Barmby’s comments on transfer plans cost him his job as Hull City manager

The stunning turn of events followed a meeting between the former England international and the Tigers’ board. The Yorkshire Post also understands the future of Adam Pearson, Hull’s director of football operations, is in major doubt.

Hull officials are remaining tight-lipped with a spokesman for the owners, Assem and Ehab Allam, releasing a statement that read simply: “We are aware of the press speculation and we are not in a position to make any comment.”

However, it is believed Barmby was suspended after a disagreement with the club hierarchy over transfer policy.

The Allams are understood to be reluctant to plough further funds in after spending £51m to keep the club alive following their takeover from Russell Bartlett in December 2010.

Instead, the board want Hull to be self-sufficient in the transfer market – a point underlined last month when Pearson used his programme notes to explain that any recruitment during the summer was likely to be restricted to Bosman free transfers.

The owners are unhappy with comments made by their manager to the media recently about the need for the club to provide funds in the summer or risk a repeat of this season when his side finished eighth to just miss out on the Championship play-offs.

Barmby wanted to make several signings with a deal to turn Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone’s loan move into a permanent switch a priority along with the bolstering of an attacking unit that netted just 47 goals in 46 league games.

Just where the Tigers go from here remained unclear last night in the absence of any clarification from the club.

But it seems highly unlikely that Barmby will be returning to his hometown team while the Allams remain in charge.

That will mean the end of an eight-year spell with the Tigers, whom he joined in the summer of 2004 on a free transfer from Leeds United.

The former England international’s impending exit will, no doubt, spark a scramble to fill the vacancy with former Sheffield Wednesday manager Gary Megson among the first names likely to be linked along with Lee Clark, who was sacked by Huddersfield Town in February.

Barmby’s public call for investment in the team, made on the eve of Hull’s trip to Watford on April 14, did not go down well with the board, whose immediate response was to issue a curt statement that stressed no discussions would take place until the final four games of the season were out of the way.

Following that statement, Barmby’s own comments had been noticeably less forceful both before and after recent games.

However, after Saturday’s final-day defeat at West Ham United, the Tigers’ manager repeated his call to invest in the squad.

He said: “It has been well documented but it is a massive week for us. We will sit down with the owners and discuss our budget but momentum is everything. You can’t stand still at any time if you want to do well.

“We know we have got the basis of an exciting team but we have got to keep it going now. We all want the same goal, for Hull City to be successful.

“I genuinely believe that we can be one of the teams that can be right up there next season.”

Barmby took charge of Hull, initially on a temporary basis, in the wake of Nigel Pearson’s return to Leicester City.

After keeping the Tigers in the play-off places with five wins from his first seven games, the 37-year-old accepted the offer to take charge on a permanent basis after receiving reassurances over the club’s ambition.

He had been keen to make sure none of the club’s promising youngsters would be sold in the January transfer window and also that money would be available to strengthen the squad.

Now, however, it seems Barmby and Hull have gone their separate ways after just 33 games. Pearson, meanwhile, has had two spells on the Tigers’ board, serving as chairman for six years from 2001 and then returning in 2009.