Phil Brown: I’m not crazy to take Kidderminster job

The former Hull boss took over at Harriers this weeks after the sacking of Russ Penn and finds a team bottom of the National League and seven points adrift of safety.

With just four wins from their first 28 league games, Brown admits he has a big job in front of him but hopes he can save the season.

“I’d like to go on record as saying that Russ and Jimmy have done a fantastic job here, but as the chairman said, the numbers this year don’t lie,” Brown said as he was officially unveiled to the media as the new Kidderminster boss.

“The opportunity came along and I was surprised, I thought Kidderminster would be mid-table or pushing towards the play-offs.

“When the job was offered I was excited. It’s a proper football club with proper football people.

“The challenge is immense, there’s no doubt about it. The challenge is quite simply to stay in the National League.

“I’ve had calls saying I’m crazy and calls saying well done and congratulations for getting back into the game.

“We’re in the thick end of things and right among it. It’s tin helmets straight away, we have a battle and a challenge on our hands.

“But having met the chairman and the ambition of the club, it matches my ambition. I want to get as far as I possibly can in the game, I don’t think I’m finished by any stretch of the imagination.

“A lot of people might think because of my age I won’t have the energy, drive or determination to be in a relegation battle, but I’m absolutely looking forward to it and rubbing my hands with joy.”

Brown has appointed Neil McDonald as his assistant coach, who was formerly the assistant to Matt Taylor at Walsall and has worked as Brown’s assistant on three previous occasions. The pair are now eager to replicate the remarkable run of six wins at the end of last season that saw Harriers reach the play-offs, before eventually marking their first promotion in 23 years with three further victories.

“Sometimes you do go on these runs,” Brown added. “The energy levels and how it flows – we’re at the bottom of the league but we’re a better team than that.

“It takes time to get the belief going. It takes a lot of work, effort and energy on the training ground, but you have to transfer what you do from Monday to Friday onto the pitch on a Saturday.

“If the supporters see that, I’ll have done my job. If they don’t see that, I’ll be the first one that’s getting stick.

“I really want people to now say it’s my team. Albeit I have inherited the problem and the club, it is now my team and we’re talking about ‘we’ now. It’s a massive ‘we’ project. I want people to understand that Kidderminster Harriers is now managed by Phil Brown and Neil McDonald, and whatever happens between now and the end of the season will be our responsibility.”

They will be in attendance for today’s FA Trophy fourth-round tie against Altrincham at Aggborough, where Jimmy O’Connor will take charge, before Brown and his team take over on Monday.

“I’ve seen the players work in training, but we have to see it on a Saturday,” Brown said. “If you have players that only perform Monday to Friday, they’re no use to me, the chairman or Kidderminster Harriers. Saturday is the main day, it’s game day, it’s business day and we need the business to be done right.”

Chairman Richard Lane was also in attendance at Brown’s media unveiling.

He admitted when he found out he had a chance to speak to the former Premier League manager he thought someone was ‘pulling his leg’, but as he sat next to the man himself it became a very real prospect.

“Through our interview it was a meeting of minds, desire and passion and it became real very quickly,” Lane said. “We’re very lucky for Phil to hopefully come and get us out of this hole we’re in at the moment.

“It’s very real and being sat in front of you guys makes it even more real. I’m very excited and I believe with the support of our fans, sponsors and partners we can get ourselves out of this.

“I believe when one door shuts, one door opens and we are very privileged and excited to have Phil now at the helm.

“I was asked to meet him earlier in the week and I thought someone was pulling my leg. An ex-Premier League manager coming to Kidderminster for a chat.

“It was a good chat and a lot of what Phil said made sense, so this is where we are now.”