I feel compelled to post this evening, because I feel there's a fair amount of revisionism and lack of consideration of issues at the moment. I'll start by saying nobody wants to see Southend United in a mid-table position in the National League, and least of all those people is Kevin Maher.
I've seen the phrase "credit in the bank" used quite a lot. In my opinion, there's not enough credit in the bank for what Maher and his staff have been through. Quite simply, he went above and beyond what any football manager should have to do during his first two-and-a-half years at the club.
To my mind, it's also simply not possible to dismiss the situation at the club is the lead-up to this season as an excuse. Less than six months ago, we weren't sure if the National League were going to let us participate in the competition this season, Ron Martin still owned the club and we couldn't sign any players.
Then, once the off-field stuff was resolved and the season started, we lost our talisman up front to a divisional rival and the central defender that not only enabled us to play out from the back effectively, but was also a player that clubs from higher divisions were reportedly interested in and could have been sold for a decent profit. Once they'd gone, another two key components to our style of play in midfield, Cav Miley and Oli Coker, were ruled out for a lengthy period.
I've stated before, I don't think it's the style of play, or the formation, we employ, it's been the execution and the results. A couple more home wins and we'd be in or around the play-offs, and these conversations wouldn't be taking place. Of course, we haven't won those games, and not all of that is due to the context above. But I don't remember anyone complaining about how we played last season, or the season before; if the coaching team were allowed a free pass due to circumstances in those seasons, why has that now been rescinded?
Another huge factor is confidence and belief. I've posted the statistics about what happens when we go behind a couple of times in recent weeks, but here they are again: 2 points gained in league matches where we've conceded the first goal and 3 points gained from matches where we've been in a losing position. That's partially why we play it safe sometimes and don't take a risk, because we're worried if we do we'll almost certainly lose.
The other aspect to that is that you can't just go down the shops and buy some confidence. You have to earn it. Fighting back (twice) from a goal down against the league leaders will help; picking up a point away from home when you have to play 40 minutes with ten men will help; beating a team away from home that are on the cusp of the play-offs will help. In short, we're unbeaten in five matches with three clean sheets; the longer we keep that going, the more belief the squad will have.
But there's a real sense that it's our home form that's the issue and so, whilst the 2-2 draw with Forest Green Rovers was helpful, it won't eradicate the bad memories of home defeats against Maidenhead United and Yeovil Town.
I have faith that Maher and his team will overcome this. Why? Because he has already turned the club around once, when he arrived through the door in his first managerial job. Remember where we were in autumn 2021, on a complete downward spiral. Chris Powell hadn't managed to turn things around, Kevin Bond got us off to the following season on an awful footing, Sol Campbell got a couple of memorable results with largely a youth team, but most of that season we were listless and it ended with relegation on points per game, Mark Molesey's first league appointment was an almost impossible assignment, and Phil Brown's second tenure ended with the club in disarray.
Kevin Maher walked into that situation - with all the off-field shenanigans in the background - and made people proud to represent Southend United, whether that was the coaching staff, the players on the pitch, those around Roots Hall, us as fans. Whatever we felt about the owner, we could see there was someone in the trenches fighting for the club, fighting for us. And he turned this club around when it was pointed straight at National League South. So when he says he knows what he needs to do, we should listen.
The recent recruitment of Charley Kendall suggests to me that the recruitment model is back on track, that we're identifying the sort of targets we have previously. I said after the Brentwood game we have options all over the pitch now, and I expect there will be a few different options over the coming months, if the right players become available.
I'm not going to go into depth on formations, etc, because
I wrote this almost two months ago, and that's still my position. Maher has a favoured formation and style, but he has always been flexible, in game and between games. Anyone that suggests otherwise and that he's stubborn or resistant to change is not portraying the situation accurately.
I think we're amazingly fortunate that we've had someone with the passion, commitment, dignity, knowledge and ability of Kevin Maher leading our football club over the past three years, and I firmly believe he will lead us out of this division (in the right direction) in time. We've improved season-on-season, so although there may be some blind loyalty in this post, I also feel it's rooted in a fair amount of fact and context.
