Things got even more exciting as January went on. Brown's first game in charge proper saw City hold Premiership side Middlesbrough to a draw in the FA Cup Third Round.
Craig Fagan, City's most impressive performer throughout the season so far and a key part of the three-man frontline, was sold in a £1million deal to Derby. City still managed to win the following game, at home to fellow strugglers QPR, courtesy of two late Stuart Elliott goals.
Middlesbrough knocked City out of the Cup in a thrilling 4-3 replay at the Riverside, before the shock news the following day that former hero Dean Windass had rejoined the Tigers from Bradford. The news was double-edged though, as 'Deano' was joining to replace Nick Barmby, who could miss the rest of the season through injury.
Windass almost scored on his first game back at the club, hitting the post after coming on as a substitute in the 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. The point lifted City to 19th - the highest the club had been all season.
With spirits high, Brown's next game in charge was at home to Leeds in front of the biggest attendance for a Hull City game at the KC Stadium. City surrendered to an embarrassing defeat, before another home defeat to West Brom four days later. Having lost Ryan France to a serious knee injury in that game, Brown made the bold signing of Ray Parlour on a free transfer. Parlour helped City to a draw at Derby on the day that it was announced City had won the Coca-Cola Buy A Player competition, and Brown would have to bare all in City Magazine! That was followed by the 3-0 defeat at Barnsley which saw City, now without a win in five league games, slip back into the relegation zone.
Brown was struggling to get Dean Windass and Jon Parkin to work together, with his once dangerous frontline looking significantly less dynamic after the sale of Craig Fagan and Nick Barmby and Steve McPhee both regularly out through injury.
His decision to drop Parkin to the bench paid off as City ended their winless run with a surprisingly easy 2-0 victory over promotion-chasing Birmingham, both goals coming from Windass.
After defeat at Coventry came perhaps Brown's lowest moment as Hull City manager to date. Ipswich, who hadn't scored a single goal in their previous seven away matches, put an end to that run with a resounding 5-2 win. Brown's decision to drop Michael Turner for the match had dramatically backfired. City were already 4-1 down when Brown withdrew Danny Coles to a chorus of boos from the crowd and it was too late for his replacement Turner to make a difference. The defeat put City back in the bottom three, and fans were questioning his judgement.
He responded by loaning out Jon Parkin to Stoke and signing Ricardo Vaz Te on loan from Bolton. He also had the positive news that Nick Barmby was fit to return.
With Michael Turner reinstated to the side, City beat Preston and followed it with an important win at Luton - Turner scoring the winner.
Brown's side couldn't take anything from Sunderland, but a 4-0 thrashing of Southend at the KC Stadium took City up to 18th and looking safe from relegation. However, just as had happened before, City followed this with another poor run, picking up just two points from the next four games and sitting one point above the relegation zone ahead of the penultimate match of the season at Cardiff. Dean Windass's winner and Leeds' failure to beat Ipswich meant Brown had kept City up.
Defeat to Plymouth on the final day saw City finish 4th from bottom. Brown's 9 wins, 5 draws and 11 defeats resulted in 32 points, just enough to achieve his goal of keeping City in the Championship. He was rewarded with a contract extension, and new chairman Paul Duffen would keep faith with him after taking over the club.
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