League One Relegation Thread

[JJ1532]

Well, the only positive the Alex can take from today is that they aren't in the relegation zone somehow. We've got a huge next 5 now. Col U away, Yeovil & Fleetwood at home, Donny and Barnsley away. If we can get 9-10 points from that lot, which is a big ask(but achievable), we'll be in the high 30s range with 14 games left. With a good run in these next 5, we could take a massive step towards safety, but a bad run and we'll be in deep trouble. Because after these 5, we have Swindon, Rochdale, in form Scunny, PNE, Bristol City, Oldham, Sheff U. Ouch. Potentially a season defining run for us coming up now.

 

[The Terminator]

This is the current inside information coming out of the club, a truly worrying read:

Wage Bill - The clubs current annual wage bill stands at approx £7m. This is for all staff, not just playing members of the squad. To give fans some idea of a comparison, last years age bill for playing members of staff was approx £2.1m.
Other staffing costs in terms of wages would be coaching staff, admin staff etc. CEO Matt Porter never took a penny in wages, nor did any other members of staff that were on the BoD. This next bit is an estimate on my part and I would have put the other staff costs last season at no more than £500k. Therefore the wage bill this year is up by approx £4.4m.
I also estimate, on the basis that sponsorship this year was hardly any more than last year (that is just about right) and that season ticket sales didn't rise massively that our turnover is looking at being approx 10-12% down.

General Financial - many of the new staff are either renting flats at the clubs expense and have the latest in cars / communication devices etc. The flats being rented are not cheap and neither are the other bits of property currently being utilised by them. This I saw with my own eyes at the training ground and yet we have a couple of youth foundation coaches still awaiting parts for a laptop so they can do their job on a daily basis

New staff - The chief scout is a registered agent (this is not news I believe as someone pointed this out that this is what his twitter profile says). Milanese was a registered agent and there is also an inference that at least one other Italian member of staff is an agent. There is a worry that certain signings were completed by these members of staff and that they may (but no cast iron proof) that they were acting on behalf of the player as well. I have been researching deeply FL rules, but it would appear that if this was happening then we could well be in breach of said FL rules.
Milanese has been sacked for reasons yet totally clear - you draw the conclusion, however what I will say is that if there is any "problems" underlying then sacking him means we have at least started to sort that problem

Signings - Hedges was signed without Liverani's knowledge. It has been alleged or guessed by fans that he didn't play at Deepdale because his registration wasn't sorted in time, but because Liverani didn't even know who he was (although his registration wasn't sorted anyway). Liverani did not sign Eardley nor did he authorise this signing.
It is believed that Milanese signed Plasmati on Becchetti's authorisation yet this story is now disputed by both as to who did what. Plasmati has a top of the range flat being paid for by the club that would put Russell Slade's old one in the corner flats to shame in terms of quality and value.

Jonny Davies - Jonny had lined up a new person to take his job. He was interviewed formally and offered the role, so that he could work alongside Jonny for a few days and then take over fully the day after Jonny leaves (Sunday). Because this person already has a job, he simply asked for a contract first before leaving his current employer (fair enough). This contract still sits in Alessandro's in tray 2-3 weeks later. As far as I am led to believe the contract still hasn't been signed and this could therefore leave us without anyone running the media and communications dept for upto 2-3 weeks. If it goes badly wrong and either the guy hasn't left his job or we have lined up a replacement, every day that goes by we will be without the media employee for another day as he has a notice period to work. This could apparently seriously affect our / any contractual obligations we have with media rights partners and could of course also play havoc with goodwill with various other media organisations

Playing staff / training - Many of the players are continually fed up with unorganised training sessions due to the language barrier, but over the past two weeks we havent scouted our opponents - a basic fundamental at this level so that the management know how to set up at simple things such as set pieces for and against. One player was livid that Liverani's press conference last week stated we had planned well yet we didn't show the passion they did.
It is also alleged that there was a serious bust up in the dressing room on Saturday and at HT against Fleetwood resulting in hardly any detail being given to the players about formations / subs / tactics etc. Take a look at the times of the goals in those games after the second half started!

