Phil Brown wants another chance as a Premier League manager
Thursday 18 February 2016 17:45, UK
Phil Brown is hoping his work as Southend United manager will reward him with a Premier League job in the future.
The 55-year-old won promotion with the Shrimpers last season through the League Two play-offs and has continued that momentum in League One, taking the club to the cusp of the play-off places.
Brown took Hull City to the Premier League for the first time in their 104-year history before successfully avoiding relegation in 2009 - but was sacked after a poor run of form in 2010.
He was appointed Preston North End boss in January 2011 but was unable to save the club from relegation and was subsequently sacked. Brown spent nearly two years out of the game but is rebuilding his CV with Southend.
When asked if the work he's doing at Southend is being noticed by clubs higher up the football pyramid, Brown told the FL72 Podcast: "You'd hope so.
"You always try to put yourself in at the right level in terms of your ability. Having managed in the Premier League and achieved success at that level, you always want to get back there.
"A couple of years ago, football had turned its back on me where management was concerned and the only place available to me was in the second division. I jumped at the chance and got my hands dirty again, working with players and trying to improve them individually.
"Hopefully I've proved to a lot of people that management at every level is a difficult job. And if you're successful at a lower level, why not be given a crack at the higher levels? It's important you get rewarded somewhere along the line.
"We're trying to improve this football club and take it to the next level - if we can do that and it's rewarded by people looking at that, then all well and good, but I've got a job to do here."
Southend have exceeded expectations in League One this season and despite losing their last two games are just three points off the play-off places.
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They welcome league leaders Burton Albion to Roots Hall on Monday night and Brown is hoping his team can bounce back to form in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
He said: "We're on the shirt tails of the play-offs. It's been a fairly successful season but we've been disappointed with our levels of consistency. We've won a couple of games then we've lost three. I need to get a level of consistency to make a challenge.
"Our job as a management group is to focus on the next game and our next game is the league leaders with the Sky cameras in town. Hopefully it will be a turn on performance from both sides."
