Mark Molesley

[bluesfansince1952]

So strange how people defend one of the worst managers in our recent history. Is he related to some of our fans or something?

He was so good, he managed to only get his next job with Aldershot who he so kindly did the exact same as he did with us and put them near the bottom of the table.

The only good thing to come out of molesley was Hobson and even then he only became good once he had a proper coach around him.

Waste of space and if he wasn’t considered so “cool” by our fan base, we might have got him out earlier and had a chance of staying up.

Any proper football manager would’ve kept us up that year.

 

[bluesfansince1952]

In his defence when we defeated Colchester at home that season we played with a passion and spirit that was totally absent in the return fixture when the team was by then under the care of PB.
Would any 'proper' manager have kept us up?
What level of football the playing staff he had under his disposal are now playing might suggest otherwise.
There is a very good case to be made that the players we had then were just not good enough to keep us in league football.

 

[RHB]

 

[LCBB72]

As Paul Clark said on radio the other week Molesley was 'Sold a pup' to come to Roots Hall .

 

[NZamba Legend]

I quite enjoy the debates about MM. It was a hugely significant season for Southend, because of Covid, no crowds, because of Ron’s appalling financial management of the club from the start of 2019, peaking in summer / autumn 2020 and because ultimately we were relegated from the football league. It was just so grim it’s almost unimaginable now just a year or so on. But fascinating too. Remember when the fans locked the coach out of the stadium after our humiliation at Colchester? The 0-4 reverse to Harrogate first game of the season. The ghostly images of an empty, decrepit, wintry Roots Hall on your laptop. It’s what passed for entertainment in those days! At the heart of it all was the earnest Mark Molesley who I thought made a decent attempt to play the hand he was given. I always found myself willing to defend him on SZ, not because he was great but because he was obviously trying. He had a plan, maybe not the right one, but he was sticking to it. The wins were few and far between but each one gave me a massive lift during that dark period. Acquah’s last minute winner at Walsall really sticks in my mind, will probably always stay with me that one. I also remember Shaun Hobson developing into a fine young player that season. Someone always emerges from the wreckage and I’ll always take an interest in his career. So, yeah, a terrible, terrible season— the bleakest season imaginable really—but fascinating too in ways that most of our other relegation seasons have not been.

 

[Justleavingwork]

Maybe my memory is not so great, we had a chance with the dreadful defensive draw 0-0 games, until the zoom call where we as a collective group of fans convinced Ron to sack Mark, which I don’t believe he would have done otherwise. Ron appoints his go to guy, with Phil brown coming in.

Whether we would or would not have stayed up who knows, what we do know Phil came in and the game against Colchester where we parted on every attack sealed out fate.

I agree with the comments about Mark being a better number 2 and learning his trade without the comfortable blanket of Bournemouth youth/reserves. His style of play is ok but he needs to players to play it and the grit (which we found in the end) to stop being overran by the bully boys.

 

[Dubai]

I quite enjoy the debates about MM. It was a hugely significant season for Southend, because of Covid, no crowds, because of Ron’s appalling financial management of the club from the start of 2019, peaking in summer / autumn 2020 and because ultimately we were relegated from the football league. It was just so grim it’s almost unimaginable now just a year or so on. But fascinating too. Remember when the fans locked the coach out of the stadium after our humiliation at Colchester? The 0-4 reverse to Harrogate first game of the season. The ghostly images of an empty, decrepit, wintry Roots Hall on your laptop. It’s what passed for entertainment in those days! At the heart of it all was the earnest Mark Molesley who I thought made a decent attempt to play the hand he was given. I always found myself willing to defend him on SZ, not because he was great but because he was obviously trying. He had a plan, maybe not the right one, but he was sticking to it. The wins were few and far between but each one gave me a massive lift during that dark period. Acquah’s last minute winner at Walsall really sticks in my mind, will probably always stay with me that one. I also remember Shaun Hobson developing into a fine young player that season. Someone always emerges from the wreckage and I’ll always take an interest in his career. So, yeah, a terrible, terrible season— the bleakest season imaginable really—but fascinating too in ways that most of our other relegation seasons have not been.

