Phil Brown

by pkt_drfc Thu 15 Dec - 0:13:31

Leaves Preston.

Manager Phil Brown leaves Preston North End

Preston have parted company with manager Phil Brown after less than a year in charge at Deepdale.

The former Hull boss, 52, was appointed in January but was unable to save them from relegation from the Championship.

They currently lie 10th in the League One table, only five points short of the play-off places.

Assistant boss Brian Horton has also left the club, and Graham Alexander and David Unsworth have been put in temporary charge.

Brown's departure came just eight days after Peter Ridsdale, formerly with Leeds, Barnsley, Cardiff and Plymouth, joined Preston as chairman.

Explaining the decision, a club statement said: "Following relegation we had hoped that we would be in a position to compete for an immediate return to the Championship but after a promising start we have only won one of our last 11 league games and we are out of all three cup competitions."

Preston lost 4-2 at home to Colchester on the opening day of the season, but following a 1-1 draw with Scunthope in their next game, they then embarked on a run of seven successive league wins, taking them to the top of the table.

Their form then deserted them before a 1-0 success at Hartlepool last month provided fans with a lift, but they could only manage a 0-0 draw with Stevenage last Saturday in Brown's final match in charge.

South Shields-born Brown, who clocked up 652 appearances in his playing career with Hartlepool, Halifax, Bolton and Blackpool, had his first taste of management at the Reebok Stadium, where he was put in temporary charge when Colin Todd left the club in 1999.

He then spent six years as Sam Allardyce's assistant before taking his first full-time management position with Derby County.

However, it was at Hull where Brown achieved his greatest success, guiding the Tigers to the Premier League via the play-offs at the end of the 2007-08 season, and keeping them in the top flight 12 months later.

He was not afraid to be unorthodox, giving his players a finger-wagging pep talk on the pitch at half-time in December 2008 during a match at Manchester City, which they eventually lost 5-1.

His relationship with Hull turned sour when he was put on gardening leave in March 2010 and his exit was confirmed three months later when an undisclosed compensation deal was agreed following reports that Brown was owed £1.4m by the club.

Brown returned to football when he was appointed at Deepdale following the sacking of Darren Ferguson in January 2011, when North End were bottom of the Championship

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16178900.stm