Bernie Friend

If today is Kevin Maher’s last game as #southendunited boss, then people need to remember how he has led Blues into the play-offs and Wembley twice fighting utter chaos: points deductions, transfer embargos, financial meltdown and almost extinction. Be careful what you wish for…

@20_goto_10 FGR = £5million last season. Blues: £1.5m. That’s the measure of the job Kev and his team did against all the odds.

@BernieFriend38 Bang on bernie. We overachieved our budget. There is only so much you can wring out of the resources we had. We didn't need fgr budget to get the job done with this management team. Unless the budget increases I doubt things will be as good this time next year

So the next #southendunited manager’s remit will be to plug the 27-point gap Blues finished behind National League champs York. Let’s hope the huge playing budget deficiency is also plugged to make that goal achievable… as it was better players, not new coaches that were needed

@andy_walden @SmiffySUFC You have to play with what you’ve got at your disposal, and do what is best to grind out results. I don’t remember us having a wealth of attacking talent on our books so we could be more adventurous

@BernieFriend38 @SmiffySUFC That just sounds like an excuse. His teams have always played the same way.

@andy_walden @SmiffySUFC Better players would help, then the playing style can change. Kev and Co had to make the best of what they had…

Would you not say that a different coaching style might also help? Some of the most negative football I’ve seen at Roots Hall have come from Maher’s teams. Thought it was going to be very different at first last season, winning 3 nil at Gateshead, signing Dallas, but we soon resorted to playing sideways and backwards. Dallas is a 25 goal a season player and we didn’t exploit it nearly enough.

@sjapresley You can only set up with what you’ve got… and we have been punching massively

@BernieFriend38 It's a divisive subject & I respectfully disagree. My 1st season in many I didnt renew my season ticket, solely down to how we played & were setup under KM. The usual plaudits aside for KM,I felt we could have mounted a much stronger challenge but tactics were poor too often 1/2

@we11ydc Yes, absolutely, based on the evidence of how much he has squeezed out of players scouted mainly from below the level we are playing at. I would have liked to have seen what Kev and Co could have done with more ambitious targets… they deserved that chance

@BernieFriend38 I agree but would you trust Maher with your money to buy and identify better players based on his perm signing track record ? Nor would I.

@jameswhyte81 Couldn’t agree more… the domino effect of this move could very much prove to be a major backwards step

@BernieFriend38 100% correct Bernie. Bigger wages pull in better players. At this level money talks above all else. We needed a competitive budget not different coaches. We will lose players to clubs in next few weeks due to wages. Players backed Kev and will walk now .

@299Peter Quite possibly, as most football club chairmen want a manager who can produce success by operating on a shoestring budget… these three have proved they can

@BernieFriend38 They will all be in the EFL before we are !

@SimonGDodd But to do that, we need to be more ambitious financially… if we can. Blues’ budget was the seventh highest in the division… so a sixth-placed finish and a cup final win was an over achievement

@BernieFriend38 No doubt we need to upgrade players - league table proves that. Need to get a wiggle on now!

@299Peter Kev and Co have had us punching well above our weight for years, forced to shop in the bargain basement to build a squad, which makes their coaching credentials even more impressive

@BernieFriend38 Most sensible comment I’ve read since the announcement

@simoncooper99 @SUFCRootsHall Amen to that 🙏

@SUFCRootsHall @BernieFriend38 Kev deserves it!

SILVERWARE FOR THE SHRIMPERS!!!

And he’s not the only one…

@1Chutterart 🍋👌

@BernieFriend38 The ultimate debut album. 💯💯💯

It’s 37 years since this masterpiece was released. As a teen, I bought it in Our Price, Victoria, along with De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising. It became a soundtrack for your formative years when you truly believed anything was possible. How times have changed… #thestoneroses

@haikuforidiots Probably the greatest 👌

@BernieFriend38 That’s a great afternoons record shopping!

If you were inspired by the Stone Roses to wear big baggy flares in your teens & put on an Ian Brown pout, or thought Shaun Ryder was the coolest man ever to dance with his hands in his pockets, then check out this nostalgia trip on @BBCSounds #madchester bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

Loved the Madchester pod @steve_lamacq. But could you champion the period between the northern uprising & Britpop when Carter USM were top dogs? I had a drink with you, Jim & Les in a random jazz bar when they joined Chrysalis & it’s criminal how they’ve been erased from history!

Fasten your bow tie, power up your sonic screwdriver and grab a bag of Jelly Babies, as a brand new galaxy of Doctor Who adventures have materialised on the science fiction shelf at Leigh Library. 👽🛸🪐 #DoctorWho #ScienceFiction #LeighLibrary #SouthendLibraries #NewBooks

@JimboCambo Thoroughly deserves that title… people have very short memories 👍

@BernieFriend38 Club legend. I want to us get promoted for him.

All gone a bit quiet from the Maher Out Brigade recently 🤫