Ken Brown-a lesson for Ryan Lowe?

Railway sleeper · Apr 14, 2021

Many of the older fans will remember Ken Brown, who was Argyle's manager between 1988-1990.Brown, who had enjoyed notable success at Norwich City (1980-1987), was a much heralded appointment. His style of total football was based on quick passing and retaining possession (remarkably similar to Ryan Lowe's).It was some of the best football i've seen at Home Park, in recent times.The early press coverage was very favourable, including the headline 'Brown magic', which I remember.

After the promising early start Brown's side struggled in the championship and he was eventually sacked in 1990.Are there any lessons that can be learnt by Ryan Lowe, from Brown's tenure? Possibly these:

1. Fixed tactics. Like Lowe, Brown tended to have fixed tactics - playing virtually the same way, in every game.It was possible for opposition managers to anticipate and consequently to stop Argyle.

Successful Argyle managers in the past have tended to vary their tactics, between games and sometimes during matches.

2. Defending. Brown's side could sometimes put themselves in problems, by tending to overpass- but there were none of the embarrassing lapses which have proved symptomatic of Lowe's tenure.

Successful Argyle sides in the past have often had no-nonsense defenders, who were able to locate row Z , when the need arose.Brown did have the luxury of some great defenders- the likes of Andy Morrison, Nicky Marker, Mark Smith, John Brimacombe, Adrian Burrows- which Lowe simply does not have.

3. Needed to be on top form. Brown's side (like Lowe's) needed to play well in order to win.When they didn't play well, they would usually lose.A hallmark of Argyle's promotion sides has been their ability to 'nick' wins, when playing poorly, and sometimes when being outplayed.This has also involved these sides being set up, so that they were difficult to beat, from the outset.

4. Leaders. Successful Argyle sides in the past have tended to have leaders, who inspired the team through their presence, performances and personality. Gerry Mcelhinney, tommy tynan, john matthews, paul wotton, micky evans and graham coughlan are all examples of this type of players.Lowe's side lacks these players(Ken Brown's team less so)and that is one of the biggest issues at the moment.

5. Funding. I have little doubt that Ken Brown would have mirrored the success that he enjoyed at Norwich City (fifth place in the first division- now premier league), if he had been working under a board, which chose to back him.Instead he toiled with a small squad and limited transfer budget. I remember the coach at the time, Martin Harvey, being quoted as saying,'the board wont get a better manager than Ken Brown', after he was sacked.

Lowe on the other hand, one assumes, will be well backed by Simon Hallett.

6. Similarities between the two sides. There is no doubt that Ken Brown's was the better side- and contained a couple of names which will be very familiar to current Argyle fans- Rhys Wilmot and sean mccarthy.There is nobody in the current team to match Tommy Tynan's finishing.Another very good player-Andy Thomas- in attacking midfield, has no equivalent in the Lowe side.I personally preferred Mark Stuart (for his work rate) to Danny Mayor.Panuche Camara, although hes good to watch, doesnt provide the balanced counterweight in right midfield, that right wingers martin barlow, david byrne and kevin hodges gave to Browns side.

7. Playing through the 'thirds'.Both sides shared this pattern of play.From my own perspective- i do love to see Argyle teams playing through the thirds- as long as those thirds begin in the oppositions half of the field.

I hope that Ryan Lowe goes on to achieve the success that Ken Brown never did, at Argyle. My personal take on him, is that he's a great league 2 manager.However, as far as 3-5-2 is concerned, it's a case of the 'emperor's clothes'. Everybody keeps telling him how fantastic the sysem is- yet, for me, its clearly not working for us in league 1- with the players he has recruited. Will it work with different players ? Im not convinced. The system tends to collapse under a high press- which opposition teams repeatedly play against us.

Is Lowe prepared to ditch 3-5-1 and switch to 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 (which we know do work in league 1)? Is Lowe happy to recruit experienced players? These are questions which the board might need to address, between now and the start of the new season......

No furher posts from the OP, on this thread.All opinions my own.Just seeking to open up a debate.If you agree with me, or even more so, if you don't, please post.....

third earl of jean · Apr 14, 2021

An interesting post. Ken Brown is just before my time, the first Argyle manager I remember is David Kemp, so interesting to read a bit about his reign. I always thought it was a pity it didn't work out because on paper at least you could make a case that his was the best CV & appointment that Argyle have ever made. Two promotions from (what is now) the Championship, a 5th place finish in the top flight, all playing good passing football and at a club (Norwich) which has parallels in geographic isolation to Argyle. Plus, this wasn't a decade earlier but in the few years immediately prior to joining. But lack of budget, inflexible thinking and just the way things play-out I guess mean things don't always come off.

Interesting on Lowe, overall for me he has done a good job, very good in taking us up last year and fine this year as I am sure we will survive albeit in a more unimpressive way than I would like. In terms of his career as a manager he is nearly 3.5 years in and its a very promising start. Whether he is a manger that goes on to bigger and better things or stays as a league 1 manager will largely be governed by whether he grows, adapts & works on weaknesses as with everyone in their career. Tactical inflexibility and recruitment & coaching of defenders will hold him back despite his other strengths if not improved, but I tend to think he will.

