O’s boss says Elokobi situation has reached ‘conclusion’
Leyton Orient defender George Elokobi celebrates scoring against Beaconsfield Town with Matt Harrold (pic: Simon O'Connor). - Credit: Archant
The defender has played his last game for the club after an incident occurred in the dressing room following the 2-0 loss at Ebbsfleet United
Leyton Orient head coach Justin Edinburgh has confirmed George Elokobi will not play for the National League leaders again.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender was placed on the transfer-list last Monday “following actions that didn’t meet club standards at the league game against Ebbsfleet United.”
Elokobi was substituted in the 67th minute and failed to shake hands with Edinburgh as he left the pitch.
This was only the start, however, as an incident occurred after the full time whistle in the away dressing room at Stonebridge Road.
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After this, the club made the ex-Colchester United centre back available for transfer, despite recent injuries to fellow defenders Josh Coulson and Marvin Ekpiteta.
Edinburgh said: “There has already been a conclusion – George won’t play for the club again.
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“George is not training with us and there doesn’t need to be a conclusion because it has already come to an end.
“It doesn’t need speeding up in any sense because the decision has been made, so that’s the end of it.”
The nature of the incident which occurred following the defeat to Fleet on January 19 means there was only one option for the club and that was to transfer list Elokobi.
He is out of contract in the summer and if he fails to find a new team over the next couple of weeks it seems likely Orient will terminate his contract early.
It is a sad way for Elokobi’s time at the O’s to come to an end, but the defender only has himself to blame.
After signing for the east Londoners in the summer of 2017, he was a regular under old head coach Steve Davis, but suffered a serious hamstring injury in September and didn’t play again that year.
Elokobi returned at the end of January 2018 and forced his way into the Edinburgh’s team, but another fitness issue, this time a thigh problem, saw him miss the last three games of the 2017/18 campaign.
At the beginning of this season he was still first choice for Orient, but a hamstring injury in the second match of the season, at home to Ebbsfleet, saw him ruled out for a lengthy period of time.
When he returned to fitness again in December, he couldn’t displace the outstanding Ekpiteta and it was the beginning of the end.
The only time Elokobi got chances to show his quality occurred in the FA Trophy and he did score in the 4-0 first round win over Beaconsfield Town last month.
Injuries to Coulson and Ekpiteta did seem to open the door for the 32-year-old again, but after a poor showing at Ebbsfleet, his actions following his substitution ensure he will not play for Orient again.
