Brown was appointed as first-team coach at Hull City on 27 October 2006 under Phil Parkinson, and took over as joint caretaker manager alongside Colin Murphy on 4 December after Parkinson's sacking, with Hull in 22nd place in the Football League Championship. After taking Hull out of the relegation zone with three wins and a draw in the six matches as caretaker manager, he was appointed as the permanent manager of the club on 4 January 2007, while Murphy continued as his assistant. [8]
Brown went on to lead The Tigers to Championship safety and the following season won promotion to the top level of English football for the first time in the club's 104-year history, by beating Bristol City at Wembley in the Championship play-off final on 24 May 2008. Brown described this as "the best day of my life, without a shadow of a doubt". [9]
Premier League
Brown was rewarded with a new three-year contract, which he signed on the weekend of Hull City's first ever top-flight match, a 2–1 victory over Fulham on 16 August 2008. [10] On 28 September Brown managed Hull to a 2–1 victory at Arsenal. It was only Arsenal's second defeat at the Emirates Stadium and was described by the Hull press as the greatest victory in the club's history. After a 1–0 victory at bottom of the table Tottenham Hotspur the following weekend, and a 3–0 away victory at the also newly promoted West Bromwich Albion, he was awarded the Manager-of-the-Month award for Hull's performances in September.
The first nine games Hull spent as a top division club resulted in six wins as they occupied third place in the Premier League and were only being kept off the top by Liverpool and Arsenal having superior goal difference.
The remainder of the season was not so easy for Brown, as the team struggled to pick up the remaining points necessary to avoid relegation, and he was involved in several controversial incidents. In November 2008 he was fined £1,000 and warned about his future conduct by the FA after he admitted a charge of improper conduct. The charge related to a game against Wigan in August which Hull lost 5–0. [11] On 26 December 2008, following a poor first half performance that saw Hull 4–0 down in a league match at Manchester City, Brown conducted his half-time team-talk on the pitch, in full view of the crowd and at the end of the pitch where the Hull supporters were sitting. [12] He explained, "I thought it was nice and cold and I thought I would keep the boys alive because they looked as if they were dead. Our 4,000 travelling fans deserved some kind of explanation for the first-half performance and it was difficult for me to do that from the confines of a changing room. We owed them an apology for the first-half performance." [13] Hull lost the match 5–1 and Brown was widely mocked for the incident. [14] [15] [16]
Brown was again charged with misconduct for his behaviour in an FA Cup tie against Newcastle United in January. During the match Brown and Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear were both sent to the stands after a confrontation in which Brown verbally abused Newcastle's assistant manager Chris Hughton. [17] Brown admitted the charge and was subsequently fined £2,500 and warned as to his future conduct by the Football Association. [18]
On 17 March 2009, Brown claimed that he saw Arsenal midfielder and captain Cesc Fàbregas spit at the feet of his assistant manager Brian Horton following Hull's 2–1 FA Cup defeat and elimination at the Emirates Stadium. Fabregas was cleared of the accusation on 22 May 2009. [19] After the game Brown also falsely claimed that Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger had refused to shake his hand at one of their two previous meetings that season. [20] [21] [22] Brown faced his third improper conduct charge of the season in relation to comments he made about referee Mike Riley after the Arsenal match. He denied the offence but was found guilty in a June hearing and once again fined £2,500 and warned about his future conduct. [23]
On 24 May 2009, despite suffering a 1–0 loss to a second-string Manchester United side, Brown led Hull City to survival in the Premier League due to Newcastle United losing to Aston Villa. [24] Hull finished in 17th place, one point above Newcastle, who also lost. Brown stated that this was the greatest achievement in his managerial career and the club's history. At the end of the game, Brown went onto the pitch with a microphone and started singing (a modified version of) "Sloop John B" to the crowd. [25]
In the summer of 2009, Brown looked to strengthen his side. He attempted to sign former England international striker Michael Owen and former Tiger Fraizer Campbell, but was unsuccessful. Brown did manage to sign Seyi Olofinjana, Jozy Altidore (on loan from Villarreal), Kamel Ghilas, Stephen Hunt, Paul McShane, and he also signed Ibrahima Sonko on transfer deadline day on loan from Stoke City – after the departure of Michael Turner to Sunderland. Steven Mouyokolo also joined after he was initially purchased on 30 January 2009. Free agent Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink signed for the Tigers on 3 September 2009.
Brown's position as Hull manager was thought to be under threat in November 2009 following a poor start to the season, however a run of eight points from four games dampened such speculation. [26] The team's disciplinary problems also continued, with a £40,000 fine levied following a fracas in a 3–0 defeat at Arsenal and Hull also occupying last place in the Fair Play League. [27] On 15 March 2010 Brown was put on gardening leave at Hull after a run of four defeats left the team in the relegation zone. [28] Hull achieved one win in the last fifteen games under Brown, and a total of five in the 2009–10 league season. His final match was a home defeat to Arsenal. [29] His contract as manager was confirmed ended on 7 June 2010, by which time the Tigers had been relegated under new manager Iain Dowie. [30]
