Former Millwall boss Neil Harris is not in the frame to be the new Southend United manager as reported by the Southend Echo.
Plenty of Shrimpers fans have been on social media demanding the club put a call into Harris, who ended his playing career at Roots Hall, ever since the news first broke of his Millwall departure yesterday.
However, local journalist Chris Phillips has posted an article on the Echo website claiming Harris is not in the running for the job.
Southend have been looking for a new manager since Kevin Bond resigned last month after a disastrous run of six straight defeats at the start of the campaign. They have been heavily linked with Celtic legend Henrik Larsson as they look to find a man capable of turning around their fortunes. Caretaker boss Gary Waddock is also in the frame, but the team’s results have only marginally improved under his tenure, with one draw and a win from his five games in charge. Recent reports suggest former Macclesfield boss Sol Campbell has also recently been interviewed for the job.
Harris took over at Millwall towards the end of the 2014/15 season and was the longest-serving manager in the EFL before he stepped down. He guided the Lions to promotion from League One in 2017 and then established them as a Championship club. Nonetheless, having flirted with relegation last season, the pressure began to grow, and after a poor start this season he decided it was time for him to go.
Phillips claims in his report that Harris is now understood to want a break from football before considering a return to the dug-out, ruling him out of a job at a club he supported as a boy and heaping more disappointment on many long-suffering Southend United fans.
Our View
The Southend job will be unbelievably difficult for whoever takes it on, the club is in freefall and the atmosphere in the stands is getting increasingly toxic.
Harris would have been a genuinely great appointment, but if Phillips is correct, his spell at Millwall has taken its toll, and the former Shrimpers striker needs a rest.
Chairman Ron Martin is under pressure to get this one right, but his options appear limited and with it the hopes of the club avoiding the drop into League Two.
Campbell might not be a popular choice amongst many Blues fans, but having pulled off an escape act last season at Macclesfield in very trying services, he could be just what the club needs.
