TLG Review of 2004 – June

Last updated : 29 December 2004 By Robert Craven

Wayne Gray was confirmed as Steve Tilson's third summer signing
While Wayne Rooney set about wrecking havoc around Europe’s defences until that unfortunate metatarsal injury ultimately proved costly for his country in the quarter-final against Portugal, Blues were busy bringing in former England Schoolboys sprinter Wayne Gray from Wimbledon, who were on the verge of changing their name to Milton Keynes Dons. The 23-year-old had scored four times in 15 starts for the Dons as they were relegated from Division One, and impressed on loan at Leyton Orient during 2001. He came in as Colchester United front man Scott McGleish chose to join Northampton Town instead of a summer switch to the seaside.


Midfielder Jay Smith then confirmed that he was staying with the Shrimpers, signing a one-year deal that could be extended to two seasons dependant on the former Aston Villa man making 25 League appearances during the 2003/4 campaign, a tough ask considering that he was not expected to return to action until October with his fractured dislocation of his right ankle. Michael Husbands, another former Villa Park youngster, was told that he could leave the club by gaffer Steve Tilson.


One man Tilson would not have wanted to leave was Leon Cort, the towering colossus who had been virtually ever-present in three seasons with the Shrimpers after joining the club from Millwall. The 24-year-old linked up with former United manager Peter Taylor at Hull City, with Tilson telling the club’s official website, “Peter Taylor made me a very generous offer and you cannot ignore things like that”.


Very quickly, however, Tilson and assistant Paul Brush set about replacing Cort with Dagenham-born and Rayleigh-raised centre-half Adam Barrett. The same age as Cort, Barrett had over 200 League and Cup appearances to his name after spells with Plymouth Argyle and Bristol Rovers, where he was captain in 2003/4. Barrett rejected a new deal with Ian Atkins at the Memorial Stadium, taking a wage cut to join the Shrimpers.


More defensive reinforcements arrived in the shape of big Dutch goalkeeper Bart Griemink. The 32-year-old was a straight replacement for Carl Emberson, although with current number one Darryl Flahavan stalling on a new contract offer, Tilson took the opportunity to take a swipe at the long-standing Blues shotstopper: “Bart’s played over 250 games for some good clubs so he knows the circuit well. He dominates his box well which is something we have lacked”. His first appearance would come against Cheltenham Town, after the Robins came out of the fixture machine first again for the 2004/5 season.


Two more of the existing squad then gave a boost to the club by agreeing to put pen to paper on new deals. Kevin Maher, the club captain, put an end to speculation linking him to Sheffield Wednesday and Hull by adding two more seasons to his time with Southend, whilst Michael Husbands decided that it was best to try and work things through with the management and linked up with his team-mates for pre-season training.


As June came to an end, and the squad started to get together for the first time in preparation for the upcoming campaign, an old-timer in Spencer Prior told Tilson that he did not want to be a part of his United plans. The pair met up, but the latter told the Southend Evening Echo that the meeting confirmed Prior’s intensions to play the game at the highest standard that he could. He promptly started training with Colchester.


Newsround (click on headline for full story):


Thu 03 Jun | Gray Checks In For Shrimpers

Fri 04 Jun | Midfielder Smith Signs New Blues Deal

Mon 07 Jun | Former Boss Swoops For Leon

Mon 14 Jun | Local Boy Barrett Joins Shrimpers Revolution

Wed 23 Jun | Dutchman Griemink Becomes New Number One

Tue 29 Jun | Shrimpers Squad Strengthened

Wed 30 Jun | Tilson Rules Out Prior Move


Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com