Furious Brown blasts Dover boss over Ebbsfleet wage claims

Brown had taken exception to pre-match comments made by Kinnear concerning Fleet’s wage bill and the two engaged in a fiery exchange at the final whistle.

Brown also criticised Dover’s style of play, stating he would not want his team to play in the same way as the visitors did.

The Stonebridge Road chief said: “Goals affect games and if we’d have gone 1-0 up, they’d have had to do something different to what they deliver, which is direct play and counter-attacking football.

“It’s physical and in your face.

“The amount of times Dover’s Chris Kinnear Jr fell over, I was expecting an ambulance to come on and take him away.

“Yet he just jogged off to the side and came back on with another minute gone, which is frustrating to play against.”

Brown added: “What you have to do is get your noses in front, as it forces them to change their game-plan, which they’re not good at.

“Yet if they get their noses in front, they’re dogged and determined.

“They played five across the backline and they don’t change. They do it at home, so I can see why their supporters can get frustrated.

“You can’t play five across the backline at home but you can away, which is why their away record is pretty good.”

Concerning Kinnear’s pre-match comments to the press, Brown, who used to be employed by Dover, was less than impressed.

“Steve Gritt said in the dressing room he’s found these two games against Dover the most unenjoyable of the season because of what follows it”, Brown said.

“I don’t know why, but there were some extraordinary things said in the last couple of days about our wage structure.

“They have a bigger budget than us so I don’t know why they spin it.

“Perhaps it’s because their budget is top three and they’re sitting mid-table.

“There’ve been some fabricated wage structures and incredible comment on players’ wages.

“We try not to conduct our business in that way, but they felt they had to.”

The Fleet chief added: “It disappoints me as I have to fight to get players who want to come here, thinking we pay those wages.

“I have to clear our name in the press that we don’t pay those wages.

“Their highest earner is much higher than ours, so why they feel the need to make comments like that is beyond me.

“Then what follows is supporters believe it when it’s grossly untrue.

“I want to put this to bed as you can’t keep going into a newspaper and saying they earn £1,000 a week at Ebbsfleet, as it’s totally untrue.

“I can tell you things about what they’ve done and how much they earn, but I wouldn’t do it.

“I just find it incredible that someone’s allowed to go to a newspaper, make up a wage and print it.”

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