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Great expectations

Brown achieved something magnificent

Last updated: 17th March 2010

I do wonder what boards expect. Two years ago, Hull only just survived in the Championship. On Saturday, they were bitterly unlucky to lose to Arsenal, with 10 men for more than half the game.

Max Rushden
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Phil Brown was sacked about 20 minutes ago (obviously not 20 minutes ago to you - I should probably have written "on Monday" to make the column seem more timeless).

Phil Brown got Hull City into the Premier League... Hull City. I can remember watching Cambridge beat Hull City, not that long ago. Now they are in the Premier League, and we (after three wins on the bounce), are lower mid-table in the conference.

So it's a question of expectations. As soon as a team gets in the Premier League, they clearly deserve to be there. They've won the games in the Championship, or they've gone through the pressure of the play-offs. And if a team survives in the Premier League, they deserve to stay there.

So should a fan's expectations naturally increase as their team do better? I was only 11 when Cambridge United were on the cusp of the Premier League. I never really saw us lose for the first 5 years I followed them. We kept getting promoted and getting to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, beating whoever turned up.

Now I'm 30, and I've seen my team go up and down, and down, and down, and down again - I'm more of a realist. So when I see Hull City sacking the manager that got them into the top division, my first reaction is frustration and a (very moderate) depression.

Controversial

For a century, no-one had managed to get Hull into the top division. Phil Brown did. He may have been a controversial figure, cos he wore a natty outfit, liked singing, and did a team talk on the pitch. But his achievements are incredible.

Hull City are in the Premier League because they deserve to be. But is it their natural home? Are they a bigger team than half the sides in the Championship?

Forest, Derby, Newcastle, Leicester, Ipswich, QPR etc.

There are sides in League One: Southampton, Leeds, Norwich - who might lay claim to be deserving of a top tier place. There's a fair argument to say that Hull have overachieved by maintaining a Premier League place.

I do wonder what boards expect. Two years ago, Hull only just survived in the Championship. On Saturday, they were bitterly unlucky to lose to Arsenal, with 10 men for more than half the game.

A few months ago I wrote a column about how Man City were completely wrong to get rid of Mark Hughes. Mancini was parachuted in before a run of four or five really easy games. City won them. Mancini was a hero.

Now they're not looking so exciting - only getting a point at Sunderland because of a piece of Adam Johnson brilliance. Who knows if City would be doing better if Hughes was still there? But it's clear that getting Mancini hasn't guaranteed City fourth place.

Man City and Hull are very different situations, but the board's haste to get rid of their manager is the same. A board sometimes needs to take a step back, look at where they are, and really ask the question: Will sacking someone really make a difference.

Magnificent

If someone comes in and keeps Hull up, it'll be all because of them. If Hull go down, it'll be Phil Brown's fault. Whether you like him or not, the guy deserves to be remembered for achieving something truly magnificent at Hull.

I hope he has a big garden.

P.S: Like most football fans - I'm gutted for David Beckham. I've met him once, at the launch of the 2018 World Cup, and as everyone says - he's a truly decent bloke, and would have made a big difference in South Africa, regardless of how many minutes he'd played.

If I was Fabio Capello, I'd take him on the coaching staff anyway. As for what happens now, finger's crossed Aaron Lennon can get fit. I think he has a key part to play.

But I mentioned Adam Johnson a second ago. When he was on the show last year (he was at Middlesbrough), I remembered that Geoff Hurst hadn't been picked until February of 1966. I suggested Johnson might have a role to play in SA. Having watched him yesterday, I really think he might...

Have a good week...