Hull place faith in Barmby’s ‘insider’ knowledge

The 37-year-old will today be officially unveiled to the media at the KC Stadium ahead of this weekend’s managerial bow at Derby County.

Barmby has technically been appointed as Hull’s caretaker manager but, in truth, the club see the appointment as a long-term one designed to build on the foundations laid by the former England international’s predecessor in the role.

Hull are one point adrift of the play-offs but have a game in hand on all eight sides above them in the Championship table.

It is a hugely promising position and one that the Hull board are determined not to squander, as director of football operations Pearson explained to the Yorkshire Post last night.

He said: “We need continuity and that is the good thing about Nick agreeing to take over in a caretaker capacity as he knows the club inside-out and the players know him.

“He also has the respect of all those players and the board, who feel he is the ideal man to lead Hull City forward.

“It has not been an easy couple of weeks. There is a lot of disappointment within the club that Nigel chose to leave but he did and we have now moved on.”

Barmby, the first Hull-born manager of the Tigers, has been busy over the past 48 hours looking to bring in an assistant manager, Pearson having taken both Craig Shakespeare and Steve Walsh to Leicester to join his new coaching staff.

Adam Pearson added: “We have lost a lot of experience in the last couple of weeks. It has been a major bone of contention, especially as now we have to completely rebuild.

“Nick will bring in an assistant and we will try to do that within the week. It is our intention to make sure the coaching team is rooted in Hull.”

On the challenge that lays ahead for Barmby, Pearson added: “We will give Nick all the time and support that we can to establish himself in the job.

“Nick is a unique individual in that he has always lived in Hull. This has always been his club and everyone knows that. In fact, it was a concern of Nick’s when we started talking about him becoming manager as he wants to be involved in Hull City for the rest of his career. He doesn’t want anything to harm that.”