It would probably be easier to write a book about what went wrong with Orient's season than to try to cover it in a single blog. The only difficulty with writing it would be that so much appears to have gone wrong behind the scenes that trying to piece it together from the outside with any degree of certainty is impossible.
The signs were there right from the end of the season. The fact that Jamie Jones tweeted his surprise at the release of Scott McGleish doesn't suggest there was open revolt, it is more a reflection on twitter and how players use it. But you got the impression that there were two leaders in the dressing room, McGleish and Stephen Dawson. No one would slack off with Dawson around and no one at the club was bigger than McGleish. Maybe Russell Slade felt that the latter wasn't conducive to team spirit but I believe it had the effect of keeping everyone elses egos in check and the players all seemed to respect McGleish. But there are stories like that at the end of every season and they're soon forgotten about as the new season starts.
I was far more concerned when the players went off to Las Vegas at the start of the season, a reward for getting a replay with Arsenal and a great team building opportunity. The fact two players stayed behind was a cause for concern - in the first instance because it may have been a precursor to them leaving shortly and then later because it seemed odd that they simply didn't want to go on the trip. Revell's performances last season were solid, Rotherham (hardly a club awash with money) were willing to pay a transfer fee for him and we didn't have a replacement for him, all of which suggest he didn't leave because of a lack of ability. As the end of the first transfer window came, the warning signs from the Vegas trip came to fruition as he departed to Yorkshire. It may have simply been because a transfer fee was offered (which it could have been if you look at the later departure of Dawson), because he wanted away for his own reasons, the manager didn't want him in the squad or a combination of two or all of those reasons. There isn't necessarily a salacious story behind it, maybe the chemistry that was there last season simply wasn't this and it suited all parties.
As the season went on (although for Orient it didn't start until October), we continued to be a victim of our own success. The loan players who did so well for us last year were retained by Tottenham to feature in their Europa League campaign and then later loaned to Championship clubs. Charlie Daniels was the next to be poached, at least doubling his wages at Bournemouth and earning the club a decent transfer fee. I'm all for having a go at Ashley Cole for not being able to manage on his 'paltry' wages at Arsenal but it is a bit different on the sort of wages he'd be on at this level. Daniels would be an idiot to turn down an offer to play at Margate if they offered him £3k more than he was on at Orient. Then our biggest diamond was plucked by Barnsley and suddenly not only had we lost all but one of our truly outstanding players from one year ago, we lost the driving force in the heart of the team and Russell Slade had to find someone new to take his bins out. If you thought it couldn't get any worse we also lost a decent right back, still now spending time at Her Majesty's displeasure and thanks to injuries we've had more keepers at Brisbane Road than they have at London Zoo.
If there has been criticism of Slade that has been particularly harsh this year it is his record with signings and I don't think it is the quality of individual players that has been the problem. Some unsuccessful moves stand out. Jamie Cureton just couldn't cut it and didn't look able to hit the target even if it was doubled in size. Tom Clarke was very ordinary and there are simply no words to describe Calvin Andrew or the emergency signing of Paul Rachubka. But he has also signed player of the year Scott Cuthbert, Lee Cook probably the most talented person to grace the shirt this season, Syam Ben Youssef who shows great potential, Tony Craig who did well enough to be recalled to Millwall, Adam Reed who belied his young age and showed he is a tidy player already, Adam Chicksen also good enough to be recalled by MK Dons, Leon McSweeney who has played well out of position and was willing to play through the pain barrier at the end of the season and Jamal Campbell-Ryce who was key to what attacking play we did manage in the run in. I don't think that is a bad ratio of good to bad and there are only so many good players that the manager can be expected to keep replacing!
