It’s a brutal game, says Tigers’ boss
Mar 13 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
Massive is one of the most over-used superlatives in football, but there are few better ways to describe Saturday’s showdown between two sides crippled by the fear of relegation.
A hat-trick for Brown and his Hull side would take a massive step towards safety, but if Newcastle win, the Magpies will not only move away from immediate danger, they will drag Hull right back into the scrap.
“It’s going to be some game on Saturday, that’s for sure,” admitted Brown. “I don’t think Newcastle expected to be where they are in the table at the start of the season.
“But they are down there and they are fighting for their lives like everyone else. This is a must-win game for them, it’s a must-not-lose one for us.
“I’m not sure they were prepared for the sort of season they have had, I don’t think anyone thought they would be below Hull City in the table, but they are, so that’s that.
“Whether that gives us a psychological advantage, I’m not sure. I’d have taken both your arms off if you had offered me this position with 10 games to go. We were expected to be the whipping boys, but we’re 13th or 14th in the table and survival is in our own hands.
“I would have accepted that seven months ago. If we beat Newcastle, we’ll be up to eighth or ninth and that would be fantastic.”
Hull enjoyed a dream start to life in the top flight, beating Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, as well as Newcastle at St James’s Park and Tottenham at White Hart Lane.
Brown has enjoyed the limelight which has come with an unlikely success story and the 49-year-old, who began his playing career with Red Duster in the South Shields Business Houses League before spells at Hartlepool United, Halifax Town and Bolton, is not short on confidence.
Despite lasting just seven months in his first manager’s job at Derby County, having worked under Sam Allardyce’s large backroom team at Bolton, Brown is adamant he knew he was going to be a success.
He added: “We had a great run at the start of the season and, although things have been tougher in the second half, I think we have won a lot of plaudits for the way we have approached things in the Premier League, and rightly so.
“I always knew I was cut out for management. Even in the dark days at Derby, I knew I was a good manager. Sam Allardyce knew I was a good manager when we were at Bolton. I always had that belief in myself.”
But who does he support? “I’m not going to say before Saturday,” he laughs. “Ask me again after the game and I’ll tell you.”
