Houston backs Brown to stake claim and believes he should be given chance to prove himself until end of the season

IT felt as far away from Cyprus as it is possible to get. Not that Peter Houston was feeling sorry for himself yesterday on a dreich day in Dundee, having decided to take a break from his duties with Scotland. Instead the Dundee United manager was thinking of others, specifically his old friend, Billy Brown.

Houston was, of course, speaking as a past member of the assistant managers’ union but he provided a strong case for Brown to be named as successor to Colin Calderwood, who was sacked by Hibernian on Sunday. Houston made the same step up from No 2 at Tannadice after Craig Levein’s departure in 2009 and had lifted the Scottish Cup within six months.

How Hibs fans would dearly love to think Brown could make the same impact, although things are rather more complicated at Easter Road. Whoever takes over at Hibs won’t inherit the same quality of squad as Houston was bequeathed at Tannadice. Brown’s claim is also coloured by a past which has been dominated by Hearts, which is where Houston worked with him following an initial spell together at Falkirk

Having won one battle with his own chairman as recently as last week, Houston clearly feels confident enough to go in to bat for Brown, who he believes should be given the Hibs job until the end of the season – at least. The Dundee United manager felt he was being undermined by stories emanating from the club regarding his own future and confronted Stephen Thompson. The result was a supportive statement prior to last weekend’s defeat to Rangers at Ibrox.

“I would just like to see him [Brown] get a chance and be given the confidence of the board – it’s good to be given a vote of confidence now and again,” said Houston with a wry smile yesterday, as he met with reporters following a Tesco Bank football challenge event in Dundee attended by 184 school children.

His support for Brown was sincere and based on sound reasoning. Houston described training sessions at Hearts under Brown as being “bouncy and lively, fun but serious – there was a mixture of everything in there”. He didn’t see Brown’s past association with the Tynecastle club as presenting a problem. However, Houston does feel that talk of Hibs turning to Jim Jefferies is unlikely to come to anything. “I think it is unrealistic first and foremost,” he said. “I do not think it would be a disaster for Hibs – but I think Billy will want a shot at it first if I am being honest.

“I worked with Billy at Falkirk and at Hearts and I hold him in huge regard. I think Billy has maybe been waiting for the opportunity to try and get a manager’s job. It has been difficult because Jim Jefferies is a top manager and has always been the No 1. However, it is the Hibs job now and Billy is already in there. I think he can take them forward.”

Brown has been handed the reins at Hibs on an “interim basis”. Houston believes this should be amended to read “until the end of the season”. The United manager owes his own graduation from assistant manager at Tannadice to the fact Thompson took his time before deciding who should replace Levein, although Houston was also helped by the breakdown in talks with original target Pat Fenlon.

“Don’t judge him [Brown] on three games,” said Houston, whose own spell as caretaker manager at Tannadice started off with a 7-1 thrashing against Rangers. A home defeat to Aberdeen followed, before a first point was picked up with a draw against Kilmarnock. “It needs just a wee change of luck – I got it with the cup tie at [Partick] Thistle and then we beat Hibs and Hamilton in the same week. Three wins in seven days flipped the whole thing.”

Houston revealed that he had spoken with Brown about his ambitions to be a manager in his own right and has urged him to take the job with Hibs if it is offered to him. “Jim used to give Billy free rein on the coaching field,” he said. “I would speak to Billy, and I knew deep down he’d love the [manager’s] job. But he would not go behind Jim’s back. They were very much together. But Jim’s away, he’s out of a job and if Billy’s offered the job at Hibs I don’t think he can refuse it. I have spoken to him and said: ‘you can’t refuse that’.

“It’s just unfortunate Colin has gone out of the door. But now it’s landed on Billy’s plate.”

Houston turned to his own predicament. He ditched a trip to Cyprus with Scotland in order to work with those United players still at the club during international week, following a period of poor form. “I actually saw a picture on Twitter of the guys training this morning,” he smiled. “There I was standing in the freezing cold at St Andrews.”

“I just felt it was not an important game,” he added. “I spoke to Craig about that. Sometimes your own players need you around.

“But again I will reiterate that when it comes to the qualifiers I will be away with Scotland. I am contracted. Craig asked me at the start and I told him I will see it right through with him. I aim to do that.”