The Tigers claimed a dominant second leg win at The Den on Monday night
Ryan Giles, Liam Millar and Regan Slater celebrate at The Den(Image: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Legendary former Hull City boss Phil Brown has praised the way Tigers boss Sergej Jakirovic is dealing with the uncertainty around next weekend’s Championship play-off final.
Jakirovic admitted his surprise at Southampton spying on Middlesbrough’s training session before the first leg of the semi-final last Saturday.
Southampton have since been charged by the EFL with an independent hearing expected before Tuesday to determine what punishment should be handed down to the South Coast outfit.
His City side continues to prepare for the Wembley final next Saturday, with his players back in training after their stunning 2-0 win at Millwall on Monday night.
Brown, who famously led City to the Premier League for the first time in their history in 2008, watched the game from the press box at The Den and was hugely impressed by what he saw from Jakirovic’s Tigers.
“Very similar, very similar (to Jakirovic). It’s probably taken the shine off the EFL, it’s probably taken the shine off the final, but it hasn’t taken the shine off Hull City,” Brown told the 1904 Club podcast.
“If you’re going into that game as a shining example, that’s what it is, it’s a shining example of how to win over two legs, because the second leg was outstanding, having played poorly in the first leg.”
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Southampton could yet be fined, docked points and kicked out of the play-offs completely, with Hull Live reporting on Thursday that the game could yet be moved, which was later confirmed by the EFL.
“I think a way of dealing with it could possibly, if I’m sitting on that panel and it’s independent, I’ve got to be looking at Southampton and seeing how many games have they won, or how many games have they gone ahead in the first 10 or 15 minutes of the game because that is the key moment of when you’ve got your planning and your preparation right.
“If they’ve gone 1-0 up in the first 10, 15 minutes and gone on to win those games, does that accumulate the points total, or the points deduction?
“Does that accumulate the points deduction, or points tally that you’re going to take off them? There’s all sorts of things that you’ve got to understand that can play into a tactical mind of an opposing manager, but also the players.
“But the bottom line is, I think where Sergej’s concerned, he’s said exactly, it’s almost word for word, what I would actually say, and that’s the beauty of what Sergej’s doing.
“He’s got his own team prepared. Doesn’t matter who comes out of the changing room at Wembley, as far as I’m concerned, as long as he knows two or three days before, and that’s all he wants to know.
“Where Sergej is concerned, I would have said exactly the same thing, and I’d be focusing all my attention. Will he be on the training ground with the players at the moment, discussing that kind of issue, or does he ban that kind of talk? All I can say is I can draw a reference to what I watched on Monday night. And I’m drawing reference to a group of players that are focused, that understand the job in hand, and regardless of who you’re playing.
“It doesn’t matter who they’re who they’re playing, cos you know, in them tight situations, anything could happen and systems go out the window, people’s form goes out the window, results before go out the window. All of these things are not even relevant. What’s relevant is the pressure that you’re under, and the ones who can handle it are the ones who will go through.”
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