Brown said he would be a starter in the press possibly to get us in front in the race. He looks lively for sure, and it's probably the position where we have the fewest options. But knowing One Nil Phil as we all do, he'll go for more 'dependable' players to start. ie, not as exciting.

As a Kings Lynn fan for over 30 years I feel the need to clarify what I think is most fans position on next Saturdays game.The club has totally mismanaged the situation regarding ticket sales ,fan segregation, social media updates and general advertising and arrangements etc etc.I have been following the Southend forums and we as a club are seen as a bit of a joke.Away fans are the life blood of football and create an amazing atmosphere and should be welcomed and encouraged but also segregated.The magnitude of this league and all of the upcoming games should have come as no surprise to anyone especially the people running the club but it appears to be a calamity. As we know our fans do turn out for big games and I can guarantee there will be crowd issues especially in the main stand if somebody doesn't take control of this quickly.

I think there's an element of our (Southend's) support who have refused to accept that we are where we are. If anyone is the joke, we are. We are a club that averages gates of 7,000. If you plonked us back in League One now, we'd probably be in the top half of clubs on attendance. The fact our football club is in non-league is a massive indictment on how it has been run, and so anyone accusing you of being a joke is, in my opinion and many others, somewhat lacking in self reflection.

Personally I found your online ticketing site to be an absolute breeze. If you contrast it to the pain in the arse I had getting tickets to the west ham U23 friendly at Roots Hall (let's ignore the fact our ticketing line is still selling away tickets to Rotherham and Ipswich according to the automated message), it seems you're getting things right on that score. Perhaps in hindsight dangling the extra 300 tickets and then deleting the tweet rather than the club holding its hands up and saying it wasn't possible was a mistake. But mistakes are made and will I am sure be learnt from.

I understand you have progressed through the leagues massively over the last few years and you should be congratulated for finding yourselves at this level. We, or specifically our chairman, should be beaten with a big stick in front of a paying audience at the end of the pier for us finding ourselves at this level. But that is football, and don't we all love it.

So I wouldn't take any notice of the moans of a few fans who seem to think we're still in the big time. It might take a few months for them to get back down to earth.

I can't wait for the game and to watch proper football again with family and friends. I'll be up early, as many of us will, in town for the 10.35am arrival from King's Cross and in search of decent ale and some good conversation with some of your fans. I think it will be a fascinating insight into what we have got in store over the next nine months, and it's all part of the journey.

It's a good question and I could be here all night.

The short answer is the club is run by a property developer, who took over 23 years ago with an eye on the very valuable land Roots Hall is sited on. He proposed a new stadium, about 3/4 of a mile to the north east. So far, so good. Roots Hall is a fantastic traditional ground, but it is falling apart.

Unfortunately, this proved to be a little trickier than he first imagined, for reasons I won't bore you with, and we are now more than 2 decades later with no new stadium, and the chairman having spent the best part of £20million covering the club's losses.

In 2016/17 under Phil Brown we spent fairly big, certainly at a foolish level for us, to push for The Championship, but missed out on the playoffs by a point. This relatively successful season was achieved with big name (Simon Cox, Anton Ferdinand, Nile Ranger,Marc Antonie Fortune to name a few) but ageing players with no resale value. We also dropped a few heavy contracts on players on the wrong side of 30, some of whom have actually only just left.

We failed to go up, and we then spent the next couple of years trying desperately and unsuccessfully to cut our cloth. Chris Powell suffered greatly from having to cut what he could (which happened to be some of the more important players in the dressing room) while being unable to do anything about the players sat on three year deals on big wages. He was sacked, and we went downhill fast, making a series of panickly appointments while giving them absolutely nothing to work with. The result was we had to off most of our senior pros during the 19/20 season, and we finished it with a load of U23s on the pitch, most of whom are still with the club.

Last season was the final nail, an utter farce. The chairman for once made a shrewd managerial appointment but too late, with less than a month until the start of the season. He criminally left him under a transfer embargo, forcing him to start the season again with mainly a load of kids and whoever he could beg, steal and borrow as other clubs had snapped up all the decent free agents. Unsurprisingly we were rock bottom with something like 5 points in early December.

Molesley was slowly turning things round, sacrificing style for a tactic designed to frustrate far superior opponents and nick the odd win and draws. Unfortunately, we had absolutely no firepower all season and while things did improve, it was not enough to save Molesley. Brown game in and while there was the expected slight upturn in form, an absolutely criminal 2-0 defeat to our arch rivals (ever the one to pass the buck, he has blamed this defeat on our match analyst who he promptly dismissed) Colchester, which basically relegated us.

In the background, the club has been left utterly neglected and skint, failing to pay players on time, facing winding up orders, being placed under transfer embargoes, and treating people terribly at every turn. It's a downward spiral that has lasted the best part of four years, but there is hope on the horizon that with a deal struck between the council and the club easing our financial situation, things might have bottomed out. If planning permission is finally granted for the stadium, there is hope that the owner's work here will be done, and he will be able to sell the club to a more reliable and competent custodian.

OK, maybe it wasn't such a short answer.

Southend fan here. There seems to be some confusion at our end about segregation. Some reports seem to be saying the terrace is segregated, while some are saying the seats are but the terrace isn't, etc.

We've sold about 800 terrace tickets and no doubt a couple of hundred seats so far, and that was reported last night by KL so that's after just one day of sales (although clearly most people would have eager to snap them up quick as there's a worry there wont be enough).

If there isn't segregation it does concern me a bit. It only takes a couple of idiots, and unfortunately we do have our fair share and spirits will be very high having not been to football for so long.

A bit of clarity from those ITK would be much appreciated!

Suspect you would be favourites due to your relationship with Norwich, but he's been training with us for a few weeks now so if he's enjoyed it, it might push us in front. The manager has inferred he will be starting games, although that may be paper talk. He's done well in the friendlies, looks lively.

Southend fan here, yours was the away game I was looking out for, delighted it's come up first. Not sure how many we'll take, assuming restrictions are lifted, but would be hopeful for well over 1k given how we've not been able to travel to away games for so long.

Will there be segregation?

Good luck for the season.