The former Newport County manager is well aware of the challenge facing him at Brisbane Road after suffering a debut defeat in charge last weekend
New Leyton Orient head coach Justin Edinburgh pulled no punches after their latest loss in the National League and knows they are firmly in a relegation battle.
The 47-year-old was appointed as O’s new boss on November 29 – signing a two-and-a-half year contract with the Brisbane Road club – and tasked with the job of moving them up the table.
Orient were hoping to achieve a positive result in Edinburgh’s first game in charge, but went down 1-0 at bottom of the table Solihull Moors in front of 533 travelling away supporters.
It extended the O’s winless run in the division to 15 games and has them 20th and only three points above the bottom four.
Edinburgh said: “You can’t turn away from it and after Solihull I said to the players there is no hiding. A relegation battle is what we are in.
“Our form tells you that and the clubs underneath are getting results, but I would expect three or four games down the line that my impact will turn us around, so that’s what I believe.
“But we can’t hide away from it and there is a lot of responsibility for us to take as a group of players and staff and we will do that. We won’t shy away from it.
“We had a following of 500 at Solihull – where else would you get that in the National League? And they were with us and got behind us, but we’ve got to give them more and that’s a fact.”
Edinburgh is certainly saying all the right things and the hope will be he can be the man to stop a club which seems to be sinking faster than the titanic.
For the immediate future he will be without Jake Caprice and Jamie Sendles-White due to suspension.
Ex-Swindon Town centre back Sendles-White was handed a two-game ban for misconduct prior to the Solihull fixture, so he will miss the visit of Sutton United this weekend.
Caprice was shown a straight red at Torquay United, so won’t return until after the FA Trophy tie on December 16 plus Mark Ellis has returned to Carlisle United following his loan.
Edinburgh will be able to pick Freddy Moncur though, after he came back this week from his loan at Bishop’s Stortford.
After lacklustre displays from Craig Clay and Henry Ochieng at Solihull, Moncur may even start this Saturday, as the new boss looks to shake things up.
But was Edinburgh surprised by what he saw from his players at Damson Park last weekend? He said: “It’s very much easier to watch when you are not managing that group or leading that team, but from playing and being involved, you need something to turn it around.
“I thought Saturday would be ideal. I felt when we were getting blocks and challenges in during the first half, which is last-ditch defending and we shouldn’t be doing that because we should be winning the first challenge, but I felt we were growing into it.
“If we had come away having not played particularly well with the ball, but having not lost, then it gives you a foundation and that’s what we need – something to build on.
“But I was aware of what I was coming into. I understand this level and what it takes and I’ll give that to this football club.”
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