Phil Brown opens up on big Sunderland 'regret' amid Sam Allardyce coaching reveal
Phil Brown has been speaking about his decision to turn down a coaching role at Sunderland.
Former Hull City and Preston North End boss Phil Brown has opened up on the missed “opportunity” that could have led to him joining Sunderland as part of Sam Allardyce’s coaching staff.
The 67-year-old is a boyhood Black Cats fan, and in a fresh interview with Football Presse, has revealed that Allardyce contacted him in 2015 with view to moving to the Stadium of Light as his assistant. But Brown, who was head coach at Southend United at the time, opted against a switch to Wearside, instead deciding to stay in a leading role himself - a call that, by his own admission, he rues somewhat.
Looking back, he said: “I had an opportunity. I was Southend United manager. And I had probably a four or five-year stint at Southend where we went from the Second Division to the First, and just missed out by about 10 minutes on getting into the Championship. Millwall beat us, scored a late goal, and that was it. They went into the play-offs and we didn't. They got promoted to the Championship.
“But I had a chance of getting Southend United to the Championship. And I thought, ‘I'm a manager’. I thought I made my decision. And once I'd made that decision, I was never going to go back to being an assistant manager, or being a first-team coach.”
Brown continued: “When Sam phoned me up, it was the hardest decision of my life. There were certain things Sam said that I agreed 100% with, and there were certain things he said that I didn't. But that was always going to be the case. He had his career as a manager for sure. And I had my career behind me as a manager as well, or in front of me, whichever the case may be.
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“And I thought, ‘If I go back to being assistant manager, does that draw the line in management?’ I didn't want to. I always felt like there was life in me for a long, long way, you know. I had unfulfilled ambitions.
“When he offered me the position, I not only turned him down - okay, I went back to being Southend United manager - but there's a big chunk of me went missing after that. And I'm not saying that caught me out or that it upset my flow, my rhythm. But regardless, it was something that I look back on and I probably regret. I know people say don't have any regrets, but I probably regret it because at the end of the day, Sam not only kept them in the Premier League, he then got the England job straight on the back of that.
“I could have fulfilled two ambitions. I could have been manager or managing Sunderland, which is my hometown club, or my club that I supported. And then if Sam had took me with him, I could have gone with him to England. If Sam hadn't have took me with him, I could have been left managing Sunderland. There's all sorts of ifs, buts, and maybes, but I can't think that way, because I'll end up demented.”