Source: SKY_Sports
Duffen defence baffles Brown
Hull City boss Phil Brown has admitted he was surprised to learn that chairman Paul Duffen had been forced to publicly back him earlier this week.[LNB] Duffen hit out at the small number of supporters who have criticised Brown following a poor run of results, saying it was 'shocking' that they had forgotten how well the club is still doing.[LNB]Brown appreciates Duffen's support but concedes that the whole episode has left him bemused.[LNB]"I was surprised and quite shocked from what I saw this morning, why I was being defended so much," Brown said. [LNB]"Maybe I haven't got my ear to the ground as much as I thought I had.[LNB]"Criticism is part and parcel of the game and it goes hand in hand with managing any football team, regardless of whether you are Premier League or lower division.[LNB]"It maybe makes more of an issue of it but I don't know, because I have not heard the comments that he is for some reason backing me for."[LNB]The Tigers had lost six matches in succession before holding West Brom to a 2-2 draw last weekend but they remain in a mid-table position.[LNB]Brown accepts that recent results have been poor but he is prepared to handle any criticism that comes his way.[LNB]He added: "I like to fight my own fights, put it that way."[LNB]No windowBrown brought in Jimmy Bullard, Kevin Kilbane and Manucho in January but had wanted to sign two more faces before Monday's deadline.[LNB]He is opposed to the idea of a winter transfer window, saying: "We were hoping for one or two but the reason is not where Hull City is in the Premier League, the stature of the football club or the stature of the players - it is the transfer window that was standing in our way," [LNB]"It was just ridiculous what happened on Sunday and Monday but as far as we were concerned we weren't going to be held to ransom by players, agents, money whatever.[LNB]"Unfortunately if one or two are disappointed supporter-wise, that is the way it is.[LNB]"For me, having a transfer window is a waste of time. It wastes energy, it saps you.[LNB]"As far as I am concerned they should open the window in summer and close it in summer, then get on with whatever squad you have got.[LNB]"The transfer window is a money-making venture for non-footballing people."[LNB]
