Phil Brown's first game in charge starts OK but once inattentive defending allow Plymouth to score once, there is no way back for these confidence-sapped Tigers.

We did a lot of things better yesterday. The change in manager brought changes in personnel, formation and quality of performance, all of them welcome. We competed well and deserved something out of the game. We never looked like having to suffer the embarrassment of Southampton or the complete meltdown that was Colchester. There was plenty to be encouraged about. But we lost and failed to score, or to create many chances for that matter, against a limited - Plymited - side who have Ian Holloway's fire and brimstone in the tackle, but not his ability on the ball. It's salutary to think how far we have gone back under Parkinson when we are happy with so little. But it was an improvement, and as we have all massaged bruised egos over the past couple of weeks, we perhaps should be grateful for that.

We started out:

Myhill
Ricketts Coles Delaney Dawson
Welsh Ashbee Livermore
Fagan Barmby Elliott

So plenty of tiger-chatting boxes ticked there, from Delaney at the centre of defence, to Dawson at left back, to Welsh in midfield, through to a personal one, the proper Nicky playing up front. And no Michael Turner. And though it looked like as 4-5-1, there did seem to be an effort to make it a genuine 4-3-3, with Fagan and Elliott staying forward, often getting ahead of Barmby to take his collection of These Flicks You Have Loved. Nicky is a little gem, quick of thought and pure of technique, but then you don't need me to tell you that.

We started under pressure but dealt with it well, Coles looking happier than he has done at any point since his return at having someone alongside him who can defend and Damien looking like his best position is the centre of defence. Who would have thought it? Certainly not the previous incumbent. But they were helped out by robust work in front of them from both Livermore and Ashbee.

We got it forward and showed promise. A good Fagan run was ended by a wasteful shot, and an Elliott run was halted at the expense of a corner. That was good, but we could have done with more. Our defenders had perhaps been told not to dwell on the ball - understandable really, as at times this season we have not looked so much like we are dwelling on it as instructing a solicitor to perform the searches whilst we fill in the forms necessary to take out a mortgage - but the downside of this was that sometimes we still played as though pining for Parkin, long balls hit over the top of our front players instead of into the channels for Elliott and Fagan to run on to. The result of this was that they got the ball too often and we were reminded why Ricketts doesn’t always play right back as Sylvan Ebans-Blake, young, quick, skilful and exotically named, left him in his slip stream and got over a cross that we were grateful to bundle away. Scenting blood the young Argy tried Ricketts with a nutmeg, did him again, and Myhill blocked the shot-cum-centre at the near post at the expense of a corner.

Just as we were sucking our teeth and giving Ricketts the benefit of a few old fashioned looks he reminded us of his virtues, a fine ball allowing Fagan to cross for Elliott to rise well and head strongly, but just wide. And that was really as close as we got before the interval. Ex-Fulham bruiser Barry Hayles was well-marshalled by Coles for much of the afternoon, but did get in one decent effort, but the game seemed to lose a bit of focus after a lengthy stoppage for an injury to Devonian skipper Paul Wotton who seemed to fall awkwardly, but badly enough to be stretchered off.

I missed last years outing, so this was my first look at the redeveloped Home Park. It’s alright, I suppose, three modern curvy sides, clear views, but a bit soulless – it certainly seems to have tamed the local fans as the Plymouth sound was mainly the Plymouth silence for much of the game. I miss the big open away standing end, but they have at the moment still got the lovely old stand to the left as we looked at it, crush-barriered standing on the lower level, seats higher up, proper football watching. I suppose it’ll get swept away in due course, but it’ll be missed at least from here. What they have got is modern officious strewarding – did it really make it so much safer moving us about 6 feet from the pre-pubescent part of the Plympies? – and a refreshment bar which they shut up until half time. No scoreboard either. It all looks a bit Subbuteo to me, but then I’m used to better.

We started the second half brightly, Fagan found Elliott who barged and scrapped before eventually nodding through to Nicky who stretched but couldn’t quite get it. He didn’t get the corner, either, the first of a series of mystifying decisions made by the incompetent linesman and the fussy referee. Later he was nearly put through by Livermore, but the pass was slightly over hit. Nicky got neither ball nor keeper but you wouldn’t have known it from the way McCormick rolled around dramatically whilst pulling some alarming faces. Once he saw he wasn’t going to get a free kick he leaped up to take his goal kick. Soft get.

