FOR Brian Horton, the road to Damascus has been a long and sometimes tortuous one.

The journey for the man known throughout soccer as "Nobby" began with Hull City in 1984.

The midfielder became a manager when he decided to close the curtains on his illustrious playing career.

He took to management at Hull like the proverbial duck to water. In a weird way, he became his own boss when he was appointed to the club's board of directors. No other manager in the country at that time had been afforded that offer.

Nobby had a job for life at his disposal but, as always, his itchy feet won the argument with his brain. In 1988, he accepted an offer from Mark Lawrenson to join him at Oxford United.

Brian walked into a club waiting to implode. Oxford were owned by the infamous publisher Robert Maxwell, who funded his lavish lifestyle with the pensions of his poor Daily Mirror employees.

Within months of Horton's arrival, Lawrenson had gone after a fall-out with the Oxford board. Horton was promoted to the manager's chair.

When Maxwell disappeared over the side of his ocean-going yacht in November 1991, Oxford United in reality should have sunk with them.

There was no money to spend. Good players were sold at knock-down prices. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

Somehow, Horton kept the ship afloat. Not only did the club somehow stay in business, they avoided relegation from the Second Division. It was as close to a soccer miracle as you are ever likely to see.

The next oasis for nomadic Nobby was Manchester City, in 1993. The City fans were bemused by his appointment.

Many had never heard of him. And it didn't help when a journalist asked him his name. That provided the famous headline: "Brian who?"

Once again, Brian unwittingly had taken over a club in turmoil. A damaging war for control of the club was raging between chairman Peter Swales and former player Francis Lee.

In the middle of that feud sat a baffled Brian. He told me at the time that City were unmanageable. Lee won the ownership battle. But Horton had not been his appointment - and as soon as the new chairman arrived, the manager was living on borrowed time.

Lee showed Horton the exit door in 1995 - just one of the many blunders by the City chairman.

Wonders

Jobs at Huddersfield, Brighton, Port Vale and Macclesfield followed. At every club, Horton worked wonders on a tight budget.

It's true that you won't spot any trophies on Horton's Maine Road CV.

He may not have been the Blues' most successful manager on that front. But without fear of contradiction, I can say he was the most popular City manager of modern times.

To this day, by invitation, he could spend every evening attending City supporters' meetings. The Blues fans know a good manager when they spot one and they don't forget him.

When he left Macclesfield in September 2006, he might have been forgiven for thinking his odyssey had ended. But then came a phone call from Phil Brown last summer.

Brown wanted Nobby to become his assistant at Hull City. Horton agreed - and entered new territory. After 24 years as the main man, he was now an assistant.

The partnership worked a treat. Victory over Bristol City in the play-off final has taken Hull into the top flight for the first time in their history.

Thirty eight thousand fans of the Tigers made that pilgrimage to Wembley to back up Horton's long-held theory that Hull City are a sleeping giant just waiting to be woken.

"There probably have been times after leaving City when I wondered if I would ever be working in the top division again," he admitted. "But it just goes to prove that you never know what's round the corner in football.

"I can't say I was a close friend of Phil when I took his call. He asked me if I would consider coming up to Hull to help him and it took me completely by surprise.

"I had selected 1,100 teams as a manager at a variety of clubs in various divisions and had never considered being anyone's assistant.

"But I thought: If I can help someone, why not go for it? So I agreed to join up with Phil and I'm delighted I did.

"I learned very quickly that Phil is an enthusiast, just like me. We clicked from the very first moment.

"He is also an excellent manager who could go right to the top in our game. We should encourage young English managers at Premier League level because they are becoming a rarity.

"I couldn't be more proud if I had taken Hull City up as manager. I like to think that it was team work which got us through.

"Phil will get all the praise - and justifiably so. There were 300,000 fans chanting his name on our open-top bus parade through the town and that's exactly how it should be.

"Will we survive in the Premier League next season? I'm too long in the tooth now to make rash predictions like that. Let's just say that all of us will give it our best shot."

Let's hope for Brian's sake that Hull survive and prosper next season. If they do, it is this city which can bask in the glory. Brian has lived in south Manchester ever since his days at Maine Road.

He says he is now a son of Manchester and that he will never leave the city he has come to love.

At some stage next season, he will pop his nose out of the dug-outs at Eastlands and Old Trafford.

I hope both sets of fans give him the ovation he deserves. Brian Horton is one of the game's genuine good guys. Thank heavens the nice people of this world still receive their reward. Tweet