Leyton Orientear · https://leytonorientear.news/opinion/leyton-orientear-editorial-october-172528
Leyton Orientear Editorial: October
28.10.26, 14:30 Updated 29.10.26, 18:44 15 Minute Read
“Check your lucky numbers… that much money could drag you under”
We’ve got off to a stuttering start in all four seasons since returning to League One in 2023. Richie Wellens, now the sixth longest-serving Manager in all of England’s top four divisions, sometimes puts this down to the amount of change his playing squad has endured each summer – and as many of our better campaigns over the years have been driven by a settled squad, he has a point.
Our analysis has shown that squad churn has actually increased further since David Gandler took over, and last season suggested the rate has become so intense that the turnarounds we saw in late 2023 and 2024 may be impossible. It’s still too early to be sure how this season will shape up, but if 2025 was anything to go by, we can’t assume that we’ll see our fortunes improve by the end of 2026.
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Aynsley Taylor
EditorEditor of the Ear since 2021, and proud to take it into its fifth decade. Was singularly unqualified for the job, but no-one else wanted to do it. Sees Orient with the zeal of the adult convert rather than someone who was dragged to church every weekend from childhood.