Oh and I agree with 3-5-2, not particular to Lowe's Argyle but I have never been sold on it as a formation of choice.

mervyn · Apr 14, 2021

Ken Brown was an enormous disappointment for me. Within weeks of his arrival he started complaining of the difficulty in persuading players to come here, and the long journey schedule. His negativity quickly spread, although the early football was good to watch. Just before his departure he produced the worst away performance I have ever seen from an Argyle side away at Swindon, where it was clear not a single Argyle player was bothered, and it wasn’t end of season as an excuse.

saxman · Apr 14, 2021

I really enjoyed reading that well considered post as it helps me understand a bit about what went wrong with the Ken Brown 'era' - I was a bit young to figure it out at the time but remember being confused at how things went so badly wrong. The comparison with RL is definitely food for thought but a difference is that back then we thought we were on our way to the old 1st Division, now we are relieved to be surviving in the equivalent Third Div. Your observations on the differences in quality between the two sides and current lack of on-field character is also very true. We have a long way to go, only two (disrupted) seasons into a five year plan. :scarf:

Steve Evans · Apr 14, 2021

i easily remember the ken brown era.i thought his style of football was abysmal and was delighted when he got sacked.the board,at the time, did back him,they sanctioned that awful signing of jim beglin on £1,000 a week all those years ago!

Quintrell Green · Apr 14, 2021

I do not think it is that easy to compare football as played in the EFL in 1988 with what is played some 33 years later. Fitness and tactics have stepped up dramatically. It would be like trying to equate the 1966 World Cup winning England team with Southgate's current England squad. The game has become significantly more technical. I accept we dot appear to have the same level of strong personalities as we saw years ago, but that was because the game was approached more physically decades ago. Would Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter oust the likes of Stones and Rice. I think not. There is a fine line between who is considered to be a leader and who is a strong physical player. Yes, we might need the former, but do we need a Jock Morrison or a Gerry McElhinney to kick the opposition striker up in the air? At the same time refereeing would quickly clamp down on the physical play of the past. I am all for Argyle upping the quality of its' playing squad, but I think we need to be careful of whom we wish for.

signalspast · Apr 14, 2021

Brown's attacking football was attractive and successful until the breakup of the midfield pairing of Thomas and Marker. Its to many years ago to remember if the initial change was through injury or suspension but he never went back to that partnership and defeats followed with us drastically slipping down the league.

Rush Goalie · Apr 14, 2021

As I recall, Andy Thomas got injured with us and never recovered - which was a shame, as he was a good player.

jerryatricjanner · Apr 14, 2021

I was very optimistic when he was appointed, he inherited a decent squad and he had a good track record. He was given reasonable financial backing by Argyle standards and the loss of Thomas certainly had an impact. 16th to 18th wasn't good enough for the board at the time and to be fair things were tailing off towards the end of his reign. Possibly his heart wasn't really in it down here? The purse strings were cut after he departed just as they were after Holloway left and the much maligned David Kemp was left in a pretty impossible situation trying to salvage tier 2 football with a mix of journeymen, youngsters and lower league or even non league bargain basement signings. It seems to be a cycle Argyle have been in for my 56 years supporting them.
Football has changed dramatically in so many ways since 30 plus years ago so comparisons or lessons to be learnt from those far off days are a little tenuous really.

philevs · Apr 14, 2021

What an amazing OP, really enjoyed it, full of insight and good sense.
Personally I think RL can make it as a manager in this league, and above, but he has to learn the full extent to which his own input in every respect - especially tactically, but right down to his body language - has a bearing on the team’s performances. If he learns nothing, he won’t make it, imo.

Wotton is God · Apr 14, 2021

Cracking post Railway sleeper.
The Ken Brown era was when I started seeing Argyle regularly. Mark Stuart was an early favourite, and Rhys Wilmot maybe still my favourite Argyle keeper. The football was good but I think people lost patience as they were hoping we'd continue the trajectory of success under Ciderman (typical Argyle fans). Andy Thomas' back injury meant a real loss to Argyle and a safety first appointment in Dave Kemp. In many ways more parallels there with a subsequent managerial appointment in Tony Pulis, funny they ended up working together.

demportdave · Apr 14, 2021

An interesting OP bringing back memories of Argyle where many of us oldies think we should be, in the 2nd tier of English football.

However, its been 30+ years and we have had 17 other Managers since Ken Brown, so why would we compare his tenure with that of the present encumbrant?

Back then, virtually every team played a fairly rigid 442 and Argyle under Ken Brown were no different. I don't recall us ever changing to 433, 451 and definitely not to 352. Argyle played some good football under Brown but there was a lot of dross as well, especially after Andy Thomas did his back.

Having played for West Ham for many years, Ken Brown was a footballing disciple of Ron Greenwood. West Ham played attractive passing football back then but apart from a couple of Cup wins, they generally struggled in League football under Ron Greenwood.

This whole thing about being able to change playing styles and formations and having a Plan B is all a bit of a myth. Most Managers have fairly fixed ideas of how they want their teams to play but the better ones are the ones who can make subtle changes at half time or make effective substitutions late in the game.

