IT became the symbol of Hull City's Premier League dream turning sour, the moment when a team punching above its weight became riddled with such self-doubt that relegation was only avoided due to an equally dramatic implosion elsewhere.

At least, that's the subplot to Phil Brown's infamous decision to publicly berate his players on the pitch at half-time during the 5-1 Boxing Day defeat at Manchester City if the Tigers manager's critics are to be believed.

Eleven months on from conducting his team-talk in front of 3,500 bemused Hull supporters, Brown returns to the scene of the alleged 'crime' knowing his actions will be under intense scrutiny. It is why, when asked in the wake of Wednesday night's 3-2 victory over Everton for his thoughts ahead of the trip to Eastlands, he declined to comment for fear of stoking the fire further.

One man who is willing to relive the now infamous events of December 26 last year is the man whose goal at Wembley clinched Hull's promotion to the Premier League, Dean Windass.

The now retired 40-year-old's relations with Brown were distinctly frosty for much of his final season in the game but he insists that those who believe what happened at Eastlands had a demoralising effect on the Tigers are well wide of the mark.

Windass, now working as a reporter for Sky Sports, told the Yorkshire Post: "It was a strange day all round.

"It was the first game I had started in the league all season so I was desperate to do well but, unfortunately, Manchester City were on fire that day and were 4-0 up by half-time.

"George Boateng only lasted 20 minutes or so before being hauled off but, personally, I thought I had done okay. The half-time whistle blew and I was walking off the pitch when I suddenly saw Phil Brown stride out. At first, I just presumed he wanted to have a go at the referee about something.

"But then he said 'come here' to me and the rest of the lads. We must have looked like sheep as we walked towards the end where our fans were sitting.

"Phil sat us all down and started to say a few things but the problem was I couldn't hear a thing he was saying because it was so noisy with our fans chanting. The only comment I properly heard was Phil shouting 'do you lot want to screw me any more?' The rest was a blur.

"I just sat and stared at Phil all the way through, mainly because I was told as a youngster that the best thing to do when you are getting a real telling off is to look whoever is doing it straight in the eye. So, that's what I did."

Brown kept his players on the field for three or four minutes before then sending them back to the relative warmth of the dressing room. The damage, however, had been done with Hull's subsequent collapse in form – they won just once more in the rest of the season – leading many to suggest the dressing room had been 'lost' because of the manager's actions over Christmas.

But Windass, who was substituted during the interval at Eastlands and never played again for his hometown club, insists the critics are well side of the mark.

He said: "The team-talk on the pitch didn't help because it prolonged what was a bad defeat due to everyone outside the club bringing it up for months afterwards. The key for any newly-promoted club is to realise that they will get a hiding from time to time.

"When I was at Bradford, Paul Jewell was very good in getting that point across before we started the season. And then if we suffered a heavy defeat, he would come in afterwards and say 'forget it, and let's move on'.

"But in terms of last season, I don't think what happened at Manchester City made too much difference. Our form had dipped anyway and we were already slipping down the table.

"I kept hearing on the television how team spirit had been ruined by what happened but it wasn't the case.

"Phil was just finding his feet as a Premier League manager and I doubt we will see a repeat at Manchester City this Saturday."