Football Season Review

After narrowly missing out on a play-off place last season, Southend entered this one looking to do one better and finish inside the top six. They started their season with a famous 2:1 win over Blackburn, but what followed was a seven-game winless run, as it became apparent that a play-off would likely remain out of their reach. The Shrimpers did improve somewhat over time but never really reached their level from the previous campaign and had a horror run of form between mid December and mid January that saw them lose seven out of eight games and that cost Phil Brown his job. The club opted to replace the experienced manager with Chris Powell and their new boss oversaw a major upturn in their fortunes, with the Shrimpers moving away from the relegation zone and managing to finish inside the top half. Southend were decent at home during the majority of the season but their away record was their undoing and only late in the season did they show signs of being able to perform on their travels as well. Powell will now have the summer to make changes to the squad his own and it is is clear that a bit of an overhaul will take place, with some of the experienced players, such as Anton Ferdinand and Anthony Wordsworth, being set to leave. The Shrimpers will be looking to improve on the current campaign and push for the play-offs next time around and time will tell whether their second half of the season was a purple patch or a sign of things to come under Powell.

Player of the Season: Jason Demetriou