Kevin Maher is working wonders at Southend United currently, having guided them into the Vanarama National League playoffs with 18 games to go.
This is while owner Ron Martin has failed to pay Maher and his squad on time, and to make matters even worse, fans are persistently fighting the possibility that their club could cease in less than three weeks, due to a winding up petition issued by HMRC.
The Blues boss was named Vanarama's Manager of the Week on social media recently, following huge victories over York City and Maidenhead United.
Despite earning all the praise, the Southend legend admitted that, “the players deserve all the credit really."
He spoke to the press ahead of another hosting of York, this time in the Isuzu FA Trophy.
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Maher proud of his players
You do have to admit that Shrimpers players are putting up quite the fight under difficult circumstances, and Maher backed up that point too, saying, "they’re the ones who have to perform once they cross the white line – we can give them tactics and how we want to set up, but they’ve got to implement it.
"It’s always a team effort. It’s pleasing, and it must mean we’re winning games – that’s the most important thing.”
“The games are coming thick and fast, so it’s important to keep picking up points."
The win over troubled York last Saturday was a good boost back to winning ways, but coming away from Maidenhead victorious in mid-week will have been an even better feeling.
Blues had to come from behind to snatch a 90th minute winner through Harry Cardwell, after Gus Scott-Morriss had leveled things up earlier in the match.
“We played well on Tuesday apart from the first 10 minutes. Once we settled into our rhythm and passed the ball as well as we can, we created chances and deserved the win in the end. The players kept going and going and eventually got their just rewards.”
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Stars of the show
There are certainly some stand-outs in this Southend squad, with some even saying it is the best they have had for years.
One of those is in-form attacker Cardwell, who now perches on five goals in his last five games.
Maher was full of praise for the 26-year-old: “He brings so much to the frontline, and now that he’s getting his goals as well, that’s the icing on top of it.
"Even without the goals, he contributes so much and I’m delighted for him.”
Captain and left-back Nathan Ralph was next up to be commended by his gaffer, with the latter adding, “he’s such a good professional. He’s really versatile and he’s mobile enough to play in different areas, in a back three or as a wing-back.
"Him and Bridgey have combined well. It’s something we’ve looked at and tweaked a little bit.”
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Wembley dream still alive
Moving on to look at the upcoming fixture, the Shrimpers host York in the Fifth Round of the FA Trophy, looking to continue their road to Wembley, and win the competition for the first time ever.
But preventing them from doing so is a club with history in it, having lifted the silverware on two separate occasions. They came extremely close from a trip to the capital last season, coming up just short against eventual winners Bromley in the penultimate stage.
At stake for Blues is a place in the last eight, and Maher really wants to make that opportunity count: “Every club left in it will feel they have an opportunity.
"What we’ve got to overcome first is a game against a team that we only played a week ago. We obviously know each other quite well, but they’ve just lost their manager.
Following a fifth consecutive defeat, to Solihull on Tuesday, the Minstermen confirmed the dismissal of boss David Webb, making his two-month stint the shortest of any City manager ever.
“We don’t look too far ahead in terms of the competition, but we’re at home and hopefully we can make it difficult for them with the crowd behind us.”
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Squad rotation
Maher was additionally questioned over whether the nature of the competition may allow him to restore previously injured players into the squad or give regular substitutes some minutes in the tank.
He said, "we’ll have a look at that. We’ve got a competitive squad and the ones that have been left out have trained ever so well again. It means that when we change one or two, the standard doesn’t drop too far at all.
“It’s about managing the balance between freshening it up and not changing too much. We have to gauge it with what we see on the pitch and on the training ground.
“We certainly want to keep this momentum going and whoever is in the team will be trying to stay in the team. It’s a cup tie so we’ll always go for it. Whatever team plays is expected to perform and get a result.”
