Jaffa, that link worked fine....persistent little buggers, these journalists, eh?
That wasn't the half of it, that clip wasn't actually the full press conference. The 'next question' also referred to Duffen, a clearly irritated Brown remarked that he wouldn't be playing on Saturday.
I don't know, as a neutral I can't help but feel sorry for PB. He did take the team into the Premiership, had a successful first season (kept them up) and had a few great results in the process. Perhaps he's a victim of his limited (for lack of a better word) success or is it the notorious Second Season Syndrome? I'm not sure but I can shake the feeling that he's getting the short end of the stick.. Please enlighten me Jaffa.
It's a tough one.
What you have to remember is despite the poor form this year Phil Brown is arguably the best manager in our history, and to date he has done everything asked of him, and more. He was installed as caretaker manager to keep us in the Championship during the 2006-07 season, and successfully steered us away from relegation. He then said and was mocked for saying that it was his aim to get us in the Premier League within three seasons. He did it in one, in the process taking us to our joint highest ever league finish and our first ever trip to Wembley.
Our aim for last season was simple keep us up, something every pundit told us was impossible. Some even doubted we would win a game. But he defied the odds and despite the sorry form of the second half of last season kept us in the Premier League, and while he was at it took us further in the FA Cup than we'd been in over 30 years.
My point is that when we consider Phil Brown we have to remember that he's achieved things at Hull City that many other managers have failed to do, including several with much bigger reputations and much more experience. In the process, he's also managed to really upset the likes of Piers Morgan and Ian 'Wrighty' Wright so that's a big plus in his favour.
However, the problem for me is what's been going on both on and off the pitch. Our play has become increasingly negative as Brown's selections and substitutions have become increasingly strange. It's said that he's fallen out with a number of players, and that morale at the training ground is very low indeed. His public comments on some of the playing staff and on other matters have been ill advised and don't reflect well on either him or the club. His handling of the media in particular in recent months have swung between the inept and the childish, and as previously discussed they need little encouragement to have a pop at Brown, the club or in some instances the city itself.
How much his hands have been tied by our financial situation is anyone's guess I'm pretty certain he wouldn't have wanted Turner sold unless there was genuine need, for example but it's clear things aren't right. I'm not one of the folk who's leapt on the 'Brown out' bandwagon by any means, but as I said at the start of the month I thought October was the month in which we'd see if Phil Brown was the man to take us forward. To be honest, even before our final game of the month I've not seen a huge deal to suggest that he is. I think that the time may have come when a new manager with fresh ideas is needed, but I take no pleasure in saying that. Football is a remarkably unsentimental business and sometimes harsh decisions have to be made. Brown has done remarkably well with us, but that hard work is in serious danger of being unravelled.
