Southend United appoint Kevin Bond as boss for rest of season
- Published
Kevin Bond (right) worked alongside Harry Redknapp (centre) and Paul Groves during his time at Birmingham City
League One strugglers Southend United have appointed former Tottenham and QPR assistant boss Kevin Bond as their manager until the end of the season.
The 61-year-old has spent much of his career as number two to Harry Redknapp at various clubs including Birmingham, who dismissed them in September 2017.
Southend are only above the drop zone on goal difference and sacked Chris Powell after an 11-game winless run.
Bond's most recent managerial stint in England ended at Bournemouth in 2008.
His first game in charge of the Shrimpers will be an away game at Fleetwood on Saturday.
Southend are above the bottom four on goal difference, but only 6 points below Gillingham in 13th place
In a statement,, external Southend described Bond as "highly experienced", with "considerable knowledge" of League One, but they will review the position after the final six games of the campaign.
The club's academy manager Ricky Duncan and under-23 boss Kevin Maher will return to their roles after taking caretaker charge of their defeat by Shrewsbury.
"Both Ricky and Kevin anticipated this interim position would be short-lived. The board felt that more fundamental changes needed to be made," the Southend statement added.
Bond, who worked under Roberto di Matteo during his short spell at Aston Villa, had been scouting for Portsmouth, external and has also managed Hong Kong side Pegasus.
Analysis
BBC Essex Sports Editor Glenn Speller
Bond comes with limited experience as a number one but another flat, shot-shy performance on Saturday made an appointment all the more important.
He may be able to lean on Harry Redknapp for some advice, but it's difficult to see what changes he can make in six games to an injury-ravaged squad with just four points from a possible 36.
If he does keep them up it would be harsh for him not to earn the job on a full-time basis.
Southend's remaining games
6 April: Fleetwood (a)
13 April: Wycombe (h)
19 April: Walsall (a)
22 April: Burton Albion (h)
27 April: Rochdale (a)
4 May: Sunderland (h)