Iain Dowie has been in charge of Hull City for only a matter of days and already his new job is threatening to provoke domestic tensions. "Debbie, my wife, was born in Portsmouth, her family are all from down there and Lee, my brother-in-law, is a particularly big Pompey fan," Dowie said as he prepared to take his new squad to Fratton Park for this game.
"I think my wife will be onside," he added. "But there will be divided loyalties in her family; just the other week Lee was up at Burnley watching Portsmouth and I'm sure there'll be a few texts flying around."
As a former Southampton striker, Dowie can expect a hot reception from home fans on a day when he hopes to mark his first match as Hull's manager – or, to be pedantic, the freelance "managerial consultant" who stepped in when Phil Brown was placed on gardening leave last week – by ending the club's year-long failure to win away in the Premier League.
With Hull second bottom, Dowie's players need to start collecting points fast but he was careful not to decree victory tomorrow as imperative. "No, it's not a must-win game," he said. "It's far too early to say that. But it's very important we put in a positive performance, that's the key element."
Dowie decided his starting XI in the early hours of Wednesday morning, shortly after being appointed as Brown's successor, and has spent two subsequent training sessions concentrating on shape and organisation while endeavouring to ease dressing-room tensions.
"Yes, I know my team," he said. "I think our shape is very, very important. I want us to play open, attractive football but, when we don't have the ball, I want us to be difficult to play against."
Hull's board trust Dowie will help heal squad divisions which had manifested under Brown and resulted in Nick Barmby trading blows with Jimmy Bullard in front of a Women's Institute march.
"Everyone needs to concentrate on what they can bring to the party," Dowie said, aware that Stephen Hunt and Bullard have not always been the best of friends either. "If everybody brings their A game, then we'll be OK."
Apart from enhancing harmony, he aims to bolster self-confidence. "We've got to change the mentality, we've got to develop belief. It's amazing what confidence can do. I honestly believe some of the players have forgotten the positive things which got them here in the first place. Several are internationals. Sometimes people forget how good they are.
"I don't want the players to feel afraid to make mistakes. If you don't make mistakes, you don't do anything in life."
