It has long since been assumed that were Phil Brown made of (orange) chocolate, he would eat himself.

Further proof to the above arrived tonight courtesy of Kevin Kilbane, who had the dubious honour of working under Brown at Hull City. In an Off the Ball slot about team talks, Kilbane remembered a few from his own career, and showered praise on Brian Kerr, with whom he was hugely impressed by.

Kilbane was less inspired on occasion by Brown, however, and tonight revealed a farcically arrogant 'speech' from Brown while at Hull.

We played a game against Wolves, it would have been a Premier League game. We were 1-0 up at half-time, and Brown was cock-a-hoop, delighted with the first-half performance. The last thing he said to us before we went out for the second half was, 'lads, first fifteen minutes, just do your jobs. Keep it tight'. Within two minutes, Wolves had equalised. We came in after the game, and he is in full mode, hammering the lads, picking out one or two of the players. The only bit I remember is, right at the very end: 'LADS! LADS! YOU LOT GO OUT AND PERFORM LIKE THAT IN FRONT OF ME...THE NEXT ENGLAND MANAGER! I've got my head in my shirt, thinking I'm going to laugh in his face.

Watch Kilbane tell the tale below.


Brown, by the way, did not manage England after Hull. He went from Hull to Preston. After leaving Preston, Brown once again did not manage England.

Instead, he took over Southend, where he remains today.