I don’t think it was fascinating at all tbh. I thought it was just ****.

 

[Kris]

I agree. I've never fallen asleep watching Southend play on the box but, that season I did a few times. It was dreadful football, nearly every game without a shot on target.

I'm actually thinking about starting up a streaming service for people who suffer from Insomnia and stream games from MM time in charge. I'd make a killing :)

The season wasn't lost in the last 8 games, it was over after the first 15.

Funnily enough, that plays a big part in my sympathy for MM. He was appointed in the latter stages of pre-season, developed a game plan based on a forward line consisting of Humphries, Hutch and Kelman, only for them to be gone within a month, leaving us with the likes of Acquah; signed the likes of Hart and Akinola but couldn't play them (which meant match fitness suffered); and had to play the likes of Macca - blatantly a Ron signing - even though he couldn't last the full 90 anymore.

So basically we suffered horribly in the opening few weeks/months and had to play catch-up.

Prior to the start of that season the mood on here was so low that several considered us as the worst team in the football league despite being in the league above. This was well before MM became the manager.

I quite enjoy the debates about MM. It was a hugely significant season for Southend, because of Covid, no crowds, because of Ron’s appalling financial management of the club from the start of 2019, peaking in summer / autumn 2020 and because ultimately we were relegated from the football league. It was just so grim it’s almost unimaginable now just a year or so on. But fascinating too. Remember when the fans locked the coach out of the stadium after our humiliation at Colchester? The 0-4 reverse to Harrogate first game of the season. The ghostly images of an empty, decrepit, wintry Roots Hall on your laptop. It’s what passed for entertainment in those days! At the heart of it all was the earnest Mark Molesley who I thought made a decent attempt to play the hand he was given. I always found myself willing to defend him on SZ, not because he was great but because he was obviously trying. He had a plan, maybe not the right one, but he was sticking to it. The wins were few and far between but each one gave me a massive lift during that dark period. Acquah’s last minute winner at Walsall really sticks in my mind, will probably always stay with me that one. I also remember Shaun Hobson developing into a fine young player that season. Someone always emerges from the wreckage and I’ll always take an interest in his career. So, yeah, a terrible, terrible season— the bleakest season imaginable really—but fascinating too in ways that most of our other relegation seasons have not been.

Precisely this.

So strange how people defend one of the worst managers in our recent history. Is he related to some of our fans or something?

He was so good, he managed to only get his next job with Aldershot who he so kindly did the exact same as he did with us and put them near the bottom of the table.

The only good thing to come out of molesley was Hobson and even then he only became good once he had a proper coach around him.

Waste of space and if he wasn’t considered so “cool” by our fan base, we might have got him out earlier and had a chance of staying up.

Any proper football manager would’ve kept us up that year.

Wrong. Aldershot were in the relegation zone with only one win (guess which team that was against) when MM was appointed. He kept them up.

Don't get me wrong, MM has a lot to learn from both experiences but in my time as a Southend fan I've never seen a manager so up against it from the start and for that reason he will always have a degree of sympathy from me.

 

[OllieSteph44]

Funnily enough, that plays a big part in my sympathy for MM. He was appointed in the latter stages of pre-season, developed a game plan based on a forward line consisting of Humphries, Hutch and Kelman, only for them to be gone within a month, leaving us with the likes of Acquah; signed the likes of Hart and Akinola but couldn't play them (which meant match fitness suffered); and had to play the likes of Macca - blatantly a Ron signing - even though he couldn't last the full 90 anymore.

So basically we suffered horribly in the opening few weeks/months and had to play catch-up.

Completely agree. I’m not saying he wasn’t without mistakes but honestly no one on here will truly understand the state of the situation he was met with when he was appointed.

Less than 4 weeks pre season to prepare a side that was in dissarray.

Training ground that had been under lock and key for 5 months, that hadn’t been cleaned or looked after.

Pitches that hadn’t been maintained or marked out.

No training kit.

No friendlies or pre season programme arranged.

Players who’d been socially ignored by everyone at the club since March.

Players still in dispute over pay and covid / furlough pay.

Players who’d had no real off season training plan provided.

