One of O’s main problems has been the number of terrible signings this season, which has left the club on the verge of relegation.
After Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Crawley Town, Leyton Orient have seven games left in League Two to try and save their season, but unfortunately the fat lady is getting ready to sing.
It was a case of deja vu last weekend, as yet again O’s failed to defend well enough from set-pieces and after a bright start, they ended up without any points.
Danny Webb vented his anger after the match at Broadfield Stadium and called for change at Orient and boy does a lot of things need to happen at Brisbane Road!
The future of chairman Francesco Becchetti has long been debated, but it is hard to know whether he is going to sell the club or suddenly decide he wants to stick around.
As mentioned in print last week, I feel Webb deserves the opportunity to rebuild Orient and if handed that chance, he must be in charge of the recruitment in E10.
One of O’s main problems has been the number of terrible signings this season, which has left the club on the verge of relegation.
Rob Gagliardi was appointed head of recruitment in February 2016 and his role in Orient’s demise over the past year has been enormous as you can count the number of successful signings made this season on one hand. In the near future the transfer policy has to drastically change.
Andy Hessenthaler was O’s boss at the start of the campaign and it turns out the only players who were 100 per cent his targets were Harry Cornick and Jordan Bowery.
Cornick looked to be a great addition on loan from AFC Bournemouth, but a groin injury cut short his stay at Brisbane Road.
Bowery was poor for much of his time at Orient and was loaned out to league rivals Crewe Alexandra in January, but the rest of the O’s other permanent incomings this season are down to Gagliardi and Becchetti.
Gavin Massey, Liam Kelly and Michael Collins could be quantified as good additions, yet the other nine have disappointed one way or another in east London.
Youngster Josh Doherty arrived from Watford in July and was gone by January when it would have made more sense for O’s to keep left-back Frazer Shaw.
Callum Kennedy signed on a free from Wimbledon with good pedigree in the summer, but has struggled for consistency and made mistakes, although he is now playing through the pain barrier.
Tom Parkes is another similar case to Kennedy and is somebody who arrived at O’s with a decent record, but hasn’t hit the heights it was initially hoped he would.
Meanwhile Robbie Weir failed to live up to expectations after a tough start to life at Orient and suffered a serious injury earlier this year.
The aforementioned trio all go under the bracket of hugely underachieving at O’s and unfortunately there have been plenty more bad signings.
Instead of the experienced English defender he asked for in the summer, Hessenthaler got Yvan Erichot, a 27-year-old who had played all of his football abroad.
Erichot, like fellow French native Teddy Mezague, has failed to adjust to life in England and both look to have been terrible recruits.
But there have been even worse players to sign for Orient with Zan Benedicic, Ulrich Nnomo and Jens Janse having no positive impact whatsoever this season.
People might be surprised O’s are seven points from safety, but they shouldn’t be – the recruitment has been shocking for a long time now and something has to change.
If Becchetti does decide to stick around, he has to allow the Orient manager to have total control of transfers.
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