THIS is always a strange time of year to be a footballer and it’s even worse when you’ve been playing in the play-offs.

One minute you’re preparing for a massive match and the next everything is over and you have nothing to do.

It really is a case of going from one extreme to the other but those of us who are under contract for next season will soon be looking ahead to the new campaign.

It’s important to have a bit of a break, recharge the batteries and it’s the time of year to maybe have a few beers if that’s what you want to do.

But you can’t afford to let that period of relaxation carry on for too long because things are completely different these days.

At the start of my career you would get weighed before you headed off for the summer and you would then get weighed on your first day back.

If you had put on more than 4lbs then you would get fined but it’s not like that now.

We have all been given a programme to follow by the club’s strength and conditioning coach, Mark Williams, which is full of do’s and don’ts for us.

We have to follow them and be in good shape for the first day of pre-season.

A few years ago, the first few days of the training were to lose the beer bellies you may have gained but now you need to do plenty of running during your time off and maintain your fitness.

The players who are out of contract also have even more to be thinking about as they are technically jobless.

All that adds to a bizarre time but it’s also exciting as well as you don’t know what’s around the corner.

The manager will be changing the squad around and he has already released a few players.

I’d like to wish every one of them all the best for the future and there are some good players and professionals in there so I’m sure they will soon get other clubs.

BLUES FANS - THANK YOU

I’D like to finish off this column by saying a massive thank you to all of Southend’s fans because I really do think they have been first class this season.

The number of supporters who continually travel huge distances to get to away games and the noise they produce really surprised me in a big way this year.

I’m glad our away record gave them all plenty to cheer and the way they stuck with us both individually and as a team when things weren’t going well was fantastic.

Having our fans back in the North Bank also made a big difference in the atmosphere at the home games and I hope they remain in that section of the stadium for all of next season I know the fans will be disappointed, just like all the players are, at not getting promotion.

But I hope they can see the progress which has been made and, on behalf of all the lads, I’d again like to stress how thankful we really are for them getting right behind us this season.

FULL COLUMN IN THURSDAY'S ECHO