It was a complete and utter shambles and while many will say he had enough time to sort things out, he had to do it while under an embargo, Losing his entire forward line and anyone in football will tell you an incomplete or disjointed pre season is often the reason for an entire season being poor.

 

[Lincoln Shrimp]

Maybe my memory is not so great, we had a chance with the dreadful defensive draw 0-0 games, until the zoom call where we as a collective group of fans convinced Ron to sack Mark, which I don’t believe he would have done otherwise. Ron appoints his go to guy, with Phil brown coming in.

Whether we would or would not have stayed up who knows, what we do know Phil came in and the game against Colchester where we parted on every attack sealed out fate.

I agree with the comments about Mark being a better number 2 and learning his trade without the comfortable blanket of Bournemouth youth/reserves. His style of play is ok but he needs to players to play it and the grit (which we found in the end) to stop being overran by the bully boys.

Ron was debating whether to sack Molesley long before the zoom calls. Even before Xmas Ron's finger was getting extremely twitchy hence the desperate phone calls to PB, the first of which was months before he was finally appointed at the beginning of April.

 

[londonblue]

Completely agree. I’m not saying he wasn’t without mistakes but honestly no one on here will truly understand the state of the situation he was met with when he was appointed.

Less than 4 weeks pre season to prepare a side that was in dissarray.

Training ground that had been under lock and key for 5 months, that hadn’t been cleaned or looked after.

Pitches that hadn’t been maintained or marked out.

No training kit.

No friendlies or pre season programme arranged.

Players who’d been socially ignored by everyone at the club since March.

Players still in dispute over pay and covid / furlough pay.

Players who’d had no real off season training plan provided.

It was a complete and utter shambles and while many will say he had enough time to sort things out, he had to do it while under an embargo, Losing his entire forward line and anyone in football will tell you an incomplete or disjointed pre season is often the reason for an entire season being poor.

I don't know why you waste your time. This thread has turned into the most boring of hamster wheels.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I don't know why you waste your time. This thread has turned into the most boring of hamster wheels.

Boring with just a few points being ground out again and again as we go round and round without ever seemingly getting anywhere?

Some would say that’s a fitting epitaph…

He must however be the only manager sacked who was undefeated in front of fans. We played 3 games (2 home, 1 away) in front of a live crowd. We won both home games and drew the away game. He managed us in the weirdest of times.

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

Boring with just a few points being ground out again and again as we go round and round without ever seemingly getting anywhere?

Some would say that’s a fitting epitaph…

He must however be the only manager sacked who was undefeated in front of fans. We played 3 games (2 home, 1 away) in front of a live crowd. We won both home games and drew the away game. He managed us in the weirdest of times.

Not quite. There was a limited attendance of 1,000 spectators at Brunton Park for our 2-0 defeat to Carlisle United in September 2020.

 

[jarvisyeh]

Not quite. There was a limited attendance of 1,000 spectators at Brunton Park for our 2-0 defeat to Carlisle United in September 2020.

0 Southend fans in attendance though.

 

[Stubb]

As a Shrimper since 1959 who now lives in Gosport and who regularly watches Gosport Borough (Southern League Southern Premier Division) they have now appointed Mark Moseley as director of football and manager. OMG!!

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

As a Shrimper since 1959 who now lives in Gosport and who regularly watches Gosport Borough (Southern League Southern Premier Division) they have now appointed Mark Moseley as director of football and manager. OMG!!

From Weymouth to us, then Aldershot & now Gosport, who next Bridport??.

 

[HUMBLEPIE]

I’m surprised he didn’t get the Bournemouth job so the Gosport job is the next best thing.

 

[Zeuss]

As a Shrimper since 1959 who now lives in Gosport and who regularly watches Gosport Borough (Southern League Southern Premier Division) they have now appointed Mark Moseley as director of football and manager. OMG!!

20 of the 22 clubs in this division have started better—so it can’t be till next season that he engineers the first of their promotions.

 

[Dubai]

Still above his level

 

[Chrisb]

20 of the 22 clubs in this division have started better—so it can’t be till next season that he engineers the first of their promotions.

Probably after overseeing their relegation.