I’M very pleased to have had my contract altered at Southend United so I will now be staying for longer.

I’m pleased with the progress that’s been made since I arrived but I'm still only a quarter of the way through what I think I can achieve here.

I came here at a really low time, but I restructure football clubs and I enjoy doing it.

I would like to develop this club even further and get it back, or better than its normal position in the leagues.

The club have been a League One team for a long time in the past and I'd like to think we can put ourselves back into that position and then go on from there.

It certainly won’t be easy though and we’re in for another very difficult game this weekend at Shrewsbury Town.

They’ve had nine wins, three draws and no defeats at home this season and have really good players all over the pitch.

For us to pick up points there we will need to perform like we did at Rotherham and Port Vale earlier on in this season because Shrewsbury are a strong side too.

They have good width and fine strikers who will put away chances that come their way.

I do feel we’re back on track now though and I think our bad run in December was down to injuries and suspensions taking their toll.

Had Bilel (Mohsni) scored that late chance in our first game against Oldham then things might have worked out differently.

But those four games in the space of 10 days proved really difficult for us at that stage.

We’ve tidied ourselves up since then by making some new signings and there is real competition for places now.

There are several players who will be worrying if they’re even on the bench this weekend and those who start will realise there are others waiting to take their place if their standards drop.

You need that kind of competition and I’ve been pleased with our new signings.

Anthony Flood isn’t quite ready to be involved with the first team just yet but he did play in a behind closed door friendly for us this week.

He’s got attributes I like but he won’t know what’s hit him during this little break we have coming up because he’s going to be put through plenty of work to improve his fitness.

There are lots of things to work on with him but he has shown a bit of quality and good movement and, as a former centre forward myself, I’m looking forward to helping him improve.

He’s come over from Ireland and that’s an area we will look to tap in to more often now as some good players have come over and made a good impression in the English game.

With players coming in we also need to get some out.

We’ve told clubs who from our squad is available but we’ve had no contact from anyone.

But we have a 10 day break with no games coming up after Shrewsbury and I think that could be the most important 10 days of the season.

It gives us a chance to clear the decks for next season and several conversations will be taking place with the younger players we have here too.

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