Physio - The member of staff appointed a few weeks ago (when we appointed three Italians in one day) in a physio / conditioning role is apparently not qualified as a physio and this has caused us some serious grief at a recent non first team game when the allegations made about us not having a qualified physio at the game mean we could again fall foul of FL regulations and at the worst have funding withdrawn for the development of players.

General - There is a serious English / Italian divide, but also a big divide in between Italians (obviously this may have changed somewhat with Milanese going?). It would appear that there is no given plan or proper job description for many staff and each one of them is doing their own thing as they think is appropriate / correct. One player put it "It's like having five different managers when we have already had four this season"

Lets now give you some information regarding the start of the season. Russell Slade was put under immense pressure to make big money signings. Some may remember the original PC where FB told Slade to make a list of five players he wanted. The original list contained names that were not signed. Big money signings were made because Slade believed they were the right people after interviews, but this was done in double quick time. Two players are seen as model professionals that have simply not worked out and these two felt stabbed in the back when "ultimumgate" came along as they believe they were here to really kick start something big at the O's under Slade. One believes that this is the worst run club he has ever been at.

Most people / fans I think know that there is general discontentment amongst the players and staff, but it has gone far deeper than that. Some players have tried to line up moves elsewhere but then been told they are staying put by the club and that they then ask about a new contract or contract extensions and are turned down point blank and told to get on with the job in hand.

The morale really has hit rock bottom. It is believed so bad that if we lose tomorrow, you might as well lump on us to be relegated. Players are being very careful to manage their own injuries because they are thinking about their time after Orient - not in a way that they are deceiving the club but obviously they have to think about what might happen in their careers, especially if we are relegated.

I have sort of lost track a bit now after all that and believe there is other bits and pieces and there is a lot that might require clarification.

Some will call into question the information. 99.9% of this is FACT and it is believed that this might actually be the tip of the iceberg. I have no doubt that some will say "is that all" but when you factor in just how concerning some of this information is, we are a rudderless club at the moment. Add to that our perilous league position it doesn't make pretty reading!

Now, on the positive side we are apparently financially secure. At the last 1FF, Alessandro stated FB's funding was not in the way of loans, however I am unsure as to where we lie in terms of FL rules under FFP.

There appears to be no given plan and very little structure. Whether that is that people just cannot be bothered or they think that it will all just be OK, I have absolutely no idea.

My concerns are, and others have already said the same things, is that if we have fallen this far, this quickly from May, what happens if we get relegated or start badly next season. There are the usual concerns about funding etc, but I also am worried that whilst the current staff are trying to do their best, how long is it before perhaps we start getting pulled up by the FL etc for missing reports and go knows what etc

Finally, there is an inference that an investigative journalist has got wind of all this following the Baudry debacle and that he is looking into things with a fine tooth comb - whether thats good or bad again I have no idea!

 

[Bottega Don]

So in short, you're fucked.

 

[JonBCFC]

Good effort, I stopped reading after the 2nd paragraph though..

 

[GFC4EVA]

massive chance for us to pull away tomorrow,
Think crawley and yeovil will go down, orient have enough quality to get out of it but whether they will or not time will tell.

Any one from doncaster downwards could go

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Shitting hell @ Terminator's post. I would imagine Angelieri is involved in the actual day to day running, so therefore is down to him?

 

[The Hand of Dom]

We've been told we can have Baudry now but it has to be permanently.

Whether we'll do that, I'm not sure.

 

[The Terminator]

We've been told we can have Baudry now but it has to be permanently.

Whether we'll do that, I'm not sure.

He will cost about £150k minimum. He was poor yesterday but he wasn't the only one, everyone wants out and I don't blame them.

 

[HertsCobbler]

All I want is Yeovil to go down. To see the look on Gary Johnson would be priceless.

