Michael Robert Brown (born 25 January 1977) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a pundit. A former England under-21 international midfielder, his hard-tackling style sometimes caused him to take criticism from others in the game. He began his career with Manchester City having come through their youth ranks, and was named as the club's Player of the Year in 1998, before featuring in their Second Division play-off final victory in 1999. He also spent time on loan at Hartlepool United, Portsmouth and Sheffield United, before he was sold to Sheffield United for a £400,000 fee in January 2000. He scored 36 goals in 174 appearances during a four-year stay in Sheffield, being named as the club's Player of the Year in 2002 and named on the PFA Team of the Year the following year. He moved back to the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur for a £500,000 fee in January 2004. After two years with Spurs he moved on to Fulham for an 18-month stay. He was transferred to Wigan Athletic in July 2007, where he would spend two seasons before making the move to Portsmouth in August 2009. He played for the club in their 2010 FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea, but could not prevent them from being relegated out of the top-flight that same year. He joined Leeds United in July 2011, and went on to spend the next three years at Elland Road. He signed with Port Vale in July 2014, and also took on a coaching role with them, before becoming assistant manager to Bruno Ribeiro in June 2016. He was promoted to caretaker manager following Ribeiro's resignation in December 2016, but could not prevent relegation out of EFL League One at the end of the 2016–17 season, after which he was confirmed as the club's permanent manager. With the club lying bottom of the English Football League, he was sacked in September 2017. He has since gone on to work as a pundit and summariser for BBC Sport, Sky Sports and Quest. Early life Brown was born in Hartlepool on 25 January 1977. His father, Robert (Bobby), helped to run Hartlepool Lion Hillcarter F.C. His mother, Barbara, was involved with the Hartlepool netball club, Oakesway. Brown attended High Tunstall Comprehensive School and represented the school football team at county level. Club career Manchester City Brown graduated through