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Phil Brown may have to force the issue at Southend United if he is to be the new manager of Bolton Wanderers.
After the departure of Neil Lennon yesterday the 56-year-old has become the red-hot favourite to take the hot-seat at the Macron Stadium.
Brown is a close associate of Wanderers’ new owner Dean Holdsworth and has been linked with the post at his former club continuously since the Sports Shield consortium first came on to the scene.
Wanderers are on the hunt for a new manager with League One football all-but guaranteed next season. Brown’s Southend are on the fringes of the play-offs but the ambitious Essex club are reluctant to enter into a discussion about losing the manager that guided them out of League Two last season.
Brown has a buy-out clause in the three-year deal he signed last summer but The Bolton News understands it requires the blessing of the League One club’s board in order to be invoked.
That permission is very unlikely with Southend chairman Ron Martin warning last month he would rebuff Wanderers’ advances.
“There has been no approach from Bolton for Phil and even if there was I wouldn’t allow him to talk to them,” said Martin.
Brown said yesterday he was “flattered” by interest from Wanderers but would be trying to keep his focus on the job he has held for the last three years.
“I’m happy as manager of Southend United but I am ambitious and I want to get back to the highest possible level,” he told The Southend Echo.
“I want to have another crack at the Premier League but I have a big job on my hands with Southend and that’s all I’m focusing on at the moment.”
Brown needs no introduction to Wanderers fans having served the club as coach and player for 15 years.
As a right-back he made 330 appearances for the Whites between 1988 and 1994, scoring 17 goals, lifting the Sherpa Van Trophy as captain in 1989.
As a coach he returned to the club in 1996 under Colin Todd, assuming caretaker duties in 1999 and winning four out of five games before Sam Allardyce was appointed.
He stayed on in Big Sam’s staff for six years before leaving for Derby County in 2005 – where his assistant was Holdsworth – and has since managed Hull City, Preston and Southend.
The appointment of Jimmy Phillips as interim manager buys Wanderers some time before making a decision and it is likely the academy boss will remain in charge for the last nine games of the season.
While Brown is the clear favourite to take the post – bookmakers have also installed ex-Whites stars Alan Stubbs and Kevin Nolan among the early pacesetters in the betting market.
Source
After the departure of Neil Lennon yesterday the 56-year-old has become the red-hot favourite to take the hot-seat at the Macron Stadium.
Brown is a close associate of Wanderers’ new owner Dean Holdsworth and has been linked with the post at his former club continuously since the Sports Shield consortium first came on to the scene.
Wanderers are on the hunt for a new manager with League One football all-but guaranteed next season. Brown’s Southend are on the fringes of the play-offs but the ambitious Essex club are reluctant to enter into a discussion about losing the manager that guided them out of League Two last season.
Brown has a buy-out clause in the three-year deal he signed last summer but The Bolton News understands it requires the blessing of the League One club’s board in order to be invoked.
That permission is very unlikely with Southend chairman Ron Martin warning last month he would rebuff Wanderers’ advances.
“There has been no approach from Bolton for Phil and even if there was I wouldn’t allow him to talk to them,” said Martin.
Brown said yesterday he was “flattered” by interest from Wanderers but would be trying to keep his focus on the job he has held for the last three years.
“I’m happy as manager of Southend United but I am ambitious and I want to get back to the highest possible level,” he told The Southend Echo.
“I want to have another crack at the Premier League but I have a big job on my hands with Southend and that’s all I’m focusing on at the moment.”
Brown needs no introduction to Wanderers fans having served the club as coach and player for 15 years.
As a right-back he made 330 appearances for the Whites between 1988 and 1994, scoring 17 goals, lifting the Sherpa Van Trophy as captain in 1989.
As a coach he returned to the club in 1996 under Colin Todd, assuming caretaker duties in 1999 and winning four out of five games before Sam Allardyce was appointed.
He stayed on in Big Sam’s staff for six years before leaving for Derby County in 2005 – where his assistant was Holdsworth – and has since managed Hull City, Preston and Southend.
The appointment of Jimmy Phillips as interim manager buys Wanderers some time before making a decision and it is likely the academy boss will remain in charge for the last nine games of the season.
While Brown is the clear favourite to take the post – bookmakers have also installed ex-Whites stars Alan Stubbs and Kevin Nolan among the early pacesetters in the betting market.
Source
