Has Phil Brown Set Himself Up For A Fall?

by Tom Mallows

Anyone who was at the KC Stadium for Hull City’s recent Carling Cup defeat to Everton can’t have helped but noticed the eerie silence hanging over the stadium. I don’t think that silence was purely down to the lack of hardy souls willing to turn up to game – there were enough fans there to make a racket.

No I think it went deeper than that. In a year that has yielded just four home wins I think it was the grim anticipation of a tough winter ahead that hung over the Tigers crowd.

And the muted boos at the end of the game suggests their frustrations are set to boil over.

All this turns the heat up on Phil Brown, who finds himself the bookies favourite to be the next boss to get the boot. He readily admits the team is underperforming and are yet to escape a rut they fell into last January. But is Brown just a victim of his own success? After all Hull are only doing this year what many predicted they would do last year. The Tigers were nailed on for immediate relegation at the start of last season.

It was credit to Brown, his players and staff that they rode the tide of optimism gleaned from their dramatic Wembley play-off victory to soar, against all odds, to the top half of the Premier League, defying pundits and fans alike.

Had they begun last season badly, would Brown be under so much pressure? I doubt it. By raising expectations he has made a rod for his own back.

Granted the perma tanned, head-set wearing boss hasn’t always helped himself. His impromptu on-pitch team-talk at Manchester City last Boxing Day was a PR disaster, his on pitch sing song didn’t go down too well either and his general outspoken demeanour has rubbed some people up the wrong way.

But I can’t say getting rid of him would do any good. It may see a brief flurry of results – the infamous ‘honeymoon’ period. But the same old problems would still be there. A limited if hard working squad, lack of significant transfer funds and difficulty persuading transfer targets their future lies on the banks of the Humber.

There is a school of thought that suggests Phil Brown deserves the patience of the board, given his achievements so far. It is a theory I’m tempted to subscribe to.

However in the high stakes, high pressure, results driven business that is Premier League football, there is no room for such patience. I sadly fear that spells trouble for Phil Brown and his tenacious Tigers.

English Premier League, Hull City, Phil Brown, Tom Mallows