There are plenty of others who did OK but who I think have simply not played to their full potential due to playing out of position (Mooney, Leacock) injuries (Taiwo), suspension (Dickson, Taiwo, Dickson again) or simply by not being given the games to hit their stride (Laird). Everyone will have their hate figures and their favourites but I didn't start this blog to slate players or managers. Our problem was that last season we had some consistency, some truly outstanding performers and a good squad of players around them to support them. In the latter half of this season we've had too many supporting actors but not enough leading lights. I do believe the worst decision of the season was allowing Dawson to go, especially if the sole reason was to pick up a transfer fee for someone who was due to be out of contract. He was such a vital part of the team and that money would have been swallowed up by the losses incurred by getting relegated. Once he had had gone I don't believe Slade could have done much better than getting players or Reed and Taiwo's standard in. It simply isn't possible to loan in a player anywhere near as good as Dawson.
Russell Slade will probably never get the credit for digging the team out of a huge mess after a terrible start. Can anyone honestly say that on the 30 September 2011 they ever thought we'd get out of the relegation zone at all? Unfortunately though when we went into a double dip it nearly had disastrous consequences. Even with a lack of star players there is no way this squad of players should have finished where we did in the table and so you have to look at how the team was lined up and asked to play. For one thing we simply ran out of full backs and then latterly lost our best centre back Scott Cuthbert. As a result we started to look very shaky at the back and Slade's response was to be very cautious with his tactics. You're on a hiding to nothing when you find yourself having to plug things up to simply avoid conceding goals. Go out offensively and you're leaving a weak defence exposed. Try to protect them and you are just inviting pressure on yourselves and something will give eventually. That is exactly what happened game after game, as the floodgates regularly gave way around the hour mark.
Finally at the end of a season that saw him deprived of players over and over again the gaffer simply had no idea what his best team was anymore. Trying to find what players work best in what system in pre-season is easy (ish!), especially when you've spent the last six months studying the new players strengths and weaknesses and brought them in at a time of your choose. Doing that in front of the fans against competitive teams is a different kettle of fish. He ended up choosing eleven players who mightn't light up a game but he felt they were the players who wouldn't let him down, even if it meant playing them out of position. But again you are on a slippery slope when you find yourself having to select a team with that sort of negative mindset. Players like Leacock, who I thought looked fine in defence, were asked to play in midfield, which didn't particularly strengthen the midfield and weakened the defence. Jimmy Smith, whose greatest strength is scoring goals from midfield was asked to play in the holding position in front of the back four. He was unsuited to it and found himself following the ball because that is his game further up the park but it exposed the centre backs in the process. I don't think there were any right answers to the hand that the season dealt us, only part of which was of our own doing. We basically ended up in a mess that nearly overwhelmed us as the injuries and suspensions stacked up. We're not a top 5 team who could throw money at problems or have a squad prepared for any eventuality - an Orient manager is always going to have to make do and mend.
Somehow we have got to the end of the season with our League One status intact. This may well have been the toughest season of Russell Slade's managerial career and he will be stronger for it - after a break! The fact that he held on until the end of the season suggests he has Barry Hearn's full support and will have been scouting and planning for next season in the knowledge he will still be here. Forget the fact he has a two year contract, there is no way in the world that doesn't contain release clauses that would allow a parting of the ways without paying up that full 2 years. It is funny how Barry gets accused of being too hard-nosed and then too generous with contracts almost in the same breath! Slade isn't infallible but I trust him when it comes to bringing players in, building a squad and getting them to play way above expectations. Last year didn't happen by luck. I also believe that whatever he got wrong and right there are other managers who wouldn't have coped with everything that was thrown at him and would have either walked away or turned on the players or fans. At all times Russell has behaved with dignity and composure, despite clearly hurting that nothing he tried seemed to work. The best thing about getting to the end of the season is that the slate gets wiped clean, bridges can be mended and everyone gets a chance to reflect on what could have been done better. Luckily the break is long enough to fit it all in.
The one plea I would make is that we don't go into next season talking about how long Slade has to get it right. That sort of pressure will only have a negative effect on everyone at the club. Enjoy your summer and genuine heartfelt thanks to everyone who has read these ramblings and said nice things about the blog. It really does mean a lot and makes the inordinate amount of time it takes to work out what the hell is wrong with Leyton Orient all worthwhile.
