Kevin Maher: Southend boss seeks clarity about club's future

Kevin Maher gave up the first-team coach job at Bristol Rovers to return to Southend

Southend boss Kevin Maher says he needs clarity about the club's future before he can implement plans to improve the playing squad this summer.

The Shrimpers missed out on a place in the National League play-offs despite beating Wealdstone in their last game.

The club is up for sale after a winding-up petition was dismissed in March but non-playing staff have not been paid for the last two months.

"We need to act quickly if we're going to take this on," Maher told BBC Essex.

"We're in a great position as a football department to take it forward and be up at the top end of the table next season.

"That's got to happen quickly, it's a big period coming up now. I know what I need to do, and what we need to do as a staff, but we need clarity on what's happening."

Asked if he was anywhere near getting that clarity, Maher replied: "No."

He was appointed manager in October 2021, having made 386 league appearances for the club between 1998 and 2008.

After finishing 13th last season, Southend were well-placed to secure a play-off spot following an 11-match unbeaten run from mid-September to November.

But they lost all seven games in March and were unable to make up the lost ground, ending up eighth in the table, two points below Bromley.

Maher said he was delighted with the way the team had played for the shirt "despite a lot of stuff they've had to deal with".

And he also paid tribute to supporters after 8,434 turned up at Roots Hall for the Wealdstone game.

"We could have quite easily ended up like [relegated] Scunthorpe and Yeovil and Torquay [given what's happened off the pitch], and that's testament to the people who came in the building 18 months ago and the work that's gone on behind the scenes in terms of recruitment," Maher continued.

"To get eight and a half thousand in Roots Hall, that's what I've had here in the Championship and to do that in National League is unbelievable."

He added: "I work with the players on a day in, day out basis and I know what they're capable of. We need a little help at the right time, which we didn't get, and that's probably why we've come up short."