MODERN day footballers must be aware of the destructive capability technology can have on players and their team’s performance as a consequence, warns Swindon Town manager Phil Brown.

The 59-year-old spoke at length about the change in access between fans and players ahead of Swindon’s League Two clash against Northampton Town at the Energy Check County Ground tomorrow afternoon.

While Brown welcomes the idea of an ‘open’ changing room - admitting accessibility and honesty towards fans is key in the modern game – the former Hull City boss has underlined the dangers losing focus on the job in hand.

He said: “Modern technology is global - it’s generic and in the system.

“I’m talking about mobile phones and social media.

“It’s the world that we live in now, and we can’t get rid of it. I’m not going to say ‘get rid of your phones’ because they are unfortunately – or fortunately – part and parcel of our lives.

“I feel the attitude towards mobile phones, social media and the outside world has opened up changing room doors a lot more than what they were.

“We’ve got to be careful with it and make sure we focus on our jobs.

“What I’m asking for is two hours of work on a Saturday. I’ve moved with the times. (In) my first changing room at Hartlepool United there was no such thing as a mobile phone.

“The first phone got launched and it was a brick, now the changing room doors are open to the outside world.

“That music to the ears of the media, but not so much mine because I want that focus.”

Brown started his professional footballing career five years before the world’s first mobile phone was released, making changing rooms in his playing days an enclosed area.

Describing his players and coaching staff as a ‘second family’, Brown emphasised the importance of working together as a team to his squad – highlighting that no footballer can play the game alone.

“I spend more hours at work than I do at home, so the team is my family,” said Brown.

“When you do things that are hurtful to them, you wouldn’t do it to your own family – so why do it in the changing room?

“The changing room is resourceful environment, and nobody can play the game as an individual – you have to be part of a team.

“That’s the most important factor. I want to help these players improve and get higher.

“The only way to do that is to park everything from 3pm until 5pm on a Saturday.

“The game from a sports-science point of view has changed immensely. If you stay in the old changing rooms you will get left behind.

“You have to move forward and embrace modern day technology, but use it for what it is.”