Tigers yet to contact Dowie

Former Palace boss still favourite to replace Brown

Last updated: 16th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Tigers yet to contact Dowie

Dowie: In the running

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Iain Dowie has told Sky Sports News that he is yet to hear from Hull City regarding their managerial post.

The former Charlton, Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers boss has emerged as the leading candidate to replace the ousted Phil Brown at the KC Stadium.

Brown was relieved of his duties with the Tigers on Monday and the club have wasted no time in beginning their search for his successor.

Chairman Adam Pearson claims he hopes to have a new man in place by the time Hull face fellow Premier League strugglers Portsmouth on Saturday, giving the chosen coach the best possible chance to guide the club to safety.

Dowie is still widely tipped to be handed the reins, but he claims no contact has been made by Hull so far.

List

Pearson remains tight-lipped as to who he has in mind for the role, but he has admitted that speculation in the media has not been too far wide of the mark.

"We've got a pretty tight list and we're working through it," he told the club's official website.

"We're working through this exercise as quickly as we can, but obviously we want to explore every possibility.

"I think all the names mentioned are pretty reasonable. There are a few who the press haven't picked up on yet that we're talking to and it's always nice to have a couple of secret ones tucked away.

"I think we'll be able to bring that to the fore over the next couple of days."

Impetus

Caretaker boss Brian Horton, who has managed the club before, Gary Megson, Terry Venables, Mark Hughes and Paul Jewell have all been mentioned as possible candidates.

Pearson has been criticised in some quarters for the timing of Brown's dismissal, with only nine games of the season remaining, but he believes a fresh face will help to breathe new life into the club heading down the final stretch.

He said: "We feel that we've got a quarter of the season to go with some winnable games within that.

"It's not a fixture list that's packed full of 'top four' games, it's a fixture list with games where we would expect to get some points.

"We feel that we're best served by making the change now. That will bring a fresh face in, some new impetus and some new focus to get those 14 or 15 points that we're going to need."