Pearson announced his surprise that the club earned just £2.8m from the summer sale of star defender Michael Turner, who was valued at over £10m at the time. Sunderland paid £4m for the centre-half, with his previous clubs Brentford and Charlton receiving a share of £1.2m in sell-on payments.

Turner has been in excellent form for the Black Cats this season, whilst Hull have severely missed his presence, leading to bemusement at how such a player could leave for a paltry fee. It can be said that the player wanted to leave, yet Sunderland aren’t renowned for being particularly frugal; it’s not just Pearson who finds it bizarre that Hull couldn’t extract more money for their prized asset.

Sky Sports’ roaming reporter Andy Burton broke the news on his Twitter page earlier this afternoon, with the tweet:

“Think Phil Brown has left Hull. To be confirmed though…”

Now the Daily Mail are onto it, as betting sites suspend their manager markets in fear of fans cashing in on Mr. Fake Bake’s potential demise…