Phil Brown is a man who took lowly Hull City from the depths of the Championship, to the heights of the Premier League. Phil Brown is a man who, whether you love him or hate him, provided some memorable moments over the last three years. Phil Brown is also a man who refers to himself as Phil Brown.
Sacked
Brown was sacked on 15 March 2010 by Hull City chairman Adam Pearson, with The Tigers lying in 19th position in the Premier League after playing 29 games. Pearson thanked Brown for his service to the club, saying:
“Promotion to the Premier League in 2008 and retention of our status on the last day of the 2009 season are unique events in the history of Hull City AFC and both were achieved under Phil’s stewardship during a period which will never be forgotten by all connected with the club.”
A rival ego
However Pearson, who was rumoured to be unhappy with Brown’s ego and eccentricity, obviously did not feel that Brown would be able to save Hull from relegation, going on to say:
“Retention of Premier League status is paramount and the board believes that a change in managerial direction is the correct option at this time.”
So Phil Brown is gone, but is the Premier League worse-off without the discount Mourinho-suit wearing, tanning salon frequenting, flesh-coloured Sam Allardyce microphone-sporting Sunderland fan?
History lesson
First, a bit of a history lesson. As mentioned, Brown took Hull from near the bottom of the Championship to the Premier League in one season, beating Bristol City in the Championship Playoff Final thanks to a Dean Windass goal.
Hull’s start to Premier League life was as surprising as it was refreshing. They started off with a home win against Fulham, the winning goal scored by former Manchester City midfielder Geovanni – whose signing was regarded as a footballing masterstroke.
The Tigers then drew 1-1 away to Blackburn Rovers. Phil Brown’s side tasted their first Premier League defeat after a 5-0 drubbing at home to Wigan Athletic, but rebounded well with a 2-1 victory away to Kevin Keegan-mourning Newcastle United.
Hull’s next five results were quite remarkable. They earned a creditable 2-2 draw at home to Everton, before defeating Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and West Brom in a row.
That match at the Emirates
The game against Arsenal, shown live on television, was rich with drama after Hull went 1-0 behind through a Paul McShane own goal, before goals from Geovanni and Daniel Cousin secured a memorable victory at the Emirates. After Hull beat Spurs 1-0 at White Hart Lane a week later, they were officially everyone’s second favourite team.
Phil Brown found his team riding high in the Premier League, and displayed the attitude to match it, giving confident – some felt cocky – pre and post match interviews. They followed up their impressive first nine games (where they gained 20 points) with a narrow 4-3 defeat away against Manchester United, and earned good draws with Manchester City, Portsmouth, Stoke and Liverpool, beating Middlesbrough in the process.
However, following their 2-2 draw at Anfield on 13 December 2008, Hull would not win another game for ten games, losing eight of these. The reality of life in the Premier League hit Hull, and Phil Brown, like a ton of bricks.
The downfall?
After Hull found themselves 4-0 down away to Manchester City on Boxing Day, Brown forced his players to remain on the pitch at half time so he could berate them in front of their fans. Some felt that this was an idea designed to motivate them – the game finished 5-1, meaning that they had drawn the second half after Brown’s dressing down. But most thought that this was Brown treating a team of adults like children, and was a sign of a manager struggling under the pressure of the Premier League.
Brown was criticised for looking at football more as a science than a sport – something no doubt learned during his time under Sam Allardyce at Bolton.
The Tigers won only one Premier League game in the second half of the 2008-09 season, and found themselves embroiled in a relegation dog fight with West Brom, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland.
As it often is, the final relegation place was decided on the last game of the season. Hull, Newcastle and Sunderland all seemed to be trying to go down, with each team defeated in their respective games, but in the end Newcastle were the team that suffered the drop, and Hull survived.
Karaoke
What followed was a typically opinion-polarising Phil Brown moment. Brown treated the packed KC Stadium to a karaoke rendition of the Beach Boys’ Sloop John B. The sight of the perma-tanned, goatee-bearded Brown, happily belting out the notes, came across as arrogant. Many football fans felt that after suffering a home defeat and only winning one game in twenty two games, the manager of a team who had survived largely because the teams below him were so poor should be more respectful. But that is not Phil Brown.
Another uncomfortable moment came in October 2009 following a 6-1 defeat to Liverpool, when Brown took his first team squad on a walk across the Humber Bridge to – in his words – “look for clarity.” According to Brown, they encountered a suicidal woman, who he managed to save by “sweet talking” her.
Life saver
There is no record of this ever actually happening, and no players have come forward to confirm it. When The Guardian asked Brown whether the incident ever actually took place, Brown dejectedly replied “no comment.”
There were long-existing rumours that Hull’s chairman, Adam Pearson, was unhappy with Brown’s large ego and headline-dominating moments, and an unfortunate incident – again involving the Humber Bridge – proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Jimmy Bullard and Nick Barmby came to blows in view of a Women’s Institute group who were marching over the bridge. Brown down-played this to the press and apologised to the WI, calling the incident “unsavoury”.
End of the road
An unlucky, last-minute defeat to Arsenal followed, and Pearson placed Brown on gardening leave, ending the era of tanned football managers in Winter, and leaving Rafa Benitez as the last manager flying the flag of designer facial hair. Hull had only won 1 game in their last 15.
So, was Phil Brown a charismatic, scientific, interesting and entertaining addition to the Premier League? Or was he an annoying, arrogant, blustering caricature who refers to himself in the third person? He is the Marmite of football managers – you either love him or hate him.