The original game had to be put back after Aston Villa reached the League Cup final back in January, and the match will now take place on Wednesday 21st April (7.45pm). It’ll be City’s fourth-to-last game of the season, sandwiched between Birmingham away and Sunderland at the Circle, and means that three of the last four matches will all be played at home. A deliberate move by City? Not a bad one if so.

A short statement on the club’s official website states that the 45 year old has been given a short-term contract with the Tigers, his obvious and immediate task being to keep City in the Premier League. Assisting him will be Tim Flowers and Steve Wigley, who is presently working in the England U21 setup.

His job is a formidable one. City lie three points adrift of safety and with a hefty goal difference deficit – however, with relegation-certainties Portsmouth providing his first opposition on Saturday he at least has the chance to make a winning start. More to come…

Sure, the latter half of the season proved gut wrenching as we fought the drop, but ultimately we retained top tier status despite being tipped by the majority of pundits to make Derby’s record low season long points tally look relatively respectable. All of these things happened on Phil Brown’s watch, and though the media will recall the permatan, the public team talk and karaoke, ultimately we will remember helping relegate Leeds, Wembley, winning at the Emirates and mixing it with the big boys. When the dust settles, history will remember Phil Brown’s tenure at Hull City favourably.

Here we consider the highs and lows of Brown Phil’s reign, noting the defining games, words and looks of the most successful manager in Tigers history.

Defining games

Cardiff 0 Tigers 1, 28th April 2007
The game that secured Phil Brown the permanent job after replacing Phil Parkinson on an interim basis. City were strong candidates for relegation from the Championship when he arrived, at one point propping up the second tier, but Brown engineered a remarkable turnaround. He did what Peter Taylor had stubbornly refused to do and brought Dean Windass home, and the loan move paid handsome dividends. Deano fired in 8 goals, including the winner at Ninian Park that effectively guaranteed survival and condemned Leeds to the drop. Brown wasn’t confirmed permanent manager for another month, but after this game a new contract was just a formality.

Tigers 1 Bristol City 0, 24th May 2008
A year later and Brown had gone from keeping us up to taking us up, making history as the manager who took the Tigers into the top flight for the first time in 104 years. Once again he owed much to Dean Windass, who fired in the play off final winner at Wembley, but Brown’s most important move of 2007/2008 was the loan signing of the man who set up Deano’s volleyed goal, Fraizer Campbell. Regardless of recent frustrations, Phil Brown will always be remembered as the man who masterminded City’s ascent to the Premier League, and gave 40,000 Hullensians an unforgettable day out at Wembley.

Arsenal 1 Tigers 2, 27th September 2008
The concept of City being in the Premier League was surreal enough, but the sight of City beating Arsenal on their own patch truly warped the boundaries of reality. Brown’s decision to play three up front and take the game to the Gunners proved that there is a fine line that divides genius and lunacy. The Tiger Nation was still marvelling at Geovanni’s stunning equaliser when Daniel Cousin headed us in front, setting up a frantic finale that saw City cling on to perhaps the most improbable scoreline in club history.

Manchester City 5 Tigers 1. 26th December 2008
The tabloid press claim this was the point it all went wrong for City in 2008/2009, ignoring the 4-1 home defeat to Sunderland a week earlier, but Boxing Day was pivotal, it was when the tabloid press turned on Phil Brown. Three months previous he was hailed a tactical genius, but now he was a buffoon, and his decision to conduct the halftime team talk on the Eastlands pitch was and still is incessantly scorned by pundits. Several players have since stated that the public dressing down wasn’t a significant factor in our slide down the table, but it gave the media a convenient visual cliché of decline.

Tigers 0 Manchester United 1, 24th May 2009
Even though Manchester United were resting key players for the Champions League final, a favourable result against the newly crowned Premier League champions’ reserves was always unlikely. City needed to at least match Newcastle’s last day result to remain in the Premier League, and thankfully the Geordies went down 1-0 to Aston Villa, rendering our same score defeat by United’s kids immaterial. Keeping Hull City in the Premier League was a remarkable achievement and naturally warranted much rejoicing, though the media chose not to see it that way and lampooned Phil Brown for his celebratory karaoke. He was right though, this was the best trip we’d ever been on.

