family apathy

For 24 hours at least, Hull City could bask in the glory of sitting top of the Championship after Saturday's 2-1 win over Norwich City at the MKM Stadium. Blackburn Rovers became the party poopers on Sunday by dislodging them from that perch, but for a day at least, it felt good.

Yes, we're only three games into this fledgling season and with 43 more matches to go, a tremendous amount of water will yet pass beneath the Humber Bridge before the dust settles on the 2022/23 campaign next May. Nobody is getting carried away with league positions.

City have already amassed seven points from their opening three games which is a stark improvement on last season's efforts when it took them until a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough on October 2 to reach that mark, but it's more than results alone that are changing minds and winning hearts.

Over 17,000 were at the MKM Stadium to watch the win over a Norwich team playing Premier League football just a few weeks ago. The fate was an increase on the opening day victory over Bristol City, and it's not just the size of the crowd which offers hope around the Tigers, it's the buzz fans are feeling once again.

Six thousand more were inside the stadium for the first home game this term compared with last (10,728 against QPR), and that trend is only going to go one way as the season matures - it's not only the size of the attendance, but the noise generated.

One player in black and amber on Saturday described it as the best atmosphere he'd played in, and tried to take it in during one of the pre-planned drinks breaks, such was the impact the partisan crowd were having, and it did have an impact - it should not be underestimated.

For years under the previous ownership, fans largely went through