Hull City support are likely to have forgotten £2m Phil Brown flop | OneFootball

Kamel Ghilas' spell with the Tigers was one to forget

The summer of 2009 saw Hull City begin just their second-ever season as a Premier League club.

After sending initial shockwaves throughout the top flight after their promotion in 2008, by the time the following summer rolled around, City were coming off the back of a final day relegation escape, having dropped like a stone under Phil Brown from January onwards.

Therefore, changes to the squad were paramount, despite the backdrop of uncertainty which surrounded the MKM Stadium boardroom at the time.

Brown looked to address the club's attacking struggles by signing the likes of Stephen Hunt, Jozy Altidore, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink as well as Algerian forward, Kamel Ghilas.

However, the man who netted 13 goals in 33 games for Celta Vigo during their promotion-winning season of 2008/09 would prove to be nothing but a major transfer mishap in East Yorkshire.

Kamel Ghilas' underwhelming stint at Hull City

Brown and then-Chairman, Paul Duffen, had made it no secret that the attacking department was one area of the squad which needed major surgery heading into the 2009/10 campaign.

This saw them target the likes of Michael Owen, who had just suffered relegation with Newcastle United at City's expense, before missing out on the man who would eventually join Manchester United and other prime targets.

The club would then land on Ghilas when it came to their wish-list, and the Algerian was poached from the Spanish side for a reported £2m fee, whilst being handed a four-year deal in the process.

Ghilas would then make his debut for the Tigers in the late opening day loss to eventual champions, Chelsea - replacing the aforementioned Hunt on 69 minutes.

After a second subtitute cameo against Tottenham Hotspur in a 5-1 drubbing, the then 25-year-old was handed his first start for the club against Bolton Wanderers at the MKM, and he would grasp the opportunity with a fine 61st-minute volley after neat link-up play with Altidore, who had only entered the fray seconds earlier.

However, that was as good as it got for Ghilas during the only spell in England throughout his career.

He would assist Kamil Zayatte's leveller in an eventual 4-1 defeat away to Sunderland two weeks later, before making just four more league appearances from the starting eleven - all in losses to Birmingham City, Liverpool, Fulham and Burnley.

Ghilas would then flutter between making an appearance on the bench or not being picked at all in Brown's matchday squads, with his final Premier League appearances for the club coming in seven and 20-minute spells off the bench in heavy defeats to Manchester United at the MKM and Old Trafford, which were sandwiched between his final start in an FA Cup loss to Wigan Athletic.

He would then be demoted to the reserves, who he scored against Bolton and Sunderland for, before being omitted from 15 of the final 16 matchday squads under Brown and Iain Dowie, as Hull's turbulent campaign resulted in relegation after an accumulation of just 30 points.

The beginning of the end for Kamel Ghilas at Hull City

The Tigers found themselves £35m in debt at the time of their fall back into the Championship, which saw many high-profile departures take place, such as Geovanni, George Boateng, Boaz Myhill and Stephen Hunt.

Ghilas, however, remained contracted to the club, but was immediately put on the departure list by Nigel Pearson, who needed to generate funds throughout an uncertain period.

Prior to the beginning of the season, the forward joined Ligue 1 outfit Arles-Avignon on loan after they were promoted to the French top flight for the first time.

After his poor form and lack of minutes continued in the south of France, Ghilas eventually went on to score twice and make three assists in just 19 appearances, including the winner in a home victory against Toulouse in May 2011, despite the club's eventual relegation.

Again, such form was unable to persuade Pearson to make the striker part of his plans for the 2011/12 campaign, and Ghilas this time joined Ligue 2 outfit Reims on a season-long loan deal.

However, the centre-forward got off to the best possible start with his new club, netting two goals in his first two games, which included the decisive goal against AS Monaco in a 2-1 success, before opening the scoring in a 3-2 win over Arles-Avignon.

Across the remainder of the season, Ghilas would net a further 12 goals - his best tally since 2009 - as 'Les rouges et blancs' returned to Ligue 1 for the first time since 1979.

However, just like his stint in the English top division with Hull, the forward failed to make the step-up to Ligue 1 after his permanent move in the summer of 2012, making 23 appearances - only nine of which were starts - and failing to score a single goal.

Ghilas' final appearance for Reims came in a goalless draw away to Valenciennes in October 2013, before he rounded off the final six months of his professional career with an uninspiring seven-game stint with Belgian Pro League outfit, Royal Charleroi S.C.

Now at the age of 40, it would be fair to say that many City supporters will have forgotten about the Algerian's disastrous stint in East Yorkshire, which sees him go down as a £2m flop, as the club also failed to make a return on the initial investment.