Tigers 0 Portsmouth 0, 24th October 2009
The Tiger Nation had been remarkably patient with Phil Brown during a period that saw City win just three games in 32 matches. However an uninspired and more worryingly unambitious performance in a 0-0 draw with bottom side Portsmouth (arguably the poorest Premier League game ever played) prompted vocalised derision from some of the KC Stadium crowd. For the first time it was clear that Phil Brown was losing support in the stands.

Tigers 1 Arsenal 2, 13th March 2010
A win against Stoke on Remembrance Sunday bought him time with the returning Adam Pearson, and in February improbable back to back home results, a 1-1  draw with Chelsea and a 2-1 win over Manchester City, looked to have turned our season around. However, a disastrous run of four defeats left us 19th with 9 games left and proved Brown’s undoing. It wasn’t so much the performance against Arsenal that led to his departure, the lads put in a spirited shift and were slightly hard done by to not get a point, but another loss combined with feeble showings at Blackburn, West Ham and Everton evidently convinced the chairman that he wasn’t the man to keep us up a second year running.

Defining words

“I’m sure the chairman will make a decision sooner rather than later for everybody’s sake, I do want the job. It’s a great football club and a great opportunity for me.” 31st December 2006.  Making it clear he wants his spell as interim manager to become permanent as he takes over from Phil Parkinson.“

The whole Championship was looking at this game and we have disappointed everybody outside of Hull.” 18th March 2008. On City’s 3-1 win at Colchester which near guaranteed a play-off place.“

Success is a journey and not a destination and we’ve got a long way to go before we’re an established Premier League club but we gone to Wembley for the first time and we’ve managed to win.” 26th May 2008. Reflecting on promotion to the Premier League at the civic parade.

“Of course, you always worry about it going tits up. Then again, there was no expectation of us doing anything this season. We were the no-hopers just up for a brief visit. A magical mystery tour to Old Trafford, the Emirates and Anfield and then back to where we belonged. Now they say we’ve caught six out of seven sides at just the right time. Long may it continue!” 9th October 2008 Talking to The Sun after back to back wins in North London.“

It’s one step at a time. I’m not saying I should be the next England manager by any stretch of the imagination. But that was one of my ambitions as a 36-year-old, and at 49 it’s still one of my ambitions.” October 2008. City’s phenomenal start to the season generated ‘future England boss’ speculation.“

“I am proud and I am frustrated. I was disappointed at the way we conceded the goals. We threw everything at them. We gave them too much respect in the first half. It became feisty in the second half. I like that. We nearly embarrassed them.” 1st November 2008. Assessing the 4-3 defeat at Old Trafford.“

The first half performance wasn’t acceptable and I’m sure the fans realised that. I wasn’t being clever, but the fans needed to see that something was being done about it.” 26th December 2008. On the half-time team talk on the pitch at Eastlands.

“We’ve not been beaten by Arsenal, we’ve been beaten by the referee and the linesman. Mike Riley wouldn’t have the faintest idea how much that will cost us.” 17th March 2008. On the clearly offside winner that knocked City out of the FA Cup. He was fined £2,500 for that.

Brown Phil’s brown shoes
“Shoes? I’ve got 40 or 50 pairs – it’s terrible” Phil Brown once told the Hull Daily Mail. His best known pair are the, ahem, tan Oxfords he wore throughout the 2007-2008 promotion season. With black suits. Yes, yes, I know.

Err…naked
When Football League sponsors Coca Cola launched their ‘Buy a Player’ initiative, Phil Brown somewhat unwisely said he’d bare all if City fans raised over £100,000 by texting codes on Coke bottle wrappers to grab a slice of a £10M kitty for their club. Tiger Nationals raised £256, 000 and Brown kept his word, appearing sans-clothes  in City magazine, though a size 5 ball spared us the sight of the manager’s leathery nads and wanger.

