As good as your last game

Every game currently feels like it could be Phil Brown's last in charge. With another struggler visiting the KC Stadium this weekend, it represents another opportunity for the beleaguered but battle-hardened City boss to prolong his welcome.

This blog called for Brown's head recently but is open to a rethink thanks to the new circumstances. Those circumstances can be summed up by three surnames - Duffen, Pearson and Bullard. They have, actively or passively, contributed to Brown's current status of a "wait and see" manager.

Had Paul Duffen still been here, Brown's future would have been rock solid but City would not have played against Stoke City as they did, as Brown would have been able to maintain his stand-off with a number of senior players and select the same old same old.

Adam Pearson's arrival and the instant, consequent rumours around Brown's future removed that safety net with quite a swish. Brown immediately picked a squad for the Stoke game that contained two of his three enemies within the playing staff. But, of course, he also got to pick Jimmy Bullard.

And ultimately, winning matches will be Brown's only saviour in the long term, and City look capable of doing that only if Bullard is fit and playing a part. It is a remarkable thing to conclude when the player has managed just one 90-minute performance thus far, but the evidence of that performance was concrete. City are a different side with him pressing the buttons. The win against Stoke was achieved rather late but still entirely on merit.

Duffen is still bleating in the press about his self-proclaimed achievements at the KC rather than acknowledging that he is now part of the club's history and moving on. Pearson, Brown and Bullard, however, are very much with the club, and the performances of one will largely dictate the actions of another in establishing the future of third. It feels almost like a soap opera, with the next edition against West Ham United this weekend.