The Italian Job: How Leyton Orient went through 10 managers in three years | OneFootball

Orient's managerial situation from 2014-17 was a mess.

On July 7th 2014, Barry Hearn sold his stake in Leyton Orient to Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti.

The O's had just come off of a strong League One campaign, which ultimately ended in heartbreak after missing out on automatic promotion and losing out on penalties in the play-off final to Rotherham United.

Becchetti, who was head of the Becchetti Energy Group at the time, had previously been linked with a takeover of Reading before arriving in East London.

The summer of 2014 saw a large number of incomings and outgoings, the most notable of which being star winger Moses Odubajo who headed to Brentford for a fee of £1 million, a club record sale that still stands.

Orient were rushed into first managerial change

The start of 2014/15 was a mixed bag for the O's, with an inconsistent start to the league campaign being slightly overshadowed by a shock 1-0 win away at Premier League side Aston Villa in the EFL Cup.

However, Orient's plans for the season were quickly thrown into disarray, with manager Russell Slade resigning and joining then-Premier League side Cardiff City following the dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in late September - a move that resulted in a near year-long court case.

Slade's assistant and former O's forward Kevin Nugent took charge before former QPR and Napoli defender Mauro Milanese was appointed in late October after he had joined the club as sporting director in the summer.

However, the Italian was only given eight games before being removed as manager in early December and eventually departing the club fully the following month - then taking the East London club to court for wrongful dismissal.

Replacing Milanese was another well-established Italian, former international Fabio Liverani. At the time of his appointment, Orient were only a solitary point above the relegation zone, but as the January window approached, Liverani was forced to work with loan signings and free transfers.

This lack of quality showed as the O's slipped further down the table and ended the season on a seven-game winless run which saw them relegated on the final day of the season.

The following year didn't see any more stability

Liverani left the club by mutual consent following relegation and the summer saw an even larger overhaul, with 11 incomings and 16 outgoings - with key players such as David Mooney, Romain Vincelot and Kevin Lisbie all departing the club.

Former Barnet manager Ian Hendon stepped up to take the reigns, a former defender who had made 131 appearances for the O's and even made the PFA Third Division Team of the Year for the 1996/17 season. He started the season well, winning his first five league games which saw Orient top the table after the first month of action.

However, Orient only went on to win three games between September and January - which saw the O's plummet down the table and inevitably saw Hendon's dismissal on January 18th.

Kevin Nolan, who had left West Ham by mutual consent in August of the previous year, was announced as player-manager on January 21st, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal. With player-manager duties being so taxing, this was seen as a controversial move among the fanbase as many thought the responsibilities of both roles were too much to handle.

This appointment saw a slight uptick in form, with the former Bolton and Newcastle man winning five of his first seven league games in charge as the O's pushed for a play-off spot.

However, a poor run coming up to and during Easter saw Nolan removed from his managerial duties, with then-chief executive Alessandro Angelieri telling the club website: "We believe Kevin will be able to make a bigger impact without the distraction of managerial duties. We have decided that Kevin should focus entirely on his playing contribution until the end of the season."

His assistant Andy Hessenthaler was placed in charge for the rest of the season and Orient ended up missing the play-offs by six points, with Nolan departing the club entirely at the end of the season.

Pressure began to build on Becchetti and the board after consecutive poor seasons and being unable to return to League One at the first time of asking. This was not helped by Becchetti himself, who was fined £40,000 and forced to serve a six-match stadium ban after being charged with violent conduct after a game against Portsmouth on Boxing Day.

The circus continued into the following year

Hessenthaler was kept on as manager heading into the 2016/17 season, with the club bringing in 11 new signings and seeing 17 outgoings - one of which being the controversial departure of cult hero Dean Cox. Cox had suffered a season-ending injury in November the previous year, and after turning down a deadline day move to Northampton Town, he left the club by mