Glenn Morris; Will be the Shrimpers No.1 for 2011/12
Southend United goalkeeper Glenn Morris, who cemented his place as the best Shrimpers shot stopper in recent weeks after a season long glove-off with Rhys Evans, has finally put pen to paper on a new one year extention to his present contract that ended this summer.
27-year-old Morris was one of the Blues boss Paul Sturrock summer 17 signings, and played 37 games for the club this campaign, where he kept ten clean sheets, which triggered a clause in his last deal to give the Shrimpers first go on his continued service.
Glenn only dropped out for injury allowing another ex-Borient keeper in Evans a run in the team, which he managed only 16 times, not always to great success!
Anyway, this has all led to a happy Luggy where Blues boss Paul Sturrock is starting to see the building of a strong squad that can compete at the top of League Two next time around.
Sturrock told www.southendunited.co.uk: "We were fortunate last season in that we had two strong goalkeepers at the club. Glenn did well in goal and played in the majority of games last season. He lost his place when he was injured and Rhys came in and I found it hard to then vchange a winning side. But I'm really pleased to get another player signed up for next season and the squad is really starting to take shape now."
And the man himself always seemed certain to place his signature on the dotted line.
Morris told BBC Essex earlier this month: "I've been offered another year's contract so I'm pretty sure I'll be at Southend next year."
Fellow keeper Rhys Evans was sadly one of the released five in in what has now turned out as an early promotion for now ex-under 18 keeper Daniel Bentley, certainly a cheaper option for cash-strapped Southend as the youngster has signed his first pro deal with the club lasting two years, which Glenn sees being repeated around the league and not just at Roots Hall.
Interesting move by the club giving Daniel double the Morris deal, Luggy obviously sees him as a future No.1.
For now though, great to see Glenn stay on for another year at least.
The Morris Files
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Glenn Morris | ||
| Date of birth | 20 December 1983 (1983-12-20) | ||
| Place of birth | Woolwich, London, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Southend United | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001-2010 | Leyton Orient | 124 | (0) |
| 2010- | Southend United | 34 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 10 April 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
(Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Morris_(footballer)
The Bentley Files
Meanwhile, the 6ft 2in 17-year-old Daniel Bentley has already warmed the first team substitutes bench for 18 games.
He made his under-18's debut in a 5-2 win over Aldershot Town even before signing his scholarship in March 2009 where he is now in his second year.
Bentley went on to feature fifteen times for the under-18s during the 2009/10 season as well as making his debut for the reserve team in February 2010.
He was allowed to drop a couple of tiers and join Braintree Town in February who went on to win the Conference South.
Daniel only stayed for one game before returning to join the exciting Shrimpers under-18 youth cup run, he's still not 18 until July, which sadly ended earlier this year in such a big defeat at Anfield against Liverpool in the sixth round.
His Southend United Record
Competition | ||||||||||||||
 |  | 2010/11 Totals | SUFC Career Totals | |||||||||||
League | Cup | U18's | Reserves | 1st Team | ||||||||||
Player | Games | Goals | Games | Goals | Games | Goals | Games | Goals | Games | Goals | Games | Goals | Games | Goals |
Daniel BENTLEY | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8 (1) | 0 | ||
Glenn hits form at the right time!:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/
shrimpers_shot_stopper_in_
league_two_team_of_the_week_672817/index.shtml
Not too famous five:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/
sturrock_confirms_released_shrimpers_
i_really_hope_they_can_find_new_clubs_674772/index.shtml