Ross Embleton has a storied past with Leyton Orient. The 39-year-old first worked at the club between 2005 and 2009 when he was in charge of the Club’s Centre of Excellence. Before leaving to work for Tottenham Hotspur, Bournemouth and Norwich City in Academy roles, only to later return to The O’s in 2017 as Assistant Manager where he helped guide them back into the Football League alongside the late Justin Edinburgh.
Since his return to the club, Embleton had three stints as Interim Head Coach before officially being appointed as permanent Head Coach in January 2020.
Embleton was relieved of his duties last month and in one of his first interviews since, he details how he was told he would be leaving the club, reacts to former Orient midfielder Josh Wright’s claims that he was ‘out of his depth’ and talks through what the next chapter in the Ross Embleton story will look like.
“I Felt Like That Might Have Been The End Of My Time.”
Embleton was sacked as Orient Head Coach after a 3-1 loss to Tranmere Rovers on February 27th. It was a move he saw coming, proclaiming “I felt like that might have been the end of my time.”
When asked about how he received the news, he replied, “I just had a feeling and I just went to find out.
“I’ve always said to people I’d rather honest straight face to face conversations then difficult ones. I went and found whoever I could, and Martin (Ling) was the first person I bumped into and I asked if I was being sacked. He said ‘yes’.
“What I thought was really important was the opportunity to speak to my staff and the players and walk away in the manor I would want to. The last thing I would’ve wanted to do was text people and make phone calls, it was nice to stand up in front of people and thank them face to face.”
“Am I Being Stubborn? Am I Being Naive?”
The loss against Tranmere continued a poor run of seven games without a win. A run which saw the O’s fall from in and around the playoff positions into the bottom half of the division. Many Orient fans feel it was Embleton’s stubbornness with wanting to proceed with his 4-3-3 tactic and possession based style of play which ultimately caused the drop off in form.
Addressing these claims, Embleton said the decision to stick with the tactic was, “because of the players we had at our disposal.
“The biggest thing I’ve learnt from being in the position to make those decisions, is that you have to do what’s right for the team, and what’s right for the individual players within it. We were a team that passed the ball, but you have to balance it out.
“If you’ve got John Stones in your team you know you’re going to be much better at it then if you’ve got Gary Cahill. 4-3-3 for me became the system I felt was most suited for the personnel we had.”
He continued, “I would’ve loved to have played a different system, I think when it starts to go wrong in the seven games before I lost the job, you then start to say, ‘am I doing the right things?’.
“I went to the people I trust a lot in game and one of my questions was ‘Am I being stubborn?’ or ‘Am I being naive?’. I seek to make my team the best I can, I want them to look like the very best. I don’t think it’s naive.”
“I felt like we didn’t have another system in us. I asked us to pass the ball and keep the ball in the manor we did because I felt that meant we were in control of our own destiny for longer periods of the game, rather than smashing it up the pitch and giving it to the other team and then putting ourselves under pressure.
“It showed towards the end, Tranmere had three shots on goal and scored three goals. That showed our vulnerability as a team.”
Out Of His Depth?
Crawley Town midfielder Josh Wright left Orient in January when his contract was terminated by mutual consent. In an interview after leaving the club the 31-year-old claimed Embleton was “out of his depth”, something the former O’s boss called, “disappointing”.
Adding, “even though Josh left the club under my management he was outstanding last year, and when people questioned him, I was the first person to support him and say what a great job he done for the team.”
The 39-year-old continued to praise Wright adding; “He was brilliant for me, he supported me through that interim period, if we didn’t have a good result, we would talk about it on the Sunday.
“He was proper the way he went about it. I have a lot of time and admiration for him. He was extremely supportive of me taking the job. So that was a bit of a shock to me. It hurts a little bit because he was a big part of my decision making and I enjoyed working with him.”
“It’s very easy after to say ‘he was out of his depth’. I wasn’t out of my depth when we were sixth or seventh at Christmas; I was out of my depth for six or seven games before I got the sack [he laughed], but those six or seven games he (Josh Wright) wasn’t there to experience that.”
COVID-19 Outbreak
Orient were the first club in the EFL to postpone a game due to an outbreak of COVID-19, with a reported ‘majority into double figures’ of first team players suffering from the virus.
The outbreak came when The O’s were on a run of seven games without a loss and were set to face Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup.
Spurs were awarded the win, ending Orient’s cup run, which Embleton described as “an immense blow.”
Despite Jose Mourinho’s side being three divisions higher, the former O’s Head Coach believed his side could have caused an upset, stating; “Spurs were vulnerable. I think it’s crazy to talk about beating them, but they weren’t in the right place in terms of the number of games they had to play, going to Europe and coming back. It just left them sitting there waiting for us to have a right good go at them.”
Embleton went on to describe the impact the outbreak continued to have. “What happened to us was the restrictions we were working under hit us so much earlier than everyone else.”
“When we played AFC Wimbledon in October they were still just being a normal football club, where as we were testing twice a week, having to walk one way around the training ground, not being able to sit and socialise, travelling on two buses, turning up in your kit for training then getting back in your car and going home, not being able to do gym sessions, video analysis being spread out here, there and everywhere and instead of looking at a set-piece video having to put it in a WhatsApp group.”
“From that perspective it made it difficult. Camaraderie was a massive part of our success when we won the league. That togetherness and team spirit is so important, and it was very difficult to create it.”
“I Wouldn’t Change It For The World”
Embleton grew up an O’s fan and when asked what it felt like to manage his childhood club he said, “I wouldn’t change it for the world, even after the way its ended. No one can take away from me being the Head Coach of my football club, and I will always refer to Orient as my football club. I don’t regret it for a moment.”
What’s Next?
Despite being such a young Head Coach at only 39-years old, Embleton has experience at the highest levels of the game in a career that has already span over 20 years, so is sure to have a wealth of options in the next path of his journey.
When asked about what he believes is his next step, Embleton said; “I genuinely don’t know. I think if I were to be a head coach again, I’d be better being someone else’s manager than being Leyton Orient’s. There’s been so much emotion and attachment, there is and always will be such a connection, and I think at times that’s worked against me.”
“People would always have the opinion that ‘he’s just the under 9’s coach, we don’t want him as a manager.’ I get that, but if I go somewhere else I’ll just be their manager and I’ll be the ex-Leyton Orient Head Coach, so I can just crack on with what I think is right without people already having there preconceived opinions of ‘we just don’t want him because its Ross.’”
He continued, “I enjoyed being a Head Coach, but I do also think I love coaching, I look at Under 23’s jobs, I look at Academy Jobs and Youth Team Managers and other roles in football and think I’d be alright at that, or I’ve done it and I enjoyed that one. So [being a Head Coach] hasn’t got me to the point that I’ve got to do it again but at the same time I would love to find out if I was any good somewhere else.”
(Photo Courtesy of Leyton Orient FC)