Man with a tan
The media have an obsession with Phil Brown’s skin colouring, barely an article about the man is published without some reference to the ‘permatan’. It’s not just the red tops either, the supposedly quality broadsheets think it’s an essential prefix to Phil Brown’s name, the above depiction of Brown as Willy Wonka blending in with orange  skinned Oompa Loompas featured on the Guardian’s website. The man himself felt the need to defend his pigmentation, insisting he’s never been on a sunbed in his life, though Paul Duffen went a step too far when he opined that constant tan references “bordered on racism”. The knave.

Bearded brilliance
Grown in September 2008 to raise funds and awareness for testicular cancer charity Everyman (following goalkeeper Matt Duke’s battle with the disease), Brown’s goatee was sported during City’s phenomenal run of early season form. Some suggested it’s disappearance had a Samson-without-long-hair style effect on results, others used it as something else to have a pop about, such as the Independent’s Sam Wallace who described the facial hair as “laudable in its intentions but not really in keeping with the seriousness required for the job”. Meff.

Telesales headset
Only NFL head coaches have more conspicuous headsets in pro sports than those worn by Phil Brown and Brian Horton. After his rant about Cesc Fabregas’s post match behaviour, Mike Norrish of the Telegraph wrote: “Research has suggested that hands-free kits help users avoid the potentially mind-frying affects of mobile phone radiation. And if that’s true, then we’ll have to find another reason for Phil Brown’s post-match performance at the Emirates.”

Real men wear pink
The day after City’s season opening defeat at Chelsea, Phil Brown appeared on the Goals on Sunday sofa wearing this, err, attractive pink sweater. Actually, ‘wearing’ is stretching the meaning of the word, it was draped over his shoulders. There really is no defending that, Phil.

A statement on the club’s official website states that he’s been placed on gardening leave with immediate effect, with Brian Horton now in charge of first team affairs. He’ll be assisted by Steve Parkin, pending an expected announcement later in the week about a new full-time manager.

We’ll have much more on this soon, but in the meantime – no matter how disappointing City’s form has been over a prolonged period – it’s hard not to feel incredibly sorry about how it’s turned out for the man who took us to Wembley and the Premier League.

Perhaps, given unlimited time and extensive research, it could be possible to conjure up something more galling than yesterday’s injury time happening at the Circle. It’d probably involve an unholy triumvirate of twattery consisting of Arsene Wenger, Gordon Brown and Michael Winner kneeing you in the knackers while pinching your wallet and shagging your wife, but even that doesn’t quite seem to do it. Not even alcohol made much of an impact on this.

And so once again, City just miss out against one of the Sky Sports Mega Four. We’ll leave (for now) the inevitable yet warranted complaint about why we can raise our game for one of the bigger clubs yet failed so dismally on the road against comparatively lesser lights, and try to seek the positives in the fact that we did at least compete yesterday.

Much of the credit to Phil Brown. If it’s fair to criticise him for getting it wrong – which it is – then let’s salute his successes. Six changes were implemented after the second half horror show at Everton last week, as was a change of formation. One was possibly enforced with Paul McShane on compassionate leave following a death in his family while Tom Cairney’s absence may be explained by the sudden squabble over his new contract. Garcia, Zaki, Barmby and Kilbane were simply left out.

It meant that on a warm spring evening at the Circle, City lined up: Myhill; Mendy, Mouyokolo, Zayatte, Dawson; Fagan, Boateng, Bullard, Marney; Vennegoor of Hesselink, Altidore. A welcome return to 4-4-2, spearheaded by the promising Altidore/JvoH partnership. Marney was presumably recalled so that his prodigious workrate could be deployed in nullifying the potent Arsenal threat, while Mendy’s pace and attacking threat would give the visitors something to deal with on the flanks.

At the behest of ESPN it was an early evening kick-off, which have become something of a habit for City v Arsenal fixtures. Unsurprisingly, they had the better of the opening exchanges, retaining the ball with silken ease as City scampered determinedly after their red-shirted foes. Yet, the first real effort on goal came the Tigers’ way when Altidore easily span past Sol Campbell to create room for a shot at goal – however, his strike from outside the area was some way off target.

