Port Vale lose patience with Michael Brown as manager departs

Following a 1-1 draw with fellow League Two strugglers Forest Green, Brown said he was hoping hard work would keep him in employment at Vale Park despite a dismal run of form.

But less than an hour later, the club said they had "mutually agreed" that former Tottenham and Leeds midfielder Brown would leave his position with immediate effect.

Fans had called for Brown's head, with Omar Bugiel's equaliser for Forest Green doing little to stop that.

"We are all very disappointed with the start to the season," Port Vale chief executive Colin Garlick said.

"I know Michael and his staff have worked extremely hard to try and rebuild the club and achieve the results that we were looking for but unfortunately, this has not happened.

"I would like to thank Michael for his hard work and wish him and his family all the very best for the future."

David Kelly and Chris Morgan have taken temporary charge of Vale, who are bottom of League Two with four points from eight games.

Speaking after the draw, though, Brown had been in bullish mood.

Brown said: "I have had meetings this week and we are working very hard, we continue to work very hard to try to get some results.

"We have a behind-closed-doors game at Macclesfield on Monday so we will be looking to get the boys ready for that.

"We discuss everything that we have in the football club. There are regular meetings with myself and Colin and Mr (Tony) Fradley the chairman.

"I don't see (owner) Norman (Smurthwaite) so much these days, but we have spoken and we go through everything. We understand where everything is, we certainly know what is going on and we are working very hard to put it right."

Forest Green manager Mark Cooper hopes to build on the draw and climb up the table, away from the relegation spots.

Cooper said: "Being out of the bottom two is better than being in it so two games now with committed performances and we need to carry it on.

"It has been tough, the reason we have lost games is we have conceded some horrendous goals through individual mistakes and until that stops we will find it difficult.

"It was a mistake today that led to the Port Vale goal, it has been probably more of our experienced players that are doing it. We need to cut that out and I am sure that we will and that will give us a chance of winning games."

Brown took over at Port Vale after the Boxing Day resignation of Bruno Ribeiro last year, winning six of his 34 games in charge which included a slip from League One to League Two.