Brentford methods can work at Southend United, says Stan Collymore
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Stan Collymore took on the role of senior football strategist at Southend in November 2021
Southend United senior football strategist Stan Collymore believes the Shrimpers could benefit from following some of the methods used by Brentford.
The Bees kept faith with head coach Thomas Frank after poor results following his appointment in 2018.
And Southend have now "ring-fenced" the position of manager Kevin Maher, in charge since October, and his staff.
"I love their model. It's not all tailored to Southend, but some of it is," Collymore told BBC Essex.
Southend were relegated from the English Football League in 2021 and were 20th in the National League table when Maher was appointed by a panel including Collymore.
They lost their first two games after he took over, but climbed to 12th by the end of the season.
"I always had in the back of my mind Thomas Frank at Brentford," said Collymore.
"We've got a good relationship with Brentford after playing them in Christian Eriksen's first game back. I speak to Matthew Benham the owner a fair bit.
"And I remember Thomas Frank going into Brentford and they lost nine out of his first 10 games. Sometimes you just have to hold your nerve and say this is the right thing."
He continued: "It's clicking. We have now lost five games in 22, and for me the coaching team are completely ring-fenced.
"Anything that happens at the club, they get on with it. There's a great open-door policy with players, the place is bouncing, and there's no doubt in my mind that as long as we've got that coaching staff in, as long as we've got Tom [Lawrence] as CEO, allowed to make decisions, we will start to move forward."
Southend will have an unchanged playing budget in 2022-23, but Collymore acknowledged the squad needs an overhaul this summer.
"The difference between us and Chesterfield, Stockport, Notts County and Wrexham is that they've already got a team that is ready for either the play-offs or promotion. We've now got to build that so there's a lot of work going on."
He added: "I would like to stay around until Southend United are in [a new ground at] Fossetts Farm, getting 15,000 to 18,000 people in the Championship where I played for Southend United.
"With the people that are at the club now, and the people that will come in, the future is very, very bright."
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