Leyton Orient are a club on the brink of relegation, at the grand old age of 135 years old. The O’s are currently going through one of the biggest crisis the club has had to ever endure. One of their biggest fans and podcaster Paul Levy has plenty to say.
Declan McCarthy: Paul, thanks for joining me. How long have you been supporting Leyton Orient?
Paul Levy: I first went to Leyton Orient back in 1981, I’ve now been supporting Orient for about 25 years. The O’s are my first and only club.
How long have you been performing alongside your co-host Stephen on the Orient Outlook Podcast?
PL: Well, Stephen approached me a few years ago and said let’s do a half hour podcast, at first I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to fill half an hour’s worth of content into the podcast but as time has developed I was extremely wrong.
When we started it was around the time when podcasts around Leyton were quite frequent, so we made ours different and we’ve just kept going. We provide the Orient community an opinion, which makes it so fun.
How would you sum up the last year from an Orient perspective, to someone who doesn’t know so much about the current situation the club find themselves in?
PL: Catastrophic! And don’t support us! It’s slightly tongue and cheek but since 2014, when Mr.Becchetti came in and took over the club, we have just gone downhill.
The last 12 months just haven’t been fun for an Orient fan.
In the last 10 years you’ve had four different managers and TEN in two and a half years. Seems quite a high turnover.
PL: The problem is it shows we don’t have someone who knows how to manage, it also shows we don’t have someone with the correct ethos. He (Mr.Becchetti) doesn’t see the long game.
So, what has just gone so wrong for Orient in the last 12 months? What’s happened that has seen the club where it is today?
PL: Well, the owner doesn’t come to games, apparently his charisma is missed by the players and staff.
No one misses him! No one cares less if he’s there or not because we are talking about professionals, they are paid to play and represent Leyton Orient.
I don’t think the players have been fit enough for most of the season, we have players playing because they have to and the interference from above hasn’t helped and these are the main things I would say have made this a tough year.
One problem is certainly the home form at Orient. Why has it been so hard to pick up points at the Matchroom Stadium?
PL: Really good question, I just don’t know. The playing surface if brilliant, maybe the players are feeling under pressure and fear the expectation playing in front of us fans.
Is Mr.Francesco Becchetti all that bad?
PL: When he first came to the club, I thought he had the best intentions for the club. He had the desire and willingness to have something that was very successful.
With Becchetti I honestly feel he wanted the best for the club but made so many mistakes, and I feel they were mistakes not deliberate, now we find ourselves where we are.
Opinion on Danny Webb?
PL: Some doubt Danny, and wether he’s suitable for the role. Game on game we’ve seen improvement. There’s more grit, determination, passion and togetherness. Ultimately, we are slowly improving. We even look fitter.
It’s too early to say and so far I’m impressed. He’s certainly brought a team bond with him, something we didn’t have before this season.
So, if he keeps you up, is he the right man for next season?
PL: I think he deserves the chance. I think if someone has kept you up and you’re playing nice football then yeah, absolutely.
Under Becchetti, does Leyton Orient have a future if he doesn’t sell?
PL: That’s a really hard question.
He can learn, he could start to right some of the wrongs he has made. He would need to let Webb bring in players he wants and not our head of recruitment.
The head of recruitment needs to be there for Danny when he needs them, not bringing him players he doesn’t want or need.
So, from that perspective he can’t keep making the same mistakes, but unfortunately you think it can’t get any worse, it does.
Things discussed on the Orient Outlook Podcast?
PL: We’re the most comprehensive round up of everything about Leyton Orient football club, we have news from around the club, and we keep up to-date with just about everything regarding the club. We are close with the Trust and the community.
We simply give Orient fans everything they need to know through our podcast, we also do fun features for the listeners – which keeps things positive too! So do check us out on Twitter @OutlookPodcast
When can they hear this?
PL: You can catch the latest podcast on Sunday’s from half 10pm. It’s on itunes and soundcloud.com/orient-outlook.
