Hull City v Blackburn Rovers: Mutual respect in the battle of the bosses

ALLARDYCE ON BROWN

Q. A lot has been said about your relationship with Phil Brown at Bolton but your partnership goes back even further than that doesn’t it?

A. Phil was a player and captain when I took over at Blackpool, and then at Bolton I made him player/assistant manager in my second season in charge and his career really blossomed from there.

Phil played an integral part of the success we had at Bolton because of the relationship we had.

The relationship between manager and assistant is critical, it is those two that drive the football side on.

Their ambitions together can be greater than anyone else's.

Then you are constantly looking for success and not letting players get away with what they want to do.

I think the bitter disappoint-ment of losing his manager’s position at Derby was a great worry for Phil.

Where can I get back in the game and will I get the opportunity to be a manager again?

You are hoping people don’t forget what you did before the bad experience at Derby and you have to say the choice of Phil going to Hull was one of the best decisions the club made.

Q. How did you two work together at Bolton? Were your opinions generally the same or was there more heated debate at times?

A. We had discussion and heated debates about what we should or should not do.

I made the final decision as manager, whether it was in Phil’s favour or mine.

Then we got on with what we needed to do.

Phil has put his own ideas in place and it has worked well for him at Hull.

They may not always be my ideas but you don’t want a yes man.

I have to admit doing a team talk on the pitch is not one of my ideas! I've not really mentioned it.

I thought he would bring it up, I didn’t think it was right I brought it up in the conversation.

On the day and the emotions of the day and the position they were in, he felt it was the right thing to do.

Whether he still thinks it was the right thing to do or not you’d have to ask him.

Q. Was Phil Brown the good cop to your bad cop at the Reebok Stadium?

A. Not always. Sometimes Brownie blew his top before I had a chance to speak so I’d take the softer approach once he’d done that.

He sometimes couldn’t hold back his emotions and I’d let him go off and say what he thought.

It’s very important in a dressing-room to know that when we’re saying what we think, whether it’s quiet or aggressive, criticism or praise, it’s for the good of everybody.

Q. Are you two on the phone to each other in times of trouble? Were you Phil’s first port of call when he had his problems at Derby and vice versa when you left Newcastle?

A. I do remember him ringing me and saying I've just got the bullet.

All I could say to him was protect yourself from the legal aspect - the last thing you want now is to have to fight for what's rightly yours in your contract terms.

Get hold of the LMA and use the legal team to help you get what you deserve. Being as he hadn't had much time there, it was a decision made too quickly.

After that it was a case of communicating with him like I did before on a friendly basis.

He was one of the first people on the phone when I left Newcastle. My mailbox was that full it was difficult to get through them all, it was jammed up.

We had conversations about the similarities at both those clubs.

I am not sure we give advice to each other now. We chew the fat about certain subjects and we generally share our own ideas together on a regular basis.

BROWN ON ALLARDYCE

Will it feel a bit strange coming up against Sam for then first time on Sunday after so many successful years together?

It will be very strange. I was in the opposite dug out to him for a pre-season friendly when he was still at Newcastle but this will be the first time competitively.

I guess that is the interesting part of it all.

I have learnt a lot from Sam over the years and it was probably him who gave me my ambitions to be a manager, at what level only fate could determine, and it is nice to be up against each other in the Premier League.

The game has to be about the points though and about the clubs.

It is a massive six-pointer and if we win the game we are nine points above the relegation zone and if they win they climb out of the bottom three.

I would say it is a must-win for them and a must-not-lose for us.

What was the secret in your partnership with Sam? Do you think his style of management has helped shape you into what you are today?

I have to admit Sam and I certainly did not always share the same views, that was the beauty about the working relationship.

We both had our own very strong views on what we thought and were both forthright in the ways we expressed them.

We both gave our honest opinions and he made up his mind with the final decision.

I think the main thing I learnt from him was that you always worked with Sam not for him.

That is what I have taken into my new challenge at Hull and that has stood me in good stead.

There was the famous four with Blackburn connections that started out at Blackpool and I think that stood us all in good stead for the future.

Myself and Sam have obviously gone on to manage in the Premier League while Mike Taylor is doing very well as the head of sports science and Jack Chapman is a scout for Ireland.

That shows what a good grounding those days at Blackpool were.

These difference in opinions you and Sam had while at Bolton. Did they get quite heated at times?

Without a doubt. Sam is and always will be very forthright in his views and he can shout when he needs to.

Sometimes I had to shout as well just to get my view heard.

There was many an argument behind closed doors.

But once we opened those doors the main thing was we were all singing from the same hymn sheet.

No one ever took offence and we knew it was just the best way to get results.

It was not all about shouting though.

It was about being positive and making sure everything at the club was as professional as possible.

Do you expect to share a drink with Sam post match whatever the result?

I am sure Sam will find time to have a drink with me after the game.

The friendship may be forgotten for 90 minutes but we will be friends again afterwards.