Ever since Andy Warhol first suggested that "everyone will be famous for 15 minutes", football has provided plenty of corroborating evidence. There are men who have laboured out of the limelight for much of their careers only to be catapulted into the glare of the cameras.
Then there is Phil Brown. A man who embraced fame with the willingness of a contestant on a reality television show has had it plucked from his grasp.
His moment in the sun lasted 18 months, rather than 15 minutes, but as he approaches the first anniversary of his sacking by Hull City, the subsequent year has been a chastening experience. It is a spell that suggests he is football's equivalent of a one-hit wonder.
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Also: The grip of the Big Four of Premier League is not for granted
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Ten months of unemployment and rejection followed. A man who, two years before, had managed a club level on points at the top of the Premier League was only the second choice candidate for the Southampton job, a club then in the lower reaches of League One, English football's third tier. Brown was interviewed by Burnley, without getting the feeling the club wanted him.
Preston North End were altogether keener. In January, Brown succeeded Darren Ferguson at the Championship's bottom club. Ten games later, he still awaits his first win as Preston manager.
League One football has become more of a probability than a possibility. Eleven points from safety with 13 games to go, even Brown's trademark positivity is hard to maintain.
"Everyone at the football club is low," he said this week." A fortnight ago, he optimistically targeted 10 wins from the final 16 games, but the fixture list has conspired against Preston. Saturday's trip to Norwich City is the fourth of five successive matches against top-eight teams.
The first three have only yielded two points yet, in holding leaders QPR and claiming a draw away against Nottingham Forest, there were signs of improvement.
An inventive thinker, whose tactical tinkering can be inspired or unhelpful, Brown has brought a raft of new ideas. Thus far, they are yet to pay off.
In the final analysis, Ferguson's ruinous reign and cost-cutting will be the major reasons for relegation.
Brown inherited a porous defence and a demoralised squad that was then decimated when, in seeming reprisals for sacking the Manchester United manager's son, Sir Alex Ferguson and Stoke City's Tony Pulis recalled their loan players.
Brown saved Hull from a parlous position in the 2006/07 season, but the likelihood is that he will find himself managing in the third tier for the first time.
It is, however, where he spent much of a playing career that went largely unnoticed. A full-back for Hartlepool, Halifax Town, Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool, he spent a solitary season in the two highest divisions, never reaching the top flight.
Perhaps the fondness for publicity stems from a life spent in the shadows.
Brown's time at Hull brought infamy for conducting a half-time team talk on the pitch, apologising to the local women's institute, claiming to have talked a suicidal woman on the city's Humber Bridge around and singing the supporters' adaptation of the Beach Boys' Sloop John B in the centre circle when Hull stayed in the Premier League (a rather more savvy manager put his head in his hands when he heard).
Coaching brought more success than playing but, initially, little attention. Brown spent nine seasons at Bolton, six of them as Sam Allardyce's assistant in Wanderers' most successful spell for half a century.
Yet his first spell in management, at Derby, was a swiftly-curtailed failure. Hull provided rehabilitation and he ended their 104-year wait for top-flight football.
Two months in and confounding predictions of ignominious failure, Hull joined Chelsea and Arsenal at the top of the table by playing attacking football.
"I believed I would prove everyone wrong my way. It was down to belief from the top," he said.
"Managers were coming up against us who didn't know who or what Phil Brown was about."
Then the Sunderland supporter was mooted as a successor to Roy Keane at the Stadium of Light. Instead, his star fell as rapidly as it rose; after six wins in nine games, only eight followed in the next 60. Brown was sacked two months before Hull went down.
Not that disappointment has made him more reserved.
"I want to manage England and, with that kind of ambition, whether you achieve it or not, it will get you somewhere else in life," he said last year.
More pertinent, perhaps, is something he said two years ago: "I am a firm believer in what doesn't break you will make you."
sports@thenational.ae
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Credit Score explained
What is a credit score?
In the UAE your credit score is a number generated by the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which represents your credit worthiness – in other words, your risk of defaulting on any debt repayments. In this country, the number is between 300 and 900. A low score indicates a higher risk of default, while a high score indicates you are a lower risk.
Why is it important?
Financial institutions will use it to decide whether or not you are a credit risk. Those with better scores may also receive preferential interest rates or terms on products such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.
How is it calculated?
The AECB collects information on your payment behaviour from banks as well as utilitiy and telecoms providers.
How can I improve my score?
By paying your bills on time and not missing any repayments, particularly your loan, credit card and mortgage payments. It is also wise to limit the number of credit card and loan applications you make and to reduce your outstanding balances.
How do I know if my score is low or high?
By checking it. Visit one of AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres with an original and valid Emirates ID, passport copy and valid email address. Liv. customers can also access the score directly from the banking app.
How much does it cost?
A credit report costs Dh100 while a report with the score included costs Dh150. Those only wanting the credit score pay Dh60. VAT is payable on top.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Sukuk
An Islamic bond structured in a way to generate returns without violating Sharia strictures on prohibition of interest.
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UAE%20SQUAD
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Motori Profile
Date started: March 2020
Co-founder/CEO: Ahmed Eissa
Based: UAE, Abu Dhabi
Sector: Insurance Sector
Size: 50 full-time employees (Inside and Outside UAE)
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Safe City Group
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
THE SPECS
GMC Sierra Denali 1500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Price: Dh232,500
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
