A tremendous turn-around four days after a poor Boxing Day showing, as imperious Tigers swot aside a top-six Burnley side with some ease.

A break can be a good thing and I’ve just had a mini-break from City-watching over the festive period, missing the glory of Cardiff, the grim toil of Thewhiteshite and the gloom of Leicester. So I had listened and read, and wondered what I’d make of the Brown regime a few games in. Well, it might be OK. Really, it just might. Yesterday was a hugely encouraging dismantling of a side that had been far too good for us only a couple of months ago. We’re certainly not the finished article - the forwards missed a hatful of chances, the midfield was so good that you wondered why they only seem able to play when the mood takes them and the defence will be troubled by clever, quick forwards who were certainly not brought along by yesterday’s visitors – but yesterday was a treat and it was good to see so many Brown Tigers desperate for the ball and using it properly.

We started thus:

Myhill
France Turner Delaney Dawson
Marney Ashbee Livermore
Barmby
Fagan Parkin

Or something like that anyway. Barmby was forward enough much of the time to be reckoned a genuine third forward, he dropped deep enough to bolster the midfield and he also worked his magic just behind the front two. It was a hugely impressive and mobile display from a player who is not in the first flush and was fresh back from injury. Parkinson said he wanted us fast and mobile, Brown is actually picking the player who most embodies this and whom Parkinson ignored. The stupid pillock. Barmby’s performance epitomised the exciting fluidity of yesterday’s Brownian motion. You do wonder if Nicky can keep doing all this. Perhaps there’s a case for just playing him at home, bringing him out to impress the guests, like a fine bone china tea set.

Mrs Cotterill:“I say, is that a genuine Barmby you’ve got there?” Mrs Brown: “Oh yes, it’s been back in the family for some years now.” Mrs C: “Well I must say, it looks beautiful in this setting.” Mrs B: “I’m glad you think so, and it’s still astonishingly useful. We really wouldn’t be without it. Would you like some more Parkin?” Mrs C (shuddering): “Thank you, no. Frankly, I feel completely stuffed.”

And, do you know, that’s just what they were.

It didn’t take long for us to get going. After we swapped corners with them, Myhill holding theirs well, Parkin heading ours over, we scored a little gem of a goal. Barmby did what he does better than anyone else in this division, seeing the pass and making it first time, on the turn, and perfectly weighted for Fagan to run onto in the left channel. Fagan did well, twisted and turned his man, and measured the pullback perfectly for Marney to line it up and sidefoot home precisely.. He was helped by the Burnley defence standing off politely in a most unlikely fashion for a side managed by ruffian Steve Cotterill, but it was a pretty goal nonetheless and we were up after 2 minutes. And we kept going. Barmby and Marney ranged forward, back and across, Parkin and Fagan dragged defenders far and wide, France and Dawson got forward to add to the mayhem and Burnley didn’t seem to know what had hit them. On 25 minutes it bore fruit, Parkin played in Barmby, Tricky Nicky turned like a flywheel, his marker Harley turned like a bus and quickly bear-hugged our boy as the only likely way of stopping him. It worked, but it was also a stone wall penalty that Burnley accepted without protest. Craig Fagan grabbed the ball with air of a man who wasn’t going to let a kind gesture to a colleague deny him this time and slid it home. 2-0, and Burnley were deep in the Brown stuff.

It nearly got worse for them a minute later as centre back Duff did a comedy step on the ball and fall over routine to duff it to Fagan who charged through and squared for the supporting Barmby who slightly over ran it and didn’t get in a shot. Burnley boss Cotterill had clearly had enough at this point, and made 2 substitutions after half an hour, never a sign that the day is going swimmingly well. And it didn’t much alter matters, as the visitors chose mainly to hoof the ball towards Gifton Noel-Williams. Now if you remember Williams as a lightening footed Watford Wunderkind, well so do I, and you would be surprised, as was I, to see the lumbering figure he has, er, blossomed into. Maybe if a man spends too much time with his back to goal with centre-halves digging their elbows into the top of his head and sticking their knees up his arse it changes that man’s physical as well as his mental outlook, as he is now certainly what David Lloyd (the nice cricketing one, not the horrible tennis one) would call A Big Unit. Or a fat Gift.

But apart from taking time to circumnavigate, Noel-Williams did nothing much else to hold us up as the defence, bolstered when needed by Barmby and Marney putting in defensive stints to match their creative efforts, dealt with it all comfortably. They had time to enjoy themselves too, another peach of flick from Nicky played in Dawson who struck refulgently first time but straight at keeper Jensen. Nicky then decided to play another killer ball for Fagan, who got beyond the hopeless Duff, and the duffer was left with no real option but to pull Fagan down. The faithful howled for a red card but the referee produced yellow, fair enough I thought as he was a distance from goal and others may well have got back, but there was a strong school of thought that Coles had been given first use of the showers for the same offence on Boxing Day. The free kick was, wonder of wonders, whipped over dangerously but just ran away from the Nickster. More drool-worthy interpassing from Nicky to Marney to Fagan to Parkin was halted with a panicky clearance for a corner and from it Turner headed over. And that was half time and that had been great.

