GIVEN the recent happenings at Roots Hall it always seemed to be a case of when not if Kevin Bond would depart.

And it therefore came as no real surprise when the club confirmed Bond’s resignation earlier this evening.

The 62-year-old came to club for the final six games of last season and helped to secure the Shrimpers’ League One status with a dramatic final day victory against Sunderland.

But momentum was never taken from that victory and every time it seemed impossible for things to get worse, they did.

Bond’s coaching career has mostly been spent working alongside someone else as manager.

And his short stint in charge of the Shrimpers probably showed why.

For the first time in their 113 year history Blues started their League season with six successive defeats and, across all competitions, Bond’s team suffered eight losses in nine outings.

His constant swapping of systems did not help the cause and right now the Shrimpers are the only team in the top four tiers yet to pick up a point.

But the tactical faults, the strange comments to the media and the defensive problems, which have seen Blues fail to secure a clean sheet since January, have been extensively covered by now.

And it is now time to look forward and see how the Shrimpers can kick start their season.

For me, Blues need a hungry manager who knows the level and is capable of motivating the players.

Phil Parkinson and Adam Barrett lead the fans’ voting right now and both would be good appointments in my opinion.

However, whoever does get the job is facing a tough task because although he did appear to be out of his depth, there is more to just the Shrimpers struggles than Bond.

The players also deserve their fair share of the criticism after winning just 25 of 83 League games since November 2017, during which time Blues have had three different permanent managers.

The whole mentality and structure of the club needs to change for the Shrimpers to get back on track.

And it has to be the best name not the biggest who next steps into the Roots Hall hot-seat.