Skipper of relegated teams urges club to keep majority of squad despite abject season

East London Advertiser: Orient players dispute the penalty decision against Luke O'Neill (right) at Swindon (pic; Simon O'Connor)Orient players dispute the penalty decision against Luke O'Neill (right) at Swindon (pic; Simon O'Connor) (Image: Simon O'Connor Photography)

Leyton Orient captain Nathan Clarke believes the club need to keep the majority of the squad that suffered relegation to League Two and tie down as many of the players out of contract this summer as possible.

12 first team players could depart Brisbane Road for free this summer if they choose not to renew terms with the E10 outfit.

The likes of Kevin Lisbie, Josh Wright, Scott Cuthbert, David Mooney, Marvin Bartley, Chris Dagnall, Gary Sawyer and Elliot Omozusi can leave.

In addition to that Shaun Batt, Gianvito Plasmati, Harry Lee and Andrea Dossena can end their time with the O’s if they want to after Fabio Liverani failed to keep them in League One.

East London Advertiser: Orient captain Nathan Clarke congratulates Dean Cox after scoring at Swindon (pic: Simon O'Connor)Orient captain Nathan Clarke congratulates Dean Cox after scoring at Swindon (pic: Simon O'Connor) (Image: Simon O'Connor Photography)

Although various players have underperformed this season, Orient’s captain believes it is crucial to keep as many as possible at the club.

“I think we have got to tie down as many of the current players as we can,” said Clarke following relegation last weekend.

“They are fantastic players and the number of players that are out of contract will be desperate to get tied up otherwise they will be off to other teams.

“Fabio has got to look at that and everybody else on the board and see what players we need to keep hold of and possibly ones to let go and recruit one or two more.

East London Advertiser: Orient manager Fabio Liverani after relegation is confirmed (pic: Simon O'Connor).Orient manager Fabio Liverani after relegation is confirmed (pic: Simon O'Connor). (Image: Simon O"Connor/TGSPHOTO c/o 27 Plaiters Way)

“There is not one player in the dressing room who thinks they should be at a different club and they shouldn’t be playing with us, it has been a team thing and we are going to need to look at that and see where we can improve I guess.”

The 31-year-old, who made 39 appearances in the 2014/15 campaign, believes plenty of teams would like to have some of O’s players.

He also discussed what went wrong during the season and felt they never recovered from a poor start to the season.

Orient’s skipper also admitted things off the pitch affect the team, but didn’t use that as an excuse for failing to get out of the bottom four.

“You look through the squad names we have here and plenty of clubs would be happy to have these players in their squads,” added Clarke.

“It has just not happened for us this season. We got off to a bad start obviously and one thing after another happened off the field.

“Unfortunately it has affected certain people and we have just never been able to recover.

“We have always been on the back foot throughout the season in the league and we have just found it too hard to cope with certain teams.”

With rumours of a transfer embargo and president Francesco Becchetti looking to sell the club, this summer will be crucial for O’s.

They must decide who will be in charge, how many of the current squad will remain and how they will earn promotion next season.

The sooner they decide the aforementioned, the easier it will be for everyone associated with the club to get over the sorry 2014/15 season.