Kieron Dyer is expected to be named the new manager of Southend United later today, with the former England midfielder set to succeed Kevin Maher at Roots Hall. The 47-year-old has been waiting for a chance to run a club of his own, and Southend are poised to give him that opening.
The move comes after Maher was sacked last month, leaving the National League club looking for a fresh start. Dyer has spent the last three years as a first-team coach at Chesterfield under former Blues boss Paul Cook, adding to his coaching background after leaving his role as U21s coach at Town in March 2022.
For Southend, the appointment follows a season that ended with promise but no reward. They finished sixth in the National League, but were still 27 points behind York City, who claimed the only automatic promotion spot, and then lost the play-off eliminator to Scunthorpe. That gap underlines the size of the job facing the next manager, even with a club still close enough to the chase to believe promotion can be reached.
If Dyer is confirmed as expected, the immediate task will be to turn near-misses into momentum. Southend have already changed direction once this summer, and his arrival would mark the start of a new attempt to push through a league that punished every slip last season.
