Time for Flowers to bloom

Solihull M Blackpool FA Cup, tonight, 7.55pm

v TIM FLOWERS has had both hip joints replaced since he won the title with Blackburn and 11 England caps.

He knew his playing days were numbered when he struggled to bend down and slip on his right boot before training every day at Leicester. Assistant manager Alan Cork had to tie his bootlaces for him.

But if Solihull Moors, upwardly mobile like the planes taking off just over the fence at Birmingham airport, claim Blackpool’s FA Cup scalp in front of the live BBC cameras tonight, Flowers will enjoy his finest hour in management: Hip, hip hooray!

He said: “I retired at 36 and, over the last 15 years, I’ve had many jobs – most of them as a specialist goalkeeping coach - at different levels from non-league to Premier League.

“Most people in football can’t pick and choose. That’s why you don’t move house too often, because by the time you’ve taken the

For Sale board down, you’ve been sacked.

“I’ve got all my coaching badges and

I’ve worked with some outstanding managers, but for all that experience there have been two 18-month spells where I’ve been out of work.

“I’ve applied for jobs at non-league clubs and didn’t even get a reply.

“And the longer you’re on the outside, the harder it is to get back in.”

And he was relieved when Moors chairman Darryl Eales – who pulled out of a £30million takeover of his beloved Birmingham City five years ago because it was too much of a “trip into the unknown” – came calling last year.