Second half, and Burnley came out presumably after an almighty bollocking from Cotterill and came at us hard. None more so than final substitute Alan Mahon, ex Tranmere, Blackburn and Wigan and with that sort of pedigree clearly nursing a grudge over the hand that life has dealt him. Presumably he also came out with the whispered words of Cotterill in his shell-like, “see those quick, clever ones, spraying those nice passes around, Barmby and Marney, well you go and kick them, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” The dour East Lancastrians put us under some early pressure but apart from a characteristic (though in fairness rare on the day) blunder from Turner that allowed a cross and shot that needed to be well saved by Myhill, there was nothing to frighten the horses.

Understandably we drew in our horns, but always sought to get forward quickly on the break. Parkin’s flick should have been tidied up by Duff, but Fagan calmly put the big defender on his arse before turning and having Jensen save well. Duff didn’t look as though his afternoon was improving hugely, and seemed to be sharing this with Fagan who put his face close up, presumably to commiserate. With Mahon dutifully kicking anything Tiger-hued in front of him, it was all getting a bit tasty. We kept playing football, too, as a long range and perfectly weighted ball from Ashbee – not a phrase you write every day – found the overlapping Dawson who skipped past his man and crossed perfectly for Parkin whose first time shot we were already acclaiming, but too soon, as Jensen had made his best save yet from very close range. Lancashire is, as is well known, the home of comedy, and the Burnley defence were masters of the gift of laughter yesterday, having us rolling in the aisles once more with a backpass that obligingly let in Fagan who was presumably too weak from holding his sides to take advantage. The Burnsters marched forward grimly again, Delaney under pressure miss hit a clearance and fullback Thomas volleyed well but just over. It was now a cracking game, Burnley trying to drive us back, out forwards keeping them constantly stretched, your correspondent rather desperately trying to keep up with it all. Another sweet, sweet move involving Fagan, Parkin, Livermore and Marney broke down with a hoofed clearance that Nicky tidied up, bundling Mahon over in the process. Evil referee Graham Laws of Whitley Bay and Hednesford United Cup Travesty Infamy gave a freekick, which was perhaps fair enough, but as Mahon rolled around, then booked the Nickster, which was not. Nicky expressed himself of this view to both official and opponent over the next few minutes and was withdrawn by Brown to a quite rapturous and fully deserved ovation, not before issuing death threats of a clear ‘see you in the changing rooms after, son’ nature to Mahon in front of a swooning East Stand. We loved Nicky so much at that moment he could have done anything to us. Anything.

Laws’ flouting of the laws began to backfire, as Marney was crunched by another ugly challenge and leapt enraged to his feet and charged at the perpetrator, serious violence only being prevented by peacemaker Ashbee – not a phrase you write every day, either - but still got a booking, presumably for pulling a very frightening face. In amongst this, we were trying to score some more goals. Marney broke well on the right, pulled back the cross perfectly for Fagan whose fist time shot hit the underside of the bar and bounced clear with keeper Jensen motionless. Forster, on for Barmby in a like-for-like Nicky substitution was put through one on one with Jensen who yet again saved well. From the corner Turner got a free header but couldn’t quite direct it goalwards. Forster was put through again one on one, and this time made a complete hash of it, running the ball out of play, probably just about the time that Darryl Duffy was scoring yet again for Hartlepool. I think Duffy is worth another Brown study and that Forster should just be Browned off.

We had time to up our Nicky quotient for the day still further as Featherstone of that ilk made a late entry for his debut, which was nice, as was the stonking, Barmby-rivalling hand that the replaced Fagan received after another excellent afternoon. We even had time to admire a fantastic save from Myhill from a loopily deflected shot, acrobatically pushed over. Just a shot stopper, you see, as, strangely, enough no-one said at the time. Custodian of the leather!

Hugely satisfying fare, topped off by defeats for Barnsley and Leeds and the prospect of being out of the bottom three at the start of the New Year. If we win. And if Barnsley don’t. And if we keep doing what we did this day. A lot of ifs, then, but no reason why we can’t kick some more butts.

HULL CITY (4-3-1-2): Myhill; France, Turner, Delaney, Dawson; Marney, Ashbee, Livermore; France; Fagan, Parkin.  Subs: Forster (for Barmby, 75), Elliott (for Parkin, 79), Featherstone (for Fagan, 89), Ricketts, Duke.

Goals: Marney 6; Fagan 23 (pen)

Booked: Barmby, Delaney, Marney

Sent Off: None

BURNLEY: Jensen, Thomas, Duff, Foster, Harley, Elliott, J O'Connor, McCann, Jones, Hyde, Noel-Williams.  Subs: McGreal (for Foster, 30), Lafferty (for J O'Connor, 30), Mahon (for McCann, 46), G O'Connor, Branch.

Goals: None

Booked: Duff, Elliott, Thomas

Sent Off: None

REFEREE:  G Laws

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