QA: Phil Brown

What has been the secret of your success this season?

Better players. We only just survived in the Championship last season, but we got some fresh investment in the summer, which has helped us to go in a new direction.

Beat Queens Park Rangers on Saturday and you could be in the top two.

We’ll finish where we deserve to finish. We don’t want to start talking about promotion and the Premier League yet.

True or false — this is the worst Championship ever.

Absolute rubbish. It’s become fashionable to have a go at the Championship, but there are plenty of quality teams in this division. Three Championship teams in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, 20 teams still with something to play for. In terms of excitement you can’t get much better than that. Sure, there are some teams who use strong-arm tactics, but that’s the same in any league.

You were Sam Allardyce’s right-hand man at Bolton Wanderers. When are we going to see him back in the dugout?

He’ll be back soon. He’d become part of the fixtures and fittings at Bolton and he needed a fresh challenge. Newcastle didn’t work out, but the next club that gets him are going to be very lucky because they will be getting one of the best.

How hard was it making the transition from No 2 to No 1?

It’s been a steep learning curve. I had a bad experience at Derby, where I only lasted seven months, but I had a great apprenticeship under Sam.

Any chance of Bolton staying up?

It’s a very difficult situation. They’ve had some very poor results and they’re not scoring goals and that’s sending out the wrong message to the opposition. In Sam’s days, teams were scared of coming to Bolton. Gary Megson’s hands are tied, but I wish him all the best.

What is the worst job you have had?

Back when I was an electrician, I had some really tough outside lighting jobs on the banks of the Tyne in the wind and rain, 40 feet up a ladder.

Was that as bad as posing naked for the Hull City programme?

I got a lot of stick for that, but it was done very tastefully. I had a football as a prop, so I was amply protected.

Where would you most like to live?

At the moment I’ve got to say Hull.

Interview by KAVEH SOLHEKOL