The 21-year-old has finally ended all the speculation by agreeing to a deal that will see him stay with the Shrimpers until the summer of 2007, although having scored six goals in just five loan matches from the south Essex side, his name is sure to continually be discussed amongst larger clubs. However, for the moment, Eastwood is a Southend player, and he will be aiming to fire Blues into League One after helping them into the play-off positions for the first time in over two years.
TLG can reveal that negotiations between Southend United and Grays Athletic hit a series of snags, despite manager Steve Tilson telling the Southend Evening Echo that a deal had been done with Mark Stimson’s side as long ago as last Friday. Talks continued between the clubs, separated by around fifteen miles and two divisions in the football pyramid, until last evening, when Grays officials visited Roots Hall to thrash out the final details of the contract.
News from Grays supporters appeared to suggest that Blues were attempting to change the details of the deal, but it would appear that Athletic were just as guilty in attempting to up the price. The final result is an undisclosed fee, likely to contain a large sell-on fee should Eastwood be sold on during his period on the southeast Essex coast.
Had Eastwood not been captured this week before his loan deal at the Hall expired, there was a large possibility that another club could have rushed in and obtained his signature. Colchester United boss Phil Parkinson and Canvey Island supremo Jeff King both expressed a wish to snatch the youngster from the Shrimpers’ clutches, but those two sides, as well as outfits such as Luton Town, Queens Park Rangers, Swindon Town, Scunthorpe United, Northampton Town and Doncaster Rovers, who up until Saturday were all in a higher Football League placing than Blues, have been thwarted by Tilson’s persistence.
Speaking to the club’s official website, www.southendunited.co.uk, Tilson was ecstatic. “Freddy always wanted to sign and it was just a case of agreeing terms with him and Grays”, the 38-year-old said. “After a few hours of negotiations today we have agreed everything with the agent and he signed the contract”.
The Wickford-born Shrimpers legend believed that Eastwood could follow in the footsteps of the likes of Brett Angell, Martin Carruthers and Leon Constantine, all of whom netted more than twenty goals for the Seasiders. “There’s no question that he can score twenty or more goals if he carries on like this”, said Tilson of the man who has twelve goals to his name for Southend and Grays so far. “Freddy and Wayne have hit it off well and are both scoring goals – they’ve proved a good partnership for us”.
Eastwood was likewise gushing about his return to Football League action, having previously been at West Ham United, although he never broke through from the youth team at the Boleyn Ground. “I’m over the moon to have signed for Blues”, he said. “Over the last month on loan all has gone well and I’m looking forward to the good times in the future with Southend”.
Speaking of his loan spell, the man who has just fathered his second child with girlfriend Debbie, commented, “I never thought I’d do as well as I have here at Southend in such a short space of time. The gaffer seems happy with what I’ve done and I’m happy with my performances as well and I can only improve playing at this standard of the game”.
And after scoring a hat-trick against table-toppers Swansea City on debut, and another against Scunthorpe United who then took over at the pinnacle of League Two before helping Blues leapfrog Northampton Town into the play-offs, Eastwood was optimistic about the 2004/5 campaign. “After last weekend I definitely think we have a chance of getting promotion this season – it will be a massive achievement for the club and myself”.
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com