Southend United owner Ron Martin today revealed why he feels Steve Wignall is the man to revive Blues' ailing fortunes.

The Shrimpers supremo named former Colchester boss Wignall as the Third Division club's new manager at the weekend.

New Blues boss - Steve Wignall

And Martin confirmed the 48-year-old was the overwhelming choice of Blues' board ahead of fellow short-listed candidates, Don Makay, Steve Thompson and Stewart Robson.

"We went for Steve because he had the most experience of the Third and Second Divisions, as well as the non-leagues," explained Martin.

"He was the unanimous choice of the Southend board and we believe we have the right man in place to take us forward.

"One of the biggest considerations was that we only have two of our current players under contract next season.

"A number of the squad will be leaving us because either we don't consider them to be good enough or they are not the sort of characters we want to retain here.

"Therefore, we are going to need to bring in at least eight to ten new players over thesummer as we carry out a complete overhaul of the playing staff.

"And we feel Steve is the man to make a quick assessment of the players he wants to keep, as well as using his numerous contacts to find the new blood we need to make Southend successful.

"We have already worked out a budget for Steve and he will have a slightly greater latitude to bring in players than we had this season.

"Obviously there aren't many fees being paid for players in the current football climate, with a lot of people moving around on free transfers.

"But if Steve needs to pay money for a player he feels will make a big difference to the squad then he will have the full backing of the board."

Both Wignall and Shrimpers head coach Robson have been handed two-year contracts to work in tandem.

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Published Thursday, April 24, 2003

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