Spinner speaks out on Shrimpers: 'Club could be heading back down which is a real shame'

Spinner doing what he did best, looking calm and collected on a football pitch

On the Shrimpers the retired defender Spencer Prior is as tough and uncompromising with his opinions as he was with any centre-forwards that got in his way during his playing days.

Spinner told www.echo-news.co.uk: "I don't like the way things have been going at Southend and it's not nice looking in on it from the outside. Everyone knows what happened with me and the club earlier on this season when I was owed money but that's all been sorted now and I want to see them stay up."

After doing his bit to get the Blues into the second tier of league football he doesn't fancy the idea of seeing them away to Accrington Stanley next season.

Spinner continued: "I really do feel for Steve Tilson, Paul Brush and Ron Martin and it's disappointing to see it decaying like it is. When I came back in to the club we all worked so hard to get up from League Two into the Championship. But now it looks like they could be heading back from where we came from which is a real shame."

Having played for both teams Spinner has a fondess for both clubs involved in this evenings encounter at Carrow Road and accepts it will be a tough task for the Shrimpers to get anything from the game.

He explained: "It's obviously a very hard game for Southend and I don't think they are helped by Norwich losing at the weekend. Blues could well be facing a bit of a backlash against a team who will now be even more fired up and who I think are certain to go on and win promotion this season."

The centre half who also had spells with Derby, Manchester City and Cardiff, is pleased the present League One leaders are doing so well after relegation last season.

In ex-head Farmer Paul Lambert he believes the Canaries have found the right man for the manager's chair.

Spinner concluded: "Paul Lambert has done a fantastic job but I'll be honest and say I was disappointed when they first gave him the job. I wanted to see Ian Crook given a go but all credit to the board because they've been proved to have made the right decision and from what I hear he's a very honest manager. I think he's a no nonsense type of guy as well and it's the first time Norwich have had that since Martin O'Neill."

One Norwich supporter passed on his memories of Spinner in his prime.

Tim Allman of the Capital Canaries told S24: "The season Spencer Prior won the Barry Butler Memorial Trophy it was getting very unpleasant at Carrow Road; Martin O'Neil had upped sticks and gone to Leicester (I think he went on the day of the draw for the finals of Euro 96) and the extent of the financial catastrophe at Norwich City had become evident.

As I recall he was in and out of the team in the premiership, but the season after we were relegated he was a first choice. Although he won player of the season for us, he's one of those players that I don't remember much about, apart from him being a very solid and tough centre back.

Perhaps it was the awfulness of the season which fell away after we lost 1-2 in January 1996 in the League Cup Quarter final at Birmingham. Spencer Prior played in that game, partnered in defence by John Polston. We should have won, played against ten men for thirty minutes as well."

The Prior Files