Dowie: 'I'll do it My Way'

'My Way' will be Iain Dowie's mantra at Hull - but don't expect him to sing it.

Dowie was unveiled yesterday as Phil Brown's successor and vowed there will be no more half-time team talks on the pitch, crooning to the fans or walks on the Humber Bridge.

The no-nonsense Dowie is in stark contrast to the egotistical Brown and the former Charlton, Crystal Palace and QPR boss has warned the players to be ready for plenty of hard work on the training ground.

"You wouldn't want to hear my voice!" he joked. "I can dance, but I can't sing. I won't be like that.

"Phil should be applauded for the job he did here, but I'll bring my own style and I don't think I'll be involved in things like that.

"I believe in intense training. Clearly we're at the end of the season, so I'm not going to be silly. But the intensity of training is very important to me. You should train as you play. We'll train hard.

"I don't know if I'll take them to the North Sea and tell them to jump in.

"For me it's about controlling the process from Monday morning to Saturday afternoon and you have to be very professional about that."

Dowie, 45, revealed Brown recommended Hull to him when they met at a charity race function at a Manchester restaurant on Tuesday afternoon and says they are good friends.

Ironically, he got the call from Hull chairman Adam Pearson while he was there.

"Phil had a charity do in Manchester," said Dowie, who turned the job down when Brown was appointed three years ago. "I was due to go on it and while I was there, I got the call to meet Adam after covering the Preston game.

"I spent some time with Phil and talked to him. He was very positive about Hull, obviously he was also very disappointed, but very positive about the job he did and rightly so."

Tigers fans are lukewarm about Dowie's appointment after the likes of Mark Hughes, Alan Curbisley and Avram Grant said no and Les Motherby, editor of the Amber Nectar fanzine, claims supporters "won't be shouting from the rooftops".

Dowie has asked the doubters to give him a chance and rejected any suggestion that bringing him in at this critical stage of the season was a risk.

"There has been many a big-name manager who has gone to a club and not been successful," he said. "I believe I know my way around the training ground.

"I don't think I'm a gamble. If you look at my record, it's fairly productive. You look at my record at Oldham and I took them to the play-offs. I got promotion with Crystal Palace and saved Coventry from relegation."

Chairman Adam Pearson, who has appointed Dowie on a short-term contract for the rest of the season along with coaches Steve Wigley and Tim Flowers, claims the former Northern Ireland striker can have the desired impact at the KC.

"I understand fans wanted a big name, but I think Jose Mourinho is happy in Milan," said Pearson. "We weren't looking for a manager with a wow factor or a manager with an ego to look after. We were looking for a manager with a point to prove and Iain is that man."

The only negative for Dowie in taking charge at Hull is that he has had to put his skiing lessons on hold. He and his wife, Debbie, were having sessions on the dry slope in Manchester.

"My wife is delighted I've got this job because now she will probably be the only good skier in our house!" he said.

The chance for him to halt Hull's slide down the slippery slope to the Championship, however, more than makes up for that.

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