But we were starting to get stretched out. Delaney made a fine tackle on Ebans-Blake as the lad had the trigger cocked. Coles executed an excellent block on a shot from Hayles. But the Plymsters did open us up and a close-range shot was excellently stopped by a fine Myhill reflex save. Custodian of the leather! I apologise for describing a moment that prevented a certain goal as it was, after all, only shot stopping, not something more dramatic such as holding the ball in one hand whilst waving your fullbacks up the field wit the other before kicking the ball, as goal keepers have to do. And I have to concede that had we sold him for £1.5M and then bought another keeper for £1.5M that keeper might have made the same save. Apparently that is called A Good Bit of Business. I feel I should say too that, though Bo caught the crosses flawlessly all afternoon, I have no answer to the argument that hundreds of young American goal keepers would have done just as well and, as is the way of the USA, would not really have wanted paying much for doing it. You know, I’ve read some shit on here this past week. You folks keep it up now!

It didn’t last, as the Argies demonstrated that our policy of ‘They shall not pass’ was flawed in its physical as well as its grammatical construction. Deep in their half Elliott won a good header, knocking it back for… well, not really for anyone, as unaccountably we watched it run on to one of theirs who advanced with menace. We collared and robbed him at the expense of a throw in our half and the pain was only just beginning. They found Ebans- Blake, but there didn’t look any real danger for, rather like Adi Akinbiyi at Burnley a year ago, he had his back to goal and Delaney behind him. Ah, you’re ahead of me, aren’t you? And you’re right. Damien stood off, Ebans-Blake took advantage and turned swiftly, Delaney realized the danger too late, couldn’t get a block in, and the shot flashed low into the net. 1-0, and the air was rent with high pitched squawking from junior Plyms, accompanied by much waving of wanker signs. They grow up so fast these days, don’t they?

We weren’t done. Ricketts crossed but Elliott couldn’t get enough jump to power the back post header. Barmby chased their defence into a panic and McCormick, adding another term to our goal-keeping lexicon, proved that he was a Good Backpass Stopper. The manager changed it around, taking off Livermore and Elliott (who looked distinctly underwhelmed by this) and bringing on France and Marney, with Fagan joining Nicky for a 4-4-2. We didn’t try this for long, withdrawing Ricketts for…..drum roll….Stephen Whohe?, sorry, McPhee. We looked at each other in alarm. Surely McPhee was still 2 weeks from full fitness, as he had been since bonfire night 2005? Wouldn’t it be better to allow him to sit on the bench and resolutely not bring him on to aid a toothless attack whilst we were getting destroyed at the other end, the shrewd policy of the previous manager over the past 2 games? But on he came, and immediately looked well up for it, bouncing off their central defenders and generally looking like he wanted to make up for lost time. He nearly won it, too, a flashing near post drive being flapped away for a corner by McCormick. From the corner Marney cleverly stepped inside and wrong footed his marker, and then witlessly screwed a weak shot well wide of the near post. It pretty much defined his season, and it was pretty much our last effort.

A nice moment at the end; Barmby got some abuse from their fans nearest to us after the final whistle, presumably because, in a town that likes its premiership football, he was the only player of ours they had heard of. Ashbee came over to him, and they both made a big deal of pointing at us and applauding us ostentatiously, in a fairly clear ‘That’s what you call REAL support’ gesture. And they were right to do it. There were around 500 of us, we were looking at a 350 mile journey home, we’d lost, and we were applauding them off. Good for us, and nice to see that, at least in certain quarters, it was appreciated.

So, better, probably deserving of a point, but the attack couldn’t score a goal and the defence couldn’t keep a clean sheet. We probably need 4 points from Cardiff and Leeds between them if we aren’t to get cut hopelessly adrift. It’s doable, but we’ve got a lot of improving still to do.

HULL CITY (4-3-3): Myhill; Ricketts, Coles, Delaney, Dawson; Welsh, Ashbee, Livermore;; Fagan, Barmby, Elliott.  Subs: Marney (for Livermore, 75), France (for Elliott, 75), McPhee (for Ricketts, 83), Turner, Duke.

Goals: None

Booked: Coles

Sent Off: None

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE: McCormick, Seip, Doumbe, Sawyer, Capaldi, Summerfield, Wotton, Nalis, Djordjic, Hayles, Ebanks-Blake.  Gosling (for Wotton, 36), Buzsaky (for Djordjic, 52), Samba (for Ebanks-Blake, 83), Larrieu, Reid.

Goals: Ebanks-Blake 71

Booked: Seip

Sent Off: None

REFEREE:  L Probert

ATTENDANCE: 12,101