West, 46, will be known to our next opponents Hartlepool as he was the right hand man to present caretaker manager Chris Turner and followed him to Sheffield Wednesday when they left the Money Hangers first time around.
He worked with Paul Brush at Leyton Orient as well as scouting for MK Dons prior to being in charge of Millwall reserves.
As a player he made 458 appearances at 10 different sides which included Sunderland, Rangers and West Brom, scoring 128 goals.
Speaking to www.southendunited.co.uk Blues boss Steve Tilson said: "I like Colin's attitude. He's played for some big clubs in his career and he has made a name for himself in coaching also. He was a striker in his playing days so he will bring a wealth of experience to that department."
A surprise to a few Shrimpers who felt once again the club would look to bring in a former player.
They have also decided to split the old responsibilities of Dean Austin, now assistant manager at Championship Watford, by bringing in Mark Stow, ironically made redundant by Watford by former boss Aidy Boothroyd as part of a cost cutting exercise.
Stow spent 8 years with Premier League Chelsea as a scout and coach with the club's academy before moving on to Watford in 2005 as their chief academy scout then taking up the same role the following year with the first team.
The man will be remembered by Watford fans for his scouting missions in the French and Dutch leagues which saw the Hornets inundated with unknown trialists craving for a professional contract. This being critical in the uninspired signings of Cedric Avinel and Johan Cavalli from lesser known French Ligue 2 sides US Creteil and FC Istres respectively.
Cavalli left the club just 6 months into an 18 month deal whilst centre back Avinel is not even considered a first team fringe squad member!
Cavalli left the club just 6 months into an 18 month deal whilst centre back Avinel is not even considered a first team fringe squad member!
However, a lot of Stow's work though would have gone unnoticed - the likes of Fulham's £4m man Hameur Bouazza and Hereford's on-loan star Toumani Diagouraga were picked up playing college football by Watford's Academy scouting network in Paris whilst Al Bangura was a 'Stow spot' whilst playing park football.