 

[devilofajob]

massive chance for us to pull away tomorrow,
Think crawley and yeovil will go down, orient have enough quality to get out of it but whether they will or not time will tell.

Any one from doncaster downwards could go

Why the bizarre kick off time for your game at Walsall?

 

[devilofajob]

I think Saunders is beginning to turn things round. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but maybe he's just a good fit for us.

Massive game for us at Yeovil on the 7th. A win there and favourable results elsewhere and we'll be up to 20th.

 

[GFC4EVA]

Why the bizarre kick off time for your game at Walsall?

It's because walsall have a market at the stadium every Sunday so have to wait till that finishes

 

[dedwardp]

Decent point for us yesterday - flew out of the blocks and could have been 3-0 up after 15-20 minutes or so by all accounts, but defended well from there. A tinge of disappointment to drop two points when we were in front for so long, but would have taken the point beforehand.

Really need to beat Crewe next week though. We need our home form to improve and, after winning last weekend in a big game there, hopefully we can carry that on next Saturday. 11 points from the last seven games isn't too bad, although it should comfortably be 15.

 

[The Reverend Skyblue]

I would say that if we don't sack our completely incompetent/clueless clown of a manager soon we are bankers to go down.
If we go down with him the owners will still keep him , that's how bad it is atm ,with a four year contract still drying he's nearly unsackable

 

[dedwardp]

I do love this: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11702/9692863/parkinson-bemoans-pitch

So the referee was going to call it off, Parkinson convinced him that they should play it. We arrived, we weren't happy with the pitch and would have wanted it off had we been there at the time. Parkinson then moans about the pitch when they fail to win, despite being the one pushing for it to be played! Brilliant.

 

[Crewelad87]

Colchester vs Crewe next week is a massive game the 1st 6 pointer of the season in my eyes for us.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Bradshaw off with another hamstring injury today...that's us well and truly in this. We don't score unless it's him.

 

[jamesslater01]

Colchester vs Crewe next week is a massive game the 1st 6 pointer of the season in my eyes for us.

As is our game away at Yeovil...

It's going to be a big weekend at the bottom of the table, that's for sure.

 

[Bottega Don]

Two draws for those six pointers would be fantastic.

 

[AmbiguousBon]

February is the make or break month for us, Crawley and Gillingham at home, Crewe, Scunthorpe, and Doncaster away. In my opinion we need to be looking to win (an unlikely on the basis of yesterday) 3 of those to be back in the chase, or else we could very well find ourselves cut adrift...

 

[The Terminator]

Just think, it could be worse, you could be having to put up with this shit:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/please-make-this-video-stop-5087838

 

[TomPNE94]

Just think, it could be worse, you could be having to put up with this shit:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/please-make-this-video-stop-5087838

Literally the worst thing I have ever watched.

 

[joethegill]

We have a few tough games this month - MK Dons, Sheffield United at home, and Peterborough away. Couple of games we need to target to get points in at the end of the month with Yeovil away and Barnsley at home.

Still think we'll be absolutely fine though.

 

[RavenBish]

Just think, it could be worse, you could be having to put up with this shit:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/please-make-this-video-stop-5087838

I didn't realise things were THIS bad. R.I.P Orient.

 

[LuSiVe]

Hello :'(

 

[Bottega Don]

Hello :'(

Don't you have another penalty taker?

 

[Saddlerrad]

Unless Smith brings someone in this evening, we are stuffed without Bradshaw. Manshit and Grimes as our forwards. Christ.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

We are 100% going down

 

[dedwardp]

We're doomed. Our home form is pathetic, and losing games like today is criminal in the position we are in. Next week we've got two tough trips to Sheffield United and Oldham, and then we welcome MK Dons and Bristol City the week after to gift home points to. We'll be adrift in a fortnight.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Our away form is what is saving us currently.

Coventry 0-0 Walsall
Sheffield United 1-1 Walsall
Milton Keynes Dons 0-3 Walsall
Preston 0-2 Walsall
Colchester 0-2 Walsall
Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Walsall

Our last 6 away games.