Tigers’ boss Barmby is not ready to hang up his playing boots just yet

Nick Barmby is not quite at that point yet. This may be his 20th season in the game but, as the former England international has shown several times already this season and most notably last month when netting the winner against Cardiff City, there is life in the old legs yet.

The problem the 37-year-old has, however, is that the events of the past week mean he has a lot more to worry about now than playing his part on the pitch for Hull City.

Becoming the first Hull-born manager of the Tigers has turned Barmby’s life upside down, the demands on his time since becoming Nigel Pearson’s successor being such that he hasn’t had a minute to himself. With his managerial bow just a day away, life is not going to slow down any time soon – hence why the new City chief won’t be donning his boots at Derby County tomorrow despite being fully recovered from the calf injury that kept him out of Pearson’s final five games.

“It is too much of an ask,” said Barmby yesterday when talking to the Yorkshire Post at the KC Stadium. “First and foremost, I have to think about the team so playing will have to go on the back-burner.”

Asked if that means the end of a glittering career that has seen Barmby move for combined transfer fees of £20m, the new Tigers manager’s face breaks out into a smile.

“Maybe we have not seen the last of me as a player just yet but we’ll see,” is the cryptic reply that follows, albeit delivered with another huge smile.

Barmby cut a relaxed figure when speaking to the media yesterday, giving every impression that he already feels at home in the role just a handful of days after accepting the invitation from chairman Assem Allam and director of football operations Adam Pearson to become Nigel Pearson’s successor.

To those who know him, the ease with which Barmby has adapted will have come as no surprise. As Terry Venables said on these very pages yesterday, Barmby has always been a deep thinker on the game and someone whose level-headed character seemed in tune with the demands of the management.

What has perhaps come as a surprise, however, is Barmby deciding to move into management in the first place, not least because as recently as 2010 he was still clearly stating that he had no desire to make the step-up.

Reminded about the statement he made publicly on joining Nigel Pearson’s coaching team 17 months ago, Barmby again breaks into a smile.

“That was honestly the case,” he insists. “Because you’re still playing you don’t really think about the management side.

“But I never once said management wasn’t for me, I had just never really thought about it. But sometimes a situation comes along when you are least expecting it.

“You could want to be a manager but then find yourself being a coach season after season. An opportunity like this may not come round again.”

Barmby’s words suggest the timing of taking on his first managerial post is maybe not ideal, begging the question as to whether he would have said ‘no’ to any other club but City should they have come calling over the past few days?

“Without a shadow of the doubt,” is the instant reply, underlining once again the affection in which Barmby holds the club he supported from the Boothferry Park terraces as a boy.

The affection is mutual, certainly in terms of the City fans who have taken Barmby to their hearts since then chairman Pearson pulled off the considerable coup of tempting him out of the Premier League to League One in the summer of 2004.

Those supporters have been quick to welcome this week’s appointment, something that Barmby appreciates. He said: “The fans have always been brilliant to me.

“I have had a lot of texts and cards to congratulate me and I am really appreciative of that.

“Hopefully, we can all make a success of this and if it doesn’t work out, I just hope I will still be allowed in the pubs of Hull as same old Nick.”

Barmby’s first foray into management will certainly be a steep learning curve, tomorrow’s trip to Derby County kicking off a run of four games in a fortnight that include a midweek trip to leaders Southampton and a home game against Nigel Pearson’s Leicester City.

On the task ahead, Barmby added: “If I didn’t think we could do it, then I would have said ‘no’ because I wouldn’t want the club to struggle or be in limbo.

“I am not rolling out the cliches with my manager’s hat on but this is a hard league. Whoever you play brings different challenges and Saturday will be a great challenge.

“To play at Pride Park in front of 25,000 people, what better place to start? I would love to be starting at the KC but going to Pride Park will be a great occasion. We will be working hard to make sure we go there and get a result.”

Asked if he was putting his reputation on the line by taking the Hull job, Barmby replied: “I did that when I came here as a player. I dropped down from the Premier League to League One and people can be quick to have a pop at you if it doesn’t go well.

“It will be no different as a manager.

“All I will say is that, whether I play or whether I manage, I will always have the club at heart and do the best whenever I can.

“If it works out, and we are positive that we can do it, then fantastic. If it doesn’t, it won’t change the way I feel about the club.

“Even if the fans give you stick, that will be the same if I am a player or the manager,” said Barmby.

“But you can’t think like that. If you think about reputation and whether or not you really want to dent it, there are no real challenges for you.”

Hull chairman Allam promises to back new manager in transfer market moves

HULL CITY chairman Assem Allam has confirmed Nick Barmby will have money to strengthen his squad in the January transfer market.

The Tigers are handily placed in the Championship, one point off the play-offs but with a game in hand on all eight sides above them in the table.

Barmby’s task is now to build on that promising start and Allam has pledged to back his new manager should he want to make signings come the New Year.

He insisted: “We said many weeks ago that money would be there for Nigel in January. The same thing is still available for Nick.”

City turned to Barmby following Nigel Pearson’s decision to return to Leicester City, a club he led to the League One title and the Championship play-offs.

The departure of the manager who has brought so many talented players to the KC Stadium over the past 17 months has raised fears among Tigers supporters that the youngsters could also be tempted away come January.

However, Hull director of football operations Adam Pearson insists: “Those players want to be here and are happy to play for Nick.

“The only way any players will be leaving is to good Premier League clubs. At the minute, Leicester are below us in the league and I have not seen any evidence at all that their chairman has bigger pockets than ours.”