BROWN IS GUNNED DOWN BY THE MAN IN BLACK
Burnley 2 Hull City 0
PHIL BROWN must have thought the bullet would be coming from the new gunslinger in the directors box.
Little did he know his executioner was dressed in black and armed with no more than a whistle.
But calamity referee Mike Jones looks to have hammered down the final nail in Brown's coffin with a Halloween horror show.
This was the official who shamed himself by allowing Sunderland's bizarre beach ball goal to stand against Liverpool two weeks ago.
He was banished to the Championship for a game and how Brown must have wished he was never called back.
The decision to gift Burnley a penalty and then rule out Geovanni's perfectly good strike, before sending off the Brazilian, leaves new chairman Adam Pearson with an easy decision to make.
Pearson thoughtfully kept the hangman's noose out of sight as he watched from the stands but it's only the postal strike that can delay Brown's P45 from arriving now
His fate was sealed when ricket-prone ref Jones managed to get through just 20 minutes of the game before producing another howler.
Tyrone Mears' stumble in the box was down to the defender tripping over his own toes rather than Stephen Hunt's nudge.
But Jones had no hesitation in awarding a penalty Graham Alexander converted to register his 69th successful spot-kick and his first goal of the game.
The decision was laughable and sadly for Brown the joke was on him.
And on a day when he was battling to save his well tanned hide, the Tigers chief fell victim to another scandalous setback at the hands of Jones.
Geovanni thought he had hauled his side level when he cracked a brilliant free-kick into the top corner.
He was heading off to celebrate with Brown before discovering the ref had disallowed the goal for an imaginary push in the wall.
The little Brazilian did not last much longer as he was shown a second yellow that had Hull's players shaking their heads in disbelief.
In his absence Alexander capped his 900th club game by securing a first win in three matches for Owen Coyle's men.
He was allowed to carry the ball to the edge of the box before smashing a low shot between Matt Duke and the near post to kill off the game.
Andy Dawson then went on to prove the only luck Hull were having was all bad when he pinged the post with a shot from the edge of the area at the death.
Brown took solace in the defeat from his players' desire to fight for the cause, although his claim they are "one million per cent" behind him took a knock when Paul McShane was subbed.
The defender showed his displeasure by first kicking and then throwing water bottles across the dugout in an open act of defiance.
Brown could rightly have reacted in a similar furious manner to some of Jones' ridiculous decisions but it's a run of three wins in 2009 that will be his eventual downfall.
And the karaoke king, who sang his own praises for keeping Hull up last season must deep down realise this fighting effort will be his swansong.
"You don't want excuses, you don't want reasons, you want referees to make big decisions and get them right," said Brown afterwards.
"If he is going home and thinking he has got the major decisions right I beg him to watch Match of the Day and tell me on Monday morning he got them right.
"We should have had a penalty, the free-kick was ruled out and then Geovanni was sent off.
"My situation is my situation and I don't blame anyone but me.
"What went for me was the commitment of the players. I wanted a performance from the players and I got that.
"I can stay calm because I know I have a committed group of players behind me."
This article has 7 comments
Why does no hull fan admit that you were poor all day, the free kick should not have even been given, hunt fell over himself.
By Jay. Posted November 15 2009 at 1:56 PM.
Burnley won 2-0, end of story. Listen to the song from the terraces- Burnley are back!!
By cheryl dunn-grimshaw. Posted November 1 2009 at 7:15 PM.
I believe that Hull City have no option but to sack Phil Brown. Three wins in 2009 say's alot for a manager say's that he is the most successful manager in Hull Cities history. If this is true;then it does not say much for the former Hull City managers. Phil Brown has been given money to buy players.More than any previous Hull City manager has.The table does not lie;Hull City are in the bottom three.They look like a team that has accepted the manager's fate.A New manager will have very little money to spend;and will have Phil Brown's players to work with.Hull City tried in the summer to buy players;but more often than not the player said No to a transfer.Could it be that they could not see themselves getting on with Phil Brown? Or could it be that they did not want to be playing Championship football in a years time.For if they keep Phil Brown as manager of Hull City any longer;Hull City will be playing Championship football next season.His record since the turn of the year has been terrible.The sooner Phil Brown goes the better it will be for Hull City.He has spent money,he has been the manager of Hull City and look at where Hull City are now.The best manager Hull City have had in the club's history.The worse manager Hull City have had in terms of points per game over 20 or so games.Yes the worse manager Hull City have had.All the hard work had been done for him by the previous manager a certain Mr Taylor. Phil Brown will find it hard to get back in to football as a manager because he truly thinks he is that great.I am sorry to tell you Mr Phil Brown that you our not a great manager.Who ever takes over as manager of Hull City will have all their work cut-out keeping Hull City in the Premiership.Hearing how much they are in debt;they have to stay in the Premiership.Phil Brown will fall down on his sword.
By Kingrichard. Posted November 1 2009 at 3:20 PM.
How can you say Burnley could and should have won 4-0, you obviously was not watching the same game as me. Burnley were just as poor as Hull, and the only reason why Burnley got the points was down to poor refereeing.
You can forgive a referee for getting one decision wrong but this ref should not be allowed to officiate a game again. It was an appalling display!
By James. Posted November 1 2009 at 10:39 AM.
what a joke......same ref who allowed the beach ball incident .....goal to stand.....hasnt got a clue...
By maximus. Posted November 1 2009 at 9:47 AM.
How can you say this is harsh on Burnley. Hull were the better team until that clown that gave a penalty that never was, you can clearly see the Burnley player kicked at thin air, that is what made him fall. I agree for the rest of the first half Burnley were the better team but that is only because our heads dropped. Second half we came out fighting and scored a perfectly good goal. Geo was rightly booked for dissent when the goal was dissalowed but if the ref had got this simple decision right, there would have been no need for the booking. For the 2nd yellow, Geo clearly slipped and caught the Burnley player, depending on where the ref was for this one, it could have been easily mistaken as a tackle.
By Colin. Posted November 1 2009 at 8:58 AM.
I think this is a very harsh report on Burnley. Whilst the refs decisions may have been debatable they were certainly giveable and you make no mention of how poor Hull were, especially in the first half. Burnley could and should have won 4-0 at least - bad refs don't excuse bad teams and bad play.
By Jeano. Posted November 1 2009 at 3:07 AM.