Firoz Kassam’s reign as chairman has been a peculiar one, and he is rumoured, as ever, to be on the verge of quitting the club. Southend attempted to poach his previous manager, Ian Atkins, when Steve Wignall was sacked, it is alleged by the businessman, but instead it was Bristol Rovers who got their man. Graham Rix was put in temporary charge at the end of last season, which fizzled out having led the table at Christmas, and he remains at the helm today.
However, just how much longer he will be afforded seems to be in the lap of the Gods. Rix’s men halted an embarrassing slide when they defeated Cheltenham Town by a solitary Tommy Mooney goal to nil on Saturday, but after six consecutive League Two defeats (and an LDV Vans Trophy penalty shoot-out loss to Conference side Exeter City interspersed), the U’s find themselves struggling in 19th place.
Kassam is an ambitious man, and it is touted that one further defeat will see the end of Rix, who was released as a youth team coach at Chelsea after allegations of paedophilia. He has placed his faith in a number of ex-Southend players, not least top goalscorer Mooney, for whom Saturday’s goal was his fifth of the campaign. Leo Roget has another, and is the current Oxford captain, whilst the much-maligned Mark Rawle has had to settle for a place in the reserves of late.
Coca-Cola League Two |
07/08/04: Boston United (a) L0-1 11/08/04: Mansfield Town (h) W1-0 (Mooney) 14/08/04: Scunthorpe United (h) D1-1 (Mooney) 21/08/04: Leyton Orient (a) D0-0 28/08/04: Shrewsbury Town (h) W2-0 (Bradbury, Mooney) 30/08/04: Notts County (a) W1-0 (Bradbury [pen]) 03/09/04: Wycombe Wanderers (a) D1-1 (Roget) 11/09/04: Rushden & Diamonds (h) D0-0 18/09/04: Yeovil Town (a) L1-6 (Hand) 25/09/04: Bury (h) W3-1 (Basham, Scott [o.g.], Mooney) 02/10/04: Bristol Rovers (a) L0-2 10/10/04: Darlington (h) L1-2 (Woozley) 16/10/04: Lincoln City (h) L0-1 19/10/04: Northampton Town (a) L0-1 23/10/04: Macclesfield Town (a) L0-1 30/10/04: Cheltenham Town (h) W1-0 (Mooney)
|
FA Cup |
13/11/04: R1 – Rochdale (a) |
Carling Cup |
25/08/04: R1 – Reading (h) L0-2
|
LDV Vans Trophy |
29/10/04: R1 – Exeter City (h) D2-2 [L1-3 on pens] (Winters, Hand)
|
2004/5 Records |
Matches Played: 18 (10 home, 8 away) Matches Won: 4 (3 home, 1 away) Matches Drawn: 5 (3 home, 2 away) Matches Lost: 9 (4 home, 5 away) Goals Scored: 14 (11 home, 3 away) Goals Conceded: 21 (9 home, 12 away) Dave Mackay, Tommy Mooney, Matt Robinson – 18 Steve Basham – 14+3 Chris Tardif – 16
Tommy Mooney – 5 Lee Bradbury, Jamie Hand – 2 Steve Basham, Leo Roget, Tom Winters, David Woozley – 1 |
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com