Next Southend Manager Contenders: Stan Collymore helping recruit Phil Brown’s replacement

Southend United sacked Phil Brown over the weekend in the aftermath of a 4-0 defeat at home to Chesterfield, which left the struggling Shrimpers 20th in the National League.

Southend, who have suffered back-to-back relegations, have endured yet another difficult start to a season, collecting just two wins from their opening 10 games.

Brown, in his second spell, has subsequently been fired after six months at the helm, meaning he’s now been sacked from clubs in the Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two, and the National League. 

He leaves with a record of just four wins from 16 matches following his appointment in April (25% win rate).

In fact, Southend’s last three managers have recorded just 16 combined wins from a total of 84 matches: Sol Campbell (four), Mark Molesley (eight), and Brown (four).

Former Southend striker Stan Collymore has revealed that he’s part of a four-man recruitment team tasked with finding Brown’s replacement, and he had a Zoom chat with supporters over the weekend.

Collymore has drawn up a list of candidates, seven of whom are “very open to interview”.

He will now spend the next week bidding to find the “right man as manager of Southend United as speedily as possible but cutting no corners in making sure every candidate is asked questions across the football remit. A real and proper due diligence worthy of our club.”

So, who will that person be?

Darren Currie has been installed as the early favourite in Bet Victor’s betting market, ahead of the likes of Graham Coughlan, John McGreal, Steve Tilson, Mark Bentley, Hayden Mullins, Ross Embleton, and Paul Tisdale - scroll to the bottom of the article for the full list.

Currie (3/1), who has been linked with the job in the past, spent the final few months of last season as joint-manager of Sheffield United U23s - alongside Graham Coughlan - and according to Echo-News has been present in the director's box at multiple Shrimpers matches this term.

The 46-year-old previously led Barnet to the National League play-offs, and if Twitter is a barometer, he’s a popular choice with many fans.

Meanwhile, ex-Bristol Rovers and Mansfield manager Coughlan - who ended his playing career at Southend and was previously assistant to Brown in his first spell - can be backed at 4/1.

In 2019 he left League One Rovers to join League Two Mansfield in order to be closer to his family, but struggled in the job, winning just four of his 27 games.

Whether McGreal and Tisdale, who are both out-of-work, would be overly eager to dip down into non-league at a miss-firing club with a penchant for sacking managers remains to be seen - six bosses have left since January 2018. So, we can only wait and see.

Ex-Wrexham and Walsall boss Dean Keates is available at 16/1, the same price as Mullins who is currently in charge of Colchester, so a switch is probably unlikely.

Martin Allen (25/1) has buckets of experience at this level, while young coach Embleton (16/1) is seeking his next opportunity after leaving Leyton Orient.

Southend could well opt for someone with an affinity to the club, such as former players 14/1-Mark Bentley, now manager of Canvey Island, and Millwall first-team coach Adam Barrett (16/1), or ex-boss and two-time promotion winner 14/1-Steve Tilson who is now at Heybridge Swifts.

Neil Harris (20/1) is probably a long shot though!