Arsenal scored after quarter of an hour. A move of dazzlingly precise passing on their right hand side saw them rapidly advance through City’s defences before transferring the ball left to Arshavin. He was opposed by two covering defenders but manage to wriggle through them, and when a slightly fortunate bounce of the ball presented him with a clear chance on goal his shot flew past Myhill. A very good finish, though not unpreventable.

The Arsenal contingents in a record crowd of 25,023 celebrated joyously and looked forward to more. We sighed, lamented our inability to keep it tight for longer and feared the worst. However, they didn’t really press home their advantage. A second goal in the minutes immediately following this initial concession could have left to a severely unpleasant evening.

Startlingly, City equalised just before the half-hour. Marney sent a flick through to Vennegoor of Hesselink, who was allowed to continue despite being a yard offside. He advanced on goal before being clattered into by Sol Campbell. Referee Andre Marriner was quick to point spotwards before issuing a caution to Campbell.

Was it red? There was a covering defender, though he’d have been unable to get across in time to prevent a shot. The ball was not initially under Vennegoor of Hesselink’s control, though it ultimately became so. Technically, red ought to have been flashed at Campbell, though there were perhaps enough doubts to make Mr Marriner’s decision understandable, if not quite correct. And of course, big Jan was offside, a fact presumably not missed by the scowling Arsene Wenger.

Bullard stepped up to take the kick, and walloped it into the top-left corner. Wash & Go’s finest takes an extremely good penalty, and this was completely unsaveable. We capered in mildly astonished glee.

This interruption of Arsenal’s previously smooth progress wasn’t entirely well received, and the game became the type of fractious affair that seems to happen whenever Messrs Brown and Wenger’s charges meet. Dawson was cautioned for an unlovely foul on Denilson – a genuine but late attempt to win the ball in front of the visitors’ dugout. During this, Boateng and Bendtner squared up, and following advice from one of his assistants Mr Marriner also cautioned them both.

It was to be a costly flare-up. With the interval imminent, Boateng directed a late, studs-showing foul at Sagna. The second caution was inevitable – indeed, as with Campbell earlier on it could conceivably have been punished with outright dismissal, though the referee’s smirk as he sent the player off was rather unbecoming. Boateng trudged off the field to undeserved applause and a handshake from Phil Brown, whose side scraped through to the break level but with a colossal task ahead of them.

Brown’s response was, well, courageous. Neither of his front two were withdrawn as the Tigers opted to play a sort of 4-3-2 formation. No substitutions were made – it was inspirational stuff from the City boss.

The atmosphere had been simmering since the turbulent end to the first half, and it grew considerably when a meaty challenge by Campbell felled Kamil Zayatte after just five minutes. It looked a fair tackle by Campbell, though its two-footed nature looked unpleasant. He did win the ball, however. Mr Marriner judged it acceptable, though the game was held up while Zayatte received treatment. He returned to the fray but collapsed shortly after and was stretchered from the field as the City fans howled for action to be taken. Liam Cooper came on for Zayatte. We trust that M Wenger will consider the next legitimate attempt at winning possession that ends badly for one his players in the same way as both he and the referee did in this instance.

Despite a vast amount of possession, Arsenal were looking increasingly frustrated by their inability to penetrate the City defence. Marney and Fagan were scurrying to hugely impressive effect, restricting the space far more than would have been expected given the numerical disadvantage.

Chances were few and far between as the half wore on. City were unsurprisingly showing little as an attacking force, though Bullard did send a thumping drive narrowly over the bar from distance – Almunia had it easily covered.

Walcott, on for Eboue, teed up Arshavin with a low cross that found the Russian in space at the far post. He had time to take a touch but elected to shoot first time, and almost cleared the North Stand roof. Did the ball bobble on City’s less-than-immaculate turf, now being damaged by the recommencement of eggchasing? Maybe. Either way it was a howler.

