Hull City legend Nick Barmby on why every club needs someone like Andy Dawson

Andy Dawson – Barmby's old team-mate and his manager when he was on Scunthorpe United’s coaching staff – has taken over as Tigers caretaker for Saturday's Championship trip to Middlesbrough following the sacking of Tim Walter.

He did the job for seven games between the sacking of Shota Arveladze in October 2022 and the appointment of Liam Rosenior.

The 46-year-old was born in Northallerton and came through Nottingham Forest's academy but made over 300 appearances in amber-and-black across all four divisions before returning to Hull as a coach in 2019.

It means he has the seal of approval from Hull-born Barmby when it comes to understanding the club. That the players have access to that knowledge is important, says Barmby, who served as mascot, ballboy, player, coach and manager at the club.

"You speak to any fan across the country and they want players who play for their club to know the history of it, it's very important whether that's in the Premier League or even the National Leagues," said Barmby at the launch of a free pop-up museum exhibition on the history of the 120 year-old club which is running in the city's central library until June. "There's always someone at the club, a historian or whatever, who can talk about it.

"Daws is not from Hull but he knows the people and I would guess there's people like that at clubs the length and breadth of the country.

"You need someone who gets the public, gets the fans, and the young players can benefit from asking questions and getting advice, which Daws has always given."

Not "getting" the fans was one of Walter's big faults in an 18-game spell where he played a style of football they did not appreciate, criticised them in public and as terrace complaints became more vocal, increasingly refused to acknowledge them after games – a big no-no in English football.

But Barmby, who had a spell at Middlesbrough in 1995-96, says Turkish chairman Acun Ilicali does understand the fans.

"I've always supported Hull City and I come with my son now," said Barmby, speaking before Walter's dismissal. "I enjoy it and we debrief in the pub like every other fan afterwards – good or bad, discussing every refereeing decision like a fan.

"Any day off throughout my career or if Hull City were down in London (when he played for Tottenham Hotspur) I'd try and watch them. It's always been an important part of my life. It's in my veins.

"Since the chairman's come in he's really big on things like this (museum exhibit) and he's really galvanised the fans. Hopefully he can get a bit of success from the pitch.

"When (supporter liaison officer) Brendon Smurthwaite was first at the club – he's back now – with (chief operating officer) Joe Clutterbrook coming in, they're Hull lads so they get it.

"Fraizer Campbell was at the Sheffield Wednesday game and Michael Turner's been down. It's important because these players have had big histories with Hull City.

"The club have done really well in that respect."

There are quite a few players not from Hull who played for the club and stayed in the area so we seem to be doing something right. We get a little bit of a bad reputation, I don't know why, about it being dull in Hull

but a lot of ex-players tend to stay, which is great."

See Saturday’s Yorkshire Post for Dawson on what he has learnt from the Hull managers he played under.