Southend Announce Molesley As New Manager

League Two newcomers Southend United have announced Mark Molesley as the club’s new first team manager on a three-year contract.

Molesley, 39, joins the Shrimpers following three seasons at Weymouth where he took the club from the Southern Premier League South to the fifth tier of English Football. He was also involved with AFC Bournemouth where he had a coaching role in the Under 23’s. He leaves just weeks after First Team manager Eddie Howe departed, following the club’s relegation from the Premier League to the Championship.

The former-midfielder played at Cambridge, Aldershot Town, Stevenage and Grays Athletic before joining Bournemouth in 2008, making 52 appearances for the south-coast side. He then moved onto Exeter City, which was soon met with another spell at Aldershot Town and then Weymouth for two seasons, before retiring to become First Team Manager. It’s also worth noting Mark came through the youth setup at Hayes.

Last season Molesley took the Terras of Weymouth to the National League for the first time since 2009. Their back-to-back promotions replicated that of Havant & Waterlooville who got promoted from the Isthmian Premier to the National League in similar circumstances between 2017 and 2019. Molesley will be joined by Tom Prodomo who was his assistant for the last three years at Weymouth.

Molesley told iFollow Blues:

“It’s a really exciting time for me and my assistant manager coming in. It’s a great day for us but it’s also a little bittersweet because I’m leaving two fantastic clubs as well, in Bournemouth and Weymouth. But we’re really excited by this challenge at this great football club so I’m proud to be standing here and excited by the challenge.”

“After speaking with the Chairman I can see he shares the same vision and work ethic to take this club onwards and upwards. We’ve got to open up some cracks, open up the wounds a little bit and have a look because we really want to build some strong foundations to take the club onwards and upwards. Sometimes that takes time but in football you’ve got to have a short-term impact for a long-term gain.”

“We’re going to work tirelessly hard for this football club and invest all our time into the process. We’re going to be built on the training ground and time is of the essence. We’re itching to get on the training ground and work with this exciting team. It’s a clean slate for everyone. I like to think we show energy in everything we do and I like our team to reflect that. There’s plenty for us to sink our teeth into, we’re really glad to be here and excited by the challenge.”

Molesley succeeds Sol Campbell in the Roots Hall hotseat with a three year contract.

Analysis By Southend United Fan Andy Wilkins:

After 44 days, Southend have finally got their man and one who wasn’t originally tipped to succeed former-Arsenal and Tottenham man Sol Campbell after what many could describe as a disastrous time in charge at Roots Hall.

However in recent days, Molesley emerged as the manager in waiting for the Blues with Weymouth sweating on if their main man was going to stick it out or not with them this year in their maiden year back in the National League after a fantastic and rather turbulent three years. What could be argued as not helping the cause was Harry Redknapp openly praising the former-Weymouth man over his achievements last week.

Southend fans have expressed they are optimistic with the arrival of Molesley and rightfully so given this is a man who has got a winning mentality in him after his spell at Weymouth. Something his predecessor didn’t have much experience of when at Macclesfield prior to joining Southend.

Especially at Roots Hall within the last few years, the terms winning mentality and Southend United have hardly gone well together with the club not really able to string a winning or unbeaten run together recently. Some Blues fans have even said this could be their equivalent of Danny Cowley coming in given Molesley is only 39 and his resume is quite impressive already.

This Southend job could be what makes him and elevates the club upto a level they only know too well in League One and beyond. However like many fans, it does come across as a project that one can expect to take time.

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