Garcia trotted on for Vennegoor of Hesselink as shoring things up escalated among City’s list of priorities, the Tigers now playing 4-4-1. Things were becoming more frantic at the back as Arsenal piled forward in search of a winner, and it required a solid Mouyokolo block to deflect a Bendtner shot over the crossbar. Kilbane replaced the tiring but outstanding Altidore as injury time neared.

Next up with a stunning block was Liam Cooper. He’d already had a fine afternoon, but his charging down of an Arsenal shot when a goal seemed inevitable called to mind Michael Turner at Wembley. It was that good.

Six minutes were ultimately added, mostly down to Zayatte’s injury earlier in the half. It felt perhaps a minute on the lengthy side, particularly as City hadn’t been wasting time anywhere near as much as may have been anticipated.

Arsenal didn’t require all six. In the third of them, a speculative and desperate shot from thirty yards was ineptly parried by Myhill straight back into play, where Bendtner had stolen in and slotted past the City keeper.

Utter agony swept the Circle. The home fans collapsed in dismay, the players crumpled on the turf in misery. Three pointless minutes remained, but there was never a sniff of a comeback. Mr Marriner called a halt to the afternoon, and we filed out dejectedly into the night air rueing what could have been.

The upset was real and keenly felt. City had repelled a side that pulverised Porto in midweek, and done so with ten men. We deserved a point. We really really did…and but for one calamitous moment by the astonishingly underworked Myhill, we’d have got it. He’ll have had a sleepless night dwelling on it.

And for the remainder of the side? Phil Brown should be proud of their efforts. Keeping at bay a passing side of such jaw-dropping brilliance with the captain sent to the stands is an achievement in itself. There’s much that can be taken from this, although results have conspired to mean that three points and a huge goal difference deficit now separate us from safety.

It’s imperative we respond well. A performance of that nature at Portsmouth will ensure victory. Another repeat will see us overcome Fulham the following week. It’s irritating to know that City CAN do it, yet all too often put in their best displays in valiant rearguard actions against the bigger clubs. It’s now Phil Brown’s task to ensure a repeat of yesterday’s display against beatable opposition. If he can do that, we may still survive.

Myhill inexplicably chose to push back into the danger zone a speculative Denilson shot into the path of Nicklas Bendtner, who steered in a simple rebound that got the Gunners out of jail.

City had been down to ten men since first half injury time, when George Boateng received a second yellow (which could have been a straight red) after putting his studs through the knee of Bacary Sagna. The game was already 1-1, with Andrey Arshavin’s shuffle and shot being cancelled out by Jimmy Bullard’s penalty, given when Sol Campbell brought down Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Few wouldn’t have expected an Arsenal cakewalk in the second half but nonetheless the gifted visitors were hassled and closed down by a rampantly committed City side and while they had plenty of possession, they rarely had a shot and certainly got little on target until Denilson’s late effort brought out the worst in Myhill.

City are also waiting on news of a knee injury suffered by Kamil Zayatte, though some heart could be taken from a superb performance in the back four by Liam Cooper as his second half replacement.

The Tigers are three points adrift of safety and have played a game more than some. Next week’s match at Portsmouth is beyond massive, while the forthcoming visits of Fulham, Burnley and Sunderland to the KC will now define the season as a whole. Gallophobic match report to come…

It has been over a month since our last home game, and given our dismal away form (in our last three games we’ve lost at Blackburn, West Ham and Everton) some home comforts will be welcomed. The only thing is, we’re playing arguably the form team in Europe, Arsenal have won their last four games in a row, this week steamrolling over Porto 5-0 to advance to the Champions League quarter finals.

Still, we seem to save our best performances for the ‘big clubs’, take our 1-1 draw against Chelsea and 2-1 win over Manchester City in February. It may take such a performance to save Phil Brown’s job, talk is rife that hammering in this game will make it his last, as City languish 19th in the Premier League.

Being without the talismanic Stephen Hunt wouldn’t help, the Tigers top scorer this term has been having foot trouble and he might miss out if injections don’t have the desired effect. Craig Fagan is back in contention after suspension and Andy Dawson has been declared fit after an asthma attack.

