Hull City boss Phil Brown has seen his team hit the dizzy heights early on in their Premier League campaign. He picked up the manager of the month award for September as his team were challenging at the very peak of the table. But those heady early days seem a long way in the past as the Tigers now battle relegation following a disastrous string of results and controversy along the way.

Brown has four games to ensure a second consecutive season of top flight football on Humberside. A half-time public dressing down for his players in Manchester and an ongoing row on London are just two of the distractions that have faced Hull during their fall from top to bottom yet Brown is focussed on the job in hand. He is aware that being ‘new kids on the block’ and standing up to the establishment can be a dangerous combination if you are competing in the popularity stakes. “That ill wind is blowing,” said Brown “It’s not blowing nice and calm like it was at the start of the season. There has been a change in certain people’s outlook with regard to myself and to Hull City. It has surprised me, if I’m honest. But I think it stems from standing our ground, speaking our minds, if you like, and being strong personalities, strong characters who don’t want to lie down.”