Business as usual for Brown

(GETTY IMAGES)

Manager Phil Brown arrived to take training with Hull this morning as speculation continued to surround his future at the club.

A number of bookmakers yesterday suspended betting on Brown being the next Premier League manager to leave his job.

The Tigers responded to the ensuing speculation in a statement last night to deny Brown's position was under review, but uncertainty remained with reports that former chairman Adam Pearson was set to make a shock return to the club.

Pearson last night resigned from his post as chairman of football at Derby, heightening speculation he is set to replace current Tigers chairman Paul Duffen, a close friend of Brown, at the KC Stadium.

Brown insisted yesterday that he remains the right man for the job and intends to remain in his post for a number of years to come, and he arrived at the Tigers' Cottingham training ground at around 9am today bidding to put the uncertainty to one side.

Former Hull striker Dean Windass has called for Brown to be "moved on", with the club having managed just eight points from their opening 10 games of the season.

Windass, who left Hull in January, told talkSPORT magazine: "Phil's done a fantastic job since he's been there but I think it's time that he should get moved on and bring somebody else in."

Windass also questioned whether the club could stay up this season, adding: "It's going to be difficult. They're not getting results and they're struggling to score goals at the moment.

"They need a 10-15 goal-a-year striker to get away from the bottom of the table. They've got a little mini-league at the moment and it's important they win games against teams in and around their league."

Hull sought to play down the speculation surrounding Brown's position in a brief statement last night, which read: "Contrary to media speculation the club can confirm that Phil Brown has not been sacked and remains the manager of Hull City Football Club."

However, the future of the Tigers is set to remain in the spotlight after concerns also surfaced about the club's long-term financial position, stemming from accounts being published covering the year ending July 2008.

In that 12 months Hull made a loss of nearly £10million as they won promotion to the Premier League via Windass' goal in the 2008 play-off at Wembley.

That sum, however, did not include any figures from the club's first season in the top tier of English football, and the directors remained confident the next set of results will prove more positive.