Filed under: Portsmouth, Leeds, Sheffield United, Championship, Football
It is probably safe to assume that Michael Brown is never going to have a statue of himself placed outside Elland Road alongside that of Billy Bremner, the great captain of Don Revie's Leeds United side. But the central midfield player, who has signed a one-year contract with Leeds United after becoming a free agent at the end of his contract with Portsmouth, shares many of the qualities that Bremner showed for so many years at the heart of the Leeds team of the 1960s and 70s, and could prove to be a shrewd signing by Simon Grayson for the 2011-12 version.Like Bremner and his contemporaries in the all white kit, Brown is combative and aggressive, but he can also play a bit. Last season he scored a goal against Leicester City of which Eddie Gray would have been proud, capping a dribble through the entire defence with a left-foot finish from what had looked an impossible angle. The former Tottenham and Fulham man has also been known to strike an excellent Peter Lorimer-like free kick, as supporters of Sheffield United will recall.
At 34, and with over 400 league appearances to his name - more than 100 of which have been in the top flight - Brown certainly has the experience and know-how. But he also has the personal qualities that a leader requires.
I spoke to him before Portsmouth played Chelsea in the 2010 FA Cup final and after the south coast club had been doomed to relegation by a points deduction. Although some supporters of rival teams may dismiss him as a snarling, even destructive, midfield enforcer and would probably expect a personality to match, Brown came across as affable and intelligent, with a wry sense of humour - probably a prerequisite for any Portsmouth player of the time.
Significantly, when Paul Hart, the then Portsmouth manager, first approached Brown, he had laid the club's difficulties on the line, knowing that he was signing a player who would not be afraid of rolling his sleeves up and getting stuck in - far from it.
"Paul rang me up and said: 'We've got a battle on our hands and it's not going to be pretty, but I think we've got a chance'," Brown said. "I like a challenge, and I thought I'd give it a go. In the end our aim was to get enough points to prove that we would have stayed up but for the deduction, and I still think we should have got them."
Contract issues prevented Brown from playing in the second half of last season - Portsmouth reportedly could not afford the increased terms that further appearances would have triggered. That, you suspect, will only have increased Brown's appetite to come back with a bang.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/07/15/michael-brown-leeds-united-championship-football/
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