Southend on the rise

Brown celebrates promotion in May 2015

Rewind the clock back to the 24th September and Southend United fell to 2nd bottom after a 4-0 defeat at Northampton. Jason Demetriou’s second half sending off swung the tide against them both in that match and, it then seemed, the season.

Phil Brown’s relationship with fans at Roots Hall, which has at times been fractious, even during the promotion season, became increasingly strained. Poor form at the end of the previous campaign and an apparent pursuit of the Bolton Wanderers job on national TV as well as a touchline ban for misconduct had damaged morale.

Or at least, that’s the way it looked. 20 games and 38 points later and any such fears have been proved unfounded. The timing of Anthony Wordsworth’s September return from injury would seem telling, the creative set piece specialist since chipping in with seven goals.

However, it may be a sign of the enhanced depth in Southend’s squad that absences in other areas have been less of a hindrance. Mark Oxley’s injury has brought the best out of his replacement, 21-year-old Ted Smith who has enjoyed a fine nine games.

Legal issues with Ryan Inniss and Nile Ranger could have proved distractions. However, Anton Ferdinand and Adam Thompson have looked sturdy at centre-back while Ranger has been superbly replaced by striker Marc-Antoine Fortune. His partner, Simon Cox, has always recovered quickly from minor injuries and found outstanding form over December and January.

Cox and others excel at holding the ball up, while new signing Theo Robinson gives them another dimension. The striker had struggled with injury but has re-built his career with current National League leaders Lincoln City and offers pace in behind.

Some of his service would come from Stephen McLaughlin, but the goalscoring midfielder has not played in 2017 due to injury. A man coming back into the fray though is Ben Coker. So impressive in previous campaigns, the left-back recently returned to first team action and got an assist for Ryan Leonard against Scunthorpe. Brown’s men came back from a goal down against the league leaders to beat them 3-1, giving the Essex side an eighth home win.

The club’s rise from League Two to the top six of League One has not always been a smooth one, but those involved come out of it with great credit.