Brown makes exhibition of 'unacceptable' Hull

Phil Brown revealed he kept his Hull side on the pitch at half-time as a message to the fans after their first-half horror show against Manchester City.

The Tigers have won many friends with their impressive start to their maiden top-flight season but it all went horribly wrong at Eastlands yesterday as a City side short on confidence rattled in four goals in the first 36 minutes.

When the half-time whistle blew, Brown marched his players to the away end, sat them down and gave them a dressing down.

The Hull boss said: “I thought it was nice and cold and I thought I would keep the boys alive because they looked as if they were dead.

“Let’s not read too much into it but I think 3,500-4,000 travelling fans deserved some kind of explanation for the first-half performance and it was difficult for me to do that from the confines of a changing room.”

Felipe Caicedo and Robinho scored a brace each before half-time and Stephen Ireland, who starred in City’s midfield, netted the home side’s fifth.