Hull City boss Phil Brown has been asked to tone down his flamboyant ways.

The Times says Brown has been urged to lower his public profile by his new chairman amid fears that his theatrical approach was proving counterproductive to the club.

Upon returning to Hull as chairman this month, Adam Pearson is believed to have instructed Brown to show more humility and to get rid of the headset he sported on match days after expressing concerns about the effect his posturing was having.

Brown denied that he had been ordered to remove the earpiece but admitted that he was giving more thought to how he is perceived.

"It's [the headset] quite simply broke," Brown said after Hull's draw away to Manchester City on Saturday. "Someone stood on it -- but I'm not going there. I wouldn't say I'm more conscious of my role but I'm conscious of the effect it can have. I was conscious of it before but, at times, in the face of adversity, that pressure can change your behaviour. I never felt I was becoming more the story than the team."