The only Argyle Manager I recall who changed formations regularly was Sturrock Mark 1 in our first promotion season, who played 442 at home but often 451 away. He would leave out Marino Keith and play an extra midfielder in Kevin Wills, even on the Saturday at Macclesfield after Marino had scored 2 at home against Exeter on the Tuesday before.

This season is petering out in a very disappointing manner and I doubt I am the only one who will be glad when it is all over. I have been critical of Lowe and the team, mainly because we don't seem to learn from the constant mistakes, both from the players and the Manager.

However, despite the constant frustration and inconsistencies of this season, I firmly believe that Lowe deserves to show us what he can do next season when hopefully, we will be back to something like normal sooner rather than later when I expect us to kick on and become a top half or even a top 10 team.

Lowe, Schumacher, Dewsnip and the players that remain would have had a full season at League 1 level so they should now know what is required to make us a top half team at least and as others have said, we should be in a better position to make the type of permanent experienced signings - with the odd loanee - that really will be the foundations for future success and a return to the 2nd tier.

Going back to Ken Brown era, I would like to offer my belated thanks to the then girlfriend of Kenny Brown who gave 4 of us tickets for the Grandstand at Goodison Park for the Cup replay, a game we lost 4-0 and where Graham Sharpe broke Kevin Summerfield's leg in a particularly nasty tackle that didn't even warrant a booking back then.

Railway sleeper · Apr 15, 2021

Well i did say I wouldnt make any further posts, didnt I ? But there've been so many great replies, that I felt compelled to break my rule (thanks for the compliments too, guys).

I chose Ken Brown and his team as a comparison, because, for me, their style of football was the nearest match to Ryan Lowe's in recent memory. Also its a salutary tale, isn't it ?Ken Brown had a fantastic CV, and everybody agreed he was a great manager and lovely guy- so why didn't he succeed at Argyle ? Of course, i could equally have referenced Tony Waiters ( slightly before my time), Ian Holloway and Ciderman Dave Smith (although he was slightly more 'long ball').

Interesting story about Kenny Brown's girlfriend, Demportdave. I remember that game well, although i only watched it on the tv. The challenge on summerfield looked awful.And it only seemed to look worse, on slow motion replays. Sharp appeared to stamp on his leg- should have been a red card, even in those days, i think. I was surprised that Argyle didn't make more of it.Summerfield himself was very sanguine, when interviewed about it, i seem to remember.I think Argyle were embarrasing Everton, up until that point- with Summerfield the fulcrum of much of our good work.The injury seemed to really knock the stuffing out of us, and unfortunately we appeared to implode after that.

I didnt want to come across as being too 'down' on Ryan Lowe or the current squad.I do think Ryan shows excellent promise as a manager, but results such as the 4-0 defeat at Exeter in 2019 and the recent 3-0 capitulation at Shrewsbury, really worry me. For all the good football, there are big question marks over the character and resiliance of Ryan's sides.Dont get me wrong- the trip to Shrewsbury is always going to be a tough one.But if were aiming for promotion next season, then we need to be looking at winning those sort of fixtures- perhaps by the odd goal, after a heavy rearguard action. Because if your going to win promotion out of league 1, then your going to have set up so that you can pick up the three points, when your not playing well. It seems to me that if Argyle are not playing well under Lowe- then, most times, were headed for a heavy defeat.

Ryan has assembled a promising squad, with a number of good players. I really like Michael Cooper- I think were lucky to have him in goal for us.He's sure to be headed for bigger and better things in due course. Luke Jephcott (like Joe Mason) has taht rare ability to be in the right place, at the right time- and the sane comments apply to him as to cooper. I also really like Klaidi Lolos and have been really impressed by the brief glimpses ive had of him. Theres a young michael evans in the making there, i feel, and we need to take good care of him, while he develops.

Danny Mayor has been great for us, but id like to see him given more of a free role- whilst perhaps George Cooper is switched onto the left wing ? The best is yet to come from Mayor I feel- he needs to be getting many more goals than he currently does.I would also want to see him getting much more involved in the defensive side of our game (like peter halmosi and mark stuart did)- he has a tendency to disappear at times, and for a player of his ability and experience i feel he should be influencing the game even when things are not going well for us. But perhaps Lowe's best signing yet is....Niall Ennis.

Panuche Camara also shows great promise I feel.Hes got great legs on him.In the years to come i see him establishing himself as a RWB for a championship club (hopefully us), but needs to develop his all-round game first.

In conclusion let me offer my recipe for promotion for 2021/22:

1. sign the modern day equivalent of: Mark Smith, Nicky Marker, Andy Morrisson, Adrian Burrows, John Brimacombe, Kevin Hodges, Andy Thomas, Tommy Tynan (note to mr chairman- it aint going to be cheap)

2. add 14 existing players

3. put on moderate heat for 20 minutes

4. add a generous portion of team spirit

5. mix in a hefty portion of character and resiliancealong with two cloves of garlic, a pinch of salt, along with pepper, mixed herbs and some lemon juice

6. serve in a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1

over and out