Another crazy few days in the world of Hull City passes. Friday saw a spate of rumours about on the future of Phil Brown, and the odds on him being the next Premier League manager we drastically shortened.

Then came a terrific performance against one of the best clubs in Europe, with the players certainly playing for the manager, before Brown was put on gardening leave on Monday morning. Wednesday saw the appointment of Iain Dowie, an appointment that has already been derided by much of the City support.

What a whirlwind of emotions. First, sadness for Brownie, whose achievements as manager will never be forgotten. Many claim he’s our greatest ever manager, and while I wouldn’t go that far, I’ll always be thankful for the fantastic times Brown brought to the KC, three fabulous seasons and that day at Wembley.

Then, confusion. Pearson must have lined up a good manager to sack Brown with nine games to go, right? Err, no. The chairman suggested he wasn’t being underhand, and stab Brown in the back. In sacking a manager at this stage, it seems imperative to have a replacement lined up immediately. Pearson didn’t, only having a shortlist of names, of which Dowie was selected (after more appealing candidates rejected the job).

Now, where do we go? The decision has now been made. For what it’s worth, I only think dropping Brown would be worthwhile if we had a better manager ready to step in. In my opinion, we haven’t. The players showed on Saturday that they were still playing for the manager.

Pearson has stated that he thought we were definitely going down with Brown at the helm. I’m not so sure. We have some very winnable home games on the horizon. The points are there to be won, and performances like the Arsenal game would have been enough to secure them.

Then again, looking from the other point of view, the stats don’t lie. Had we carried on with the same points haul, we’d be relegated. Brown can’t have any complaints. His sacking is justified in some ways, but, and this is the major point for me, the timing is bizarre.

Pearson should have made the move before January in order to give the new man time to build a side. Now, Dowie must come in and magic better results with the same players, players he doesn’t know and can only have seen play a handful of times. It smacks of a panic move to me.

Dowie’s appointment has already received derision from a section of City fans, which is ridiculous. He has a chequered record, but it was only two years ago he was seen as the best young manager in the country. His spells at Oldham and Crystal Palace were magnificent, but more recently he has been less impressive, particularly in spells with Coventry, where I was very surprised to see him sacked within a year.

Dowie is definitely the right sort of manager in my opinion, if not the most impressive name. We need a motivator, a leader, and a talker, someone to shake things up and get the players pulling together. He might just instil the desire and togetherness we need to survive the division. As Pearson has stated, he could well organise the leaky defence which is definitely City’s greatest weakness. I can see Dowie generating the momentum to pull this off, but I certain Brown could have. Good look Iain, you’re going to need it.

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There’s a few questions this week that I haven’t answered above. Here goes...

Brad asked…
When might the Aston Villa fixture be rescheduled?
It’s not been decided yet, but I’m sure it will be sorted soon. I’d guess it’ll be in mid April.

When is Stephen Hunt expected to return?
Hunt’s been struggling with a foot injury, and has been taking pain injections to get through games. He should be fit by Saturday, but whether he’ll go back into the team is up to Iain Dowie.

Geo wasn't even in the squad on Saturday. What's up with him?
It’s difficult to say, but he’s been out with injury for a bit. He made the bench at Goodison Park, so I assume is now fit to play. If he’d fallen out with Brown then that problem should be solved now. Maybe Geo’s form will pick up now the weather’s getting a bit warmer. Fingers crossed because an on-form, confident Geo would be a massive boost at this point of the season.

Philmatt24 asked…
Is the shake-up going to spark the players to find a way to stay up? Or is it going to create more turmoil at a time when they won't have time to recover?
Only time will tell. As I said above, he’s the right kind of manager to make an impact in my view. Every managerial appointment is a gamble, but that is multiplied when the new man is thrown in with nine games to go. The decision should have been made at Christmas if it was going to be made, but it has now. It is what it is, but I don’t envy Dowie, who is taking on a huge job at a difficult time. Pearson is gambling that a new manager can bring some impetus and a couple of good results, which might be enough to keep us up. It’s a calculated risk. For me it’s the wrong move, and I think we’ll go down. Hopefully I’m wrong (It won’t be the first time and I’d be delighted if that’s the case)