BROWN HUNGRY FOR SHRIMPERS

PHIL BROWN is in defiant mood – “Managing in the National League an embarrassment? No way.”

Southend boss Brown (above) was assistant to Sam Allardyce for six years when Bolton were regularly giving Premier League aristocrats a bloody nose – and then Brown took Hull City into the big time himself.

Last season, after a long stretch in the Indian Super League, he answered Southend’s SOS – and was given six games to save them from dropping out of the Football League for the first time in their 101-year history.

It was his second coming – he had taken them into League One six years earlier – and, when he failed, many observers believed Brown would be off to pastures new.

Instead, he stayed – and a crowd of more than 6,000 at Roots Hall for last weekend’s visit of Wrexham helped to endorse his decision.

Brown said: “I’m enjoying myself. I had been in India for three years and you feel you are detaching yourself from the English game.

“That scared me to an extent because I believe I’ve still got lots to offer, and I jumped at the chance to get my name back in English football.

“I was offered a threeyear deal by the owner. I said, ‘No, just give me the six games’. When I was offered the Southend job permanently, but now in the National League, I had already watched some games, and was impressed with the standard of the football and the coaches.

“You’ve got someone like Phil Parkinson coming into it with Wrexham. I don’t think it’s any great embarrassment to be managing at this level.

“The Southend fans have responded magnificently. I can’t thank them enough.

“I know they want to get back into the Football League as fast as possible and that adds pressure, but the bigger the challenge, the more I thrive.

“I’ve now managed in all five divisions – and I’m loving the challenge here.”