It was so very nearly a case of a player coming back to haunt past potential employers. Six weeks ago on the opening day of the season, Hull City were winning 1-0 at Loftus Road, when the Hoops were awarded a dubious penalty with just minutes remaining on the clock. Step forward Charlie Austin, scorer of 17 Championship goals last term in his debut season for QPR. Without his goals, the Championship Play-off winners would have never even had a prayer of promotion, so it was a fitting reward for showing faith in a footballer who had been turned away by the day's opponents the previous summer. Then at Burnley, Steve Bruce's Hull had agreed a fee for the services of the former brick-layer turned prolific Championship goalscorer, only for a failed medical to crush his Premier League hopes for another year.
''There has been a bit of a problem with his medical, which is the worst scenario for everybody concerned. It's an awful situation we find ourselves in but the medical is not great so it looks as if it is a non-starter at the moment. I think he is surprised because he has not missed many games over the last couple of years. It is a blow for him and a blow for us but these medicals are so stringent and obviously he has got a problem.'' - Steve Bruce, July 2013.
13 months later, and he was prepared to stick the proverbial two fingers up to that 'stringent' medical team that had deprived him of his Premier League dream the previous year, and fired low and hard to Conor McGregor's right. In truth, it was a weak and turgid penalty, and all it took was an easy save from the Scotsman to turn it away, depriving the R's of a point on their Premier League return and Austin of a dream start to his Premier League career.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