As for the Gunners, Cesc Fabregas is their main concern with a hamstring tweak, whereas the state of Tomas Rosicky’s groin (hur hur!) will be assessed before kick off.

The game is live on ESPN, kick off is at 5.30pm.

In the meantime, enjoy tousled Tiger Jimmy Bullard’s appearance in a new commercial for Wash & Go…

A seriously unimpressed match report will follow, once we’ve gathered our thoughts and calmed down a little. That may take some time…

A trip to Everton is a tricky prospect at the best of times. Without a win away from home in a year, travelling to a side who’ve recent scalps at home have included Manchester United and Chelsea, it’s hard not to feel a sense of foreboding about this.

Not that a trip to Everton is necessarily mission impossible. They’ve had an iffy season so far, lying tenth in the Premier League and nowhere near the top four that must have been their ultimate aim this time out. They’ll also be disappointed with how their UEFA Cup campaign ended recently, a 3-0 defeat at Sporting Lisbon ensuring that this will be a trophyless season for David Moyes’ men. All that remains is the chance to put together a late run in order to qualify once again for Europe.

Oh, to have such problems. City will enter this match in the bottom three, barring defeat for Burnley and a colossal home defeat for Wolves later today. Relegation is a serious danger for the Tigers, and while home form provides cause for optimism, our wretched record on the road simply must be improved upon. Not since Manucho pinched a late late victory at Fulham twelve months ago have we tasted victory outside East Yorkshire, and home form is unlikely keep us up on its own. So without wishing to place excessive demands on a team evidently playing to the best of its ability, we need to start taking points from difficult assignments such as this one.

We’re not helped by the recent injury situation. The luckless Anthony Gardner is out for six weeks, and the worry must be that his season has come to a premature end. Stephen Hunt is a doubt for the game, while Craig Fagan is banned following his red card at West Ham a fortnight ago. The big question is regarding Jimmy Bullard. He’s featured in the reserves and a first-team friendly lately, but is yet to complete a ninety minute game  of any kind since his return to fitness. Will Brown risk him from the start, or hope his charges remain in the game enough to make a later introduction a better approach? Tricky. We suspect a decision won’t be made until tomorrow morning.

Everton have a few worries of their own, inevitable at this time of year. Marouane Fellaini’s elbows will miss out owing to an ankle injury, while Saha and Hibbert will also miss out. They have further concerns over Jagielka, Osman, Senderos, Cahill and Vaughan. It could be a rather depleted side that takes to the field for Moyes’ men.

City memorably won the return League fixture in November, a 3-2 victory that saw the Tigers take a thrilling 3-0 lead only to nearly throw it away in a fraught second half. Whether that provides any meagre inspiration is unclear, though it ought to demonstrate that tomorrow’s opposition are far from unbeatable. There’s little from past meetings to go on: City and Everton have only met 16 times before, with only one of those games being a home defeat for the Merseysiders.

A formidable task awaits the Tigers. However, time’s starting to run out and in order to prevent an awkward situation coming drastically worse we need to start bringing something home with us. Tomorrow would be a very good time to start.

***Tigers fan in Hampshire, Dorset or Isle of Wight?***

Hull City HDi are a supporters group in the southern counties who are hoping to become OSC affiliated when they attract new members. They are meeting up on Sunday to watch the Everton match at a neutral pub, the Roebuck in Marchwood, and all Tiger Nationals in the area are invited.. The pub is trying its hand at making patties and hope  exiled Hullensians and others supportive of the Tiger cause can whip up some atmosphere.  Further details are on the group’s Facebook page Hull City Hampshire Dorset and IOW.

It’s bad, but it could have been worse: City have confirmed that Anthony Gardner will be out of action for at least six weeks after ligament damage was confirmed as the ankle injury he sustained at West Ham.

Ever the optimist, Phil Brown has suggested the player could still be involved at the end of the season, though his lengthy and unfortunate history of injuries may mean we’ve seen the last of him for the 2009/10 campaign. Nonetheless, given his stricken deameanour when being stretchered off at Upton Park thirteen days ago, perhaps we should be thankful that his absence is being measured in weeks rather than months.