Both managers have their say before Saturday's League Two season opener between Shrimpers and Hatters, and both have plenty of new players on show that need to gel as quickly as possible.
Sturrock: 'Winning can become a habit'
Blues boss Paul Sturrock is all ready for the season opener against Stockport at Roots Hall Saturday, but is not talking the game lightly.
Paul told www.southendunited.co.uk: "Stockport are a solid team with some good players so we'll have to show them the respect they deserve. This is a very difficult game to start the season with but we want to get some points on the board as quickly as we can because winning can become a habit."
Sturrock also commented on his policy of creating a new squad from so many players that he's managed in the past.
Paul continued: "It was a no-brainer to go for some players I already knew because they won't take as long to settle in as they know what I want. We're all in this together but I've enjoyed it as football is a drug to me. I had five weeks of sitting at home twiddling my thumbs before coming to Southend and I'd much rather be doing this than painting walls or sorting out the garden."
Quite!
The Hatters were relegated from the third tier last season along with Southend after a disastrous season which saw them languishing in administration and crippled by debts.
Yet, since being taken over in the summer, new life has been breathed into Edgeley Park by the former Carlisle and Shrewbury manager Paul Simpson's appointment.
Simpson said: "Knowing what has gone on at the club over the last 18 months or so, I have been pleased with the attitude amongst the players. There certainly appears to be no hangover from the disappointment of relegation last season. Indeed there is a real sense of professionalism amongst them showing that they have put the recent past to the back of their minds."
And now his team face their first test against another team that had their own problems off the pitch, and Simo feels his Hatters are very close to where he wants them to be.
Simpson told www.manchesteronline.co.uk: "I'm 99 per cent sure of the team to play Southend. The fitness levels are getting closer to where I would like them to be ahead of that first game. I would rather have had six weeks longer with my preparation because I've had to put this group together in the space of three weeks, so we've had to assemble a squad very quickly. Hopefully, we won't be too far away come Saturday."
