PHIL Brown believes player power ultimately led to his departure at Southend United.

Brown’s five year stint with the Shrimpers came to an end in January 2018.

And the 60-year-old now feels he should have done more to stamp his authority on the squad during the final few months of his reign.

“I think player power started to play a bigger part than I wanted it to, “said Brown.

“I like a strong changing room and one which is self managed as that’s what I’ve had throughout my career.

“We brought in some bigger boys and allowed them to make their own decisions like men and strong characters should do.

“But they were making wrong decisions and it was too far gone by the time the axe was wielded.

“In hindsight that was my fault and I can’t put it down to anyone else.

“I should have acted quicker with the Nile Ranger situation and taken some of the power away from the changing room.”

But, despite the disappointing ending, Brown remains proud of his period in charge of Blues.

And he was thrilled to stay at the club for so long.

“The biggest achievement was staying in work,” said Brown.

“I hate the statistic that managers last 12 to 14 months on average at one club, it’s horrible but it’s a fact.

“To get into the top 10 longest serving managers with Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wegner was unbelievable.

“Gareth Ainsworth is still in there and he’s still doing a great job at Wycombe.

“But I looked at it as a sign of success and I really enjoyed my time there.”