Collymore to return to Southend?

STAN'S FORUM POSTING CAUSES MASSIVE STIR

At the beginning of the month, newspapers reacted with more than a hint of sarcasm to Stan Collymore's wish to return to football. According to a carefully worded press release, Stan was physically and mentally ready for a Premiership club, yet he wouldn't rule out a move to a side outside the top flight. He professed, while watching the World Cup, that he didn't see "anything" he couldn't do, and so ensued a fitness regime that's seen him get back into shape.

Last week Aston Villa denied reports Stan was going back to Villa Park, while non-league outfit Stafford Rangers - where it all began - said they would have him back in a shot.

Then it all went a bit quiet - until today.

For the first time in 3 years, Stan posted on the Shrimperzone website. Of course, for many this was just a hilarious hoax - but then when Collymore posted a picture of him by his Range Rover with a framed Southend shirt, dated a piece of paper today and ironically scrawled "I am not Stan Collymore", the doubters were suddenly silent.

Since the debacle surrouding another ex-England international - Michael Ricketts - there has been a bit of gloom hoverring over Roots Hall. A 0-0 draw away at Burnley was a good result, but we're still in the bottom three and it looks like it'll be a season of struggle. For a lot of people that would be enough to petition Tilly and get Stan on a pay-as-you-play contract. But for me Stan was the best player I have seen at Roots Hall. Simply sensational in his 33 games for the Blues, scoring 18 goals and firing the Blues to safety in the old Divison 1 (Championship now). For those facts alone, he should be given a chance to see what he could do with the Blues. He's a fan of the Shrimpers - posting in detail about the current squad - and he actually post on a fans' site - I don't know of any other player that has, or currently does that.

Of course his comments may have been pre-meditated - fan power can hold great sway in the managerial haunts of boardrooms. But I believe it's a genuine attempt to prove what he can do. Look, what's the worse that can happen? We took Ricketts and paid him crazy sums of money...and he didn't get fit! At least Stan's back in shape and I believe he can still kick a ball so why not give him a chance? He's hardly gonna go back on promises. And if he did, he'd lose the respect Southend fans have given him through some very tough years - something which I believe he wouldn't want to do.

So does Tilly (who's reportedly not a big fan of Collymore) bite the bullet and give him a call or does Stan ring up Roots Hall and offer himself. More likely neither - but how good would it be to see Eastwood and Collymore up front?

Read the whole 20+ pages of reaction to Stan posting here today
Tongue-in-cheek report from Times 5/10/06
Sky Sports website article 4/10/06
Pretty harsh BBC article from Phil McNulty 4/10/06

What do you think?

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