SOUTHEND United chairman Ron Martin has responded to Phil Brown’s claims he was illegally placed on gardening leave at the end of his Shrimpers tenure.

Brown - who is now in charge of League Two side Swindon Town - insists he should have been paid the remainder of his contract in full when he was dismissed in January.

But Martin insisted he had decided to place Brown on gardening leave in order to get to the bottom of what had gone wrong.

“I read what Phil said and he also told me that I had not supported him, ‘not even once’,” said Martin.

“When people lose their job it is understandable emotions run high.

“Hopefully now that Phil has found new employment at Swindon Town he might reflect on what I thought was, for the most part, a good relationship.

“Placing Phil on gardening leave was, of course, not illegal.

“There were very good reasons why the club adopted that stance.

“While on a personal basis I wish Phil well my only real interest is the wellbeing and success of Southend United.

“Those interests will always be the priority, whatever it takes.”

Brown had been in charge of the Shrimpers for close to five years and helped the club win promotion via the League Two play-offs in 2015.

But the former Shrimpers chief does not believe he should have been placed on gardening leave when his spell in charge came to an end.

“I can say without contradiction there was no gardening leave clause in my contract,” Brown told the Football League paper.

“Therefore, Mr Martin is obliged by law to pay me for the remainder of that contract.

“Unfortunately for all of us he is refusing to do that.

“Having worked under him for five years, taken his club to a higher division and made a remarkable profit in the transfer market, I do not know why he’s taken this course of action.”

Brown’s contract with the Shrimpers was due to expire at the end of the season.

But the 58-year-old was relieved of his duties after Blues suffered eight defeats in nine games during a miserable run of results.

Brown’s last game in charge was a 2-1 defeat against struggling Fleetwood Town in mid-January and he has since been replaced at Roots Hall by Shrimpers favourite Chris Powell.