Peter Taylor

Local boy and former player Peter Taylor was an extremely popular appointment to replace Fry, despite his limited experience as a manager. Southend were third in Division 1 at the time, but Taylor could not motivate the players that Fry had bought and only won a further 7 out of the remaining 30 league matches that season, although the league wins included Birmingham, Charlton, Wolves, Portsmouth, Derby and Bolton. Blues reached the National Finals of the Anglo Italian Cup, but were beaten on penalties by Notts. Co after the two leg tie finished 1-1.<br><br>The next season started badly, but a run of good form in the autumn saw the Blues reach 6th in the table, however results went down hill again and after a run of 7 defeats and two draws Vic Jobson suggested Peter take a holiday. It is said the locks were changed on all the office doors while he was away and so he left.<br><br>Peter went on to manage Dover, who he took to a relegation spot and then joined Glenn Hoddle's England team to manage the Under-21's. He was extraordinarily successful there, as he was at Gillingham, Brighton and for a while at Leicester. While at Leicester he managed the full England team for one match.<br><br> In June 2002 Ron Martin asked him to rejoin Southend, but the other directors persuaded Martin to stick with Rob Newman so Peter went on the manage Hull.