This week Leyton Orient appointed Carl Fletcher as their new head coach. The 39 year old joins from Bournemouth where he had previously worked as their under-18’s and under 23’s manager, before taking up the role of Loan Player Manager last year.
Following an extensive three week search – which Orient’s Principal Investor Kent Teague claims saw more than 40 people apply for the role – there has been a mixed reaction to Fletcher being handed the job, with his lack of experience being the main sticking point for some fans.
Of course that complaint isn’t without a foundation. O’s fans could look at Fletcher’s 24.6% win rate as Plymouth manager, in what has so far been his only experience as a first team manager, and be very much within their rights to feel underwhelmed by the appointment.
Hotseat
However, the former Wales international’s two year spell in charge at Home Park comes with two major caveats attached to it.
Fletcher was inserted into the hotseat at Argyle during a particularly turbulent time for the club; the side had just come off the back of successive relegations, whilst off the field they had been served with their third winding up petition in three years.
Factor in the financial difficulties in with the fact that he was only 31 and still a player at the club when he took over and you can see why the job might not have been plain sailing for him.
Now eight years wiser and more experienced, having risen through the ranks at Bournemouth, he’s ready to have a crack at League Two once again and this season presents the ideal opportunity for the O’s to put their faith in him.
The ripple effect of the mismanagement of Bury means there will be only one club relegated from League Two this season. And with Orient already nine points clear of 24th place, you feel now is as good a time as ever for the O’s hierarchy to take a gamble on an inexperienced coach with a lot of potential.
The appointment of Fletcher begins to look even shrewder once you start to take note of a pattern emerging at the top of the division.
Youngest
If you look at the ages of some of the top managers in League Two currently, you will notice a number of youthful coaches in charge. In fact the average age of the coaches that currently occupy the top seven places is just a tad over 41 years old – with the league’s top two, Crewe and Exeter, being coached by the two youngest managers in the division in the shape of David Artell (38) and Matt Taylor (37).
Compare the average age of the top seven in League Two with their counterparts in the Championship and League One and it becomes clear that League Two is a division where young managers are not only afforded the opportunity to coach, they thrive given that opportunity.
This trend of young coaches doing well in League Two is not exactly a new phenomenon either.
Two of the promoted teams from the division last season, Lincoln and Bury, were managed by Danny Cowley (39) and Ryan Lowe (40), whilst managers such as Gary Rowett, Michael Appleton, Gareth Ainsworth and, Fletcher’s former boss at Bournemouth, Eddie Howe, have all successfully cut their teeth at this level over the last decade.
However, there is one example of a young coach being appointed in League Two that bears particular resemblance to the current scenario the O’s find themselves in.
Nathan Jones was appointed by Luton Town in January 2016, following a three year spell as first-team coach at Brighton.
Luton had just come off the back of an eighth place finish in League Two under the experienced John Still, having won the National League title in the 2014/15 season.
Stagnate
Though at the time there was a feeling around Kenilworth Road that things were beginning to stagnate and new impetus was needed, as Oli Walker, a League One Analyst and Luton Town fan told Rising East.
“Having come back into League Two from non-league, we hit our ceiling under John Still and needed to modernise the coaching setup in order to progress further.
“Jones’s coaching background, mostly with Brighton’s first team during a successful period, made him a very attractive appointment to make at League Two level and it was seen as a good fit for all parties with both harbouring long-term ambitions to move up the pyramid.”
Walker also explained how the fan reaction to Jones’ appointment was not too dissimilar to that of Orient supporters upon hearing the news:
“I think people were a bit surprised at his appointment and not many were familiar with the name, but as soon as we learned of his coaching pedigree and how he matched with the vision the club had in place to move forward, it became clear it was a shrewd decision.”
Of course it did prove to be a shrewd decision, as Jones paved the way for consecutive promotions for the Hatters, playing some of the most exciting football ever seen in the third and fourth tiers along the way.
And although obviously for every young talented manager such as Nathan Jones, there are exceptions such as Harry Kewell or Paul Scholes, whose appointments don’t work out quite as well. O’s fans will have to put their faith in the board that Fletcher is more like the former than the latter. They certainly got it right last time, did they not?
