1. Colin Murphy (1992-93) - crap manager, boring defensive long ball tactics never worked.
2. Barry Fry (1993) - as he wasn't Southend he betrayed us at the first opportunity, unsettling all the remaining players for the rest of that season and the following season.
3. Peter Taylor (1993-95) - crap manager, did he make a single decent signing? Certainly made plenty of duff ones. Teams were dull and lost a lot.
4. Ronnie Whelan (1995-97)- crap ****head manager, signed too many ****heads on big wages.
5. Alvin Martin - (1997-99) crap manager, kept signing players who combined crapness with not caring and nearly got us relegated into the conference.
6. Alan Little (1999-2000) - crap manager, playing the most dour football possible and not getting results either.
7. David Webb (2000-01) - absolute legend, but heart wasn't really in it, did an OK caretaker job but not a long term option.
8. Rob Newman (2001-03) - good player, nice bloke but sadly crap manager, who never got us competing.
9. Steve Wignall (2003) - good pedigree with the inbreds but crap manager who lacked the passion in his eyes and might have taken us into the conference.
10. Steve Tilson (2003-whenever) - Southend's player of the millenium.
By 2003 I was fed up with the revolving door at the Southend manager's office. 10 managers in 10 years had got us where? Down two divisions and staring at the possibility, with Drewe Broughton up front make that the probability, of conference football. We'd tried everything, from those highly regarded in the game (that joker Muphy), to those who had got teams promoted from that division before (Little, Wignall, Webby), to great players (Whelan), to ex-players (Peter Taylor), to players with no Southend connection whatsoever (Alvin Martin).
One thing became clear to me. Sacking managers just doesn't work. If we were going to do anything but bump around the bottom of the 4th division we needed to pick a manager and stick with them, through thick and thin. And out of those ten, I know which manager I'd like to stick with through thick and thin. Tilly cares about the club and is about as loyal as you'll get in this day and age. He's unlikely to be poached. If we were going to stick with anyone it might as well be him.
So I said back in 2003 that I'd be prepared to stick with him, as for the last decade we'd been a nothing club so we might as well be a nothing club with a club legend in charge, playing decent football for so long as our league status remains secure. As long as he fulfills those criteria he's got my backing. Let him learn from the mistakes his made. The fact that he's already saved the club from relegation to the conference, taken us to two national finals, won the play-offs, won only our second ever title and our only our second ever promotion to the second tier of English football and achieved our greatest cup result is merely the icing on the cake.
So I'm sticking to Tilly, even when we (because we will eventually) experience some hard times. If last season, containing one of the greatest moments of supporting Southend, is considered "thin" times, then Tilly certainly has the manager's job for life as far as I'm concerned.
2. Barry Fry (1993) - as he wasn't Southend he betrayed us at the first opportunity, unsettling all the remaining players for the rest of that season and the following season.
3. Peter Taylor (1993-95) - crap manager, did he make a single decent signing? Certainly made plenty of duff ones. Teams were dull and lost a lot.
4. Ronnie Whelan (1995-97)- crap ****head manager, signed too many ****heads on big wages.
5. Alvin Martin - (1997-99) crap manager, kept signing players who combined crapness with not caring and nearly got us relegated into the conference.
6. Alan Little (1999-2000) - crap manager, playing the most dour football possible and not getting results either.
7. David Webb (2000-01) - absolute legend, but heart wasn't really in it, did an OK caretaker job but not a long term option.
8. Rob Newman (2001-03) - good player, nice bloke but sadly crap manager, who never got us competing.
9. Steve Wignall (2003) - good pedigree with the inbreds but crap manager who lacked the passion in his eyes and might have taken us into the conference.
10. Steve Tilson (2003-whenever) - Southend's player of the millenium.
By 2003 I was fed up with the revolving door at the Southend manager's office. 10 managers in 10 years had got us where? Down two divisions and staring at the possibility, with Drewe Broughton up front make that the probability, of conference football. We'd tried everything, from those highly regarded in the game (that joker Muphy), to those who had got teams promoted from that division before (Little, Wignall, Webby), to great players (Whelan), to ex-players (Peter Taylor), to players with no Southend connection whatsoever (Alvin Martin).
One thing became clear to me. Sacking managers just doesn't work. If we were going to do anything but bump around the bottom of the 4th division we needed to pick a manager and stick with them, through thick and thin. And out of those ten, I know which manager I'd like to stick with through thick and thin. Tilly cares about the club and is about as loyal as you'll get in this day and age. He's unlikely to be poached. If we were going to stick with anyone it might as well be him.
So I said back in 2003 that I'd be prepared to stick with him, as for the last decade we'd been a nothing club so we might as well be a nothing club with a club legend in charge, playing decent football for so long as our league status remains secure. As long as he fulfills those criteria he's got my backing. Let him learn from the mistakes his made. The fact that he's already saved the club from relegation to the conference, taken us to two national finals, won the play-offs, won only our second ever title and our only our second ever promotion to the second tier of English football and achieved our greatest cup result is merely the icing on the cake.
So I'm sticking to Tilly, even when we (because we will eventually) experience some hard times. If last season, containing one of the greatest moments of supporting Southend, is considered "thin" times, then Tilly certainly has the manager's job for life as far as I'm concerned.