SOUTHEND United winger Ricky Holmes admits he was sad to see Mark Molesley sacked by the Shrimpers.

Molesley was dismissed by Blues chairman Ron Martin towards the end of last week.

And Holmes feels Molesley has paid the price for the players 'coming up short'.

"I never like to see people lose their jobs, it’s never nice," said Holmes.

"It’s the managers it happens to and us players carry on as we were.

"Mark was great and he’s the one who brought me to the club.

"I have utmost respect for him and he worked tirelessly, literally tirelessly the whole time he was here.

"We came up short, we didn’t get the results and unfortunately it’s the manager who gets sacked."

Molesley has been replaced at Roots Hall by Phil Brown.

And Holmes is hoping the change can help the Shrimpers stay up.

"It’s a clean slate and everyone is trying to impress," said Holmes.

"It’s a fresh voice and a fresh face and hopefully it will work.

"I know Phil from the past.

"He knows this League and the club inside out so hopefully we will start to get the results."

Blues drew 0-0 with Crawley Town in Brown's first game in charge on Saturday.