with Fleetwood, finishing one point short of safety. Despite being relegated, Brown was confirmed as the club's permanent manager in May 2017. He released 13 players at the end of the 2016–17 season. His first summer signing was former two-time Player of the Year Tom Pope on a free transfer after he managed to secure his release from Bury. He went on to sign ten more players during the window: goalkeepers Rob Lainton and Sam Hornby, defenders Joe Davis, Antony Kay, Gavin Gunning, Lawrie Wilson and Graham Kelly, midfielders Michael Tonge, Cristian Montaño, David Worrall and Harry Middleton, and striker Tyrone Barnett; he also signed youngsters Rekeil Pyke, Marcus Harness, Tyler Denton, Ben Whitfield, Jack Stobbs and Tom Anderson on loan. However Vale suffered their worst start to a season in 50 years at the beginning of the 2017–18 season, going a club record six games without scoring a goal as they sat bottom of the table in September following six consecutive league defeats. He was sacked on 16 September following a 1–1 home draw with second-from-bottom Forest Green Rovers. Speaking after his sacking, Brown said that it had been difficult for him to recruit quality players on "a very tight budget... I think it was arguably £1m under from when they had got promoted from that league the time previously". Supporter website OneValeFan described this as "a somewhat unlikely claim" as the club had only exited administration in November 2012. Media career Since leaving Port Vale in September 2017, Brown has worked as a pundit and summariser for BBC Sport, Sky Sports and Quest. Style of play Brown was criticised throughout his career for his heavy tackling. Throughout his career he received 137 yellow cards and seven red cards. He was sent off for three clubs in the Premier League, with tackles on Ryan Giggs, Ashley Cole and Sean Davis being highlighted. Davis accused Brown of trying to break his leg, a claim which Brown described as "sickening". Brown injured Barnsley captain Jacob Butterfield with a tackle in January 2012; Butterfield claimed after the game he felt that the challenge from Brown was 'malicious' and 'intentional' and he revealed that Brown rang him after the game to apologise. He broke the ankle of Reading's Jem Karacan with a sliding challenge on 7 April 2012; Reading captain Jobi McAnuff heavily criticised the challenge after the game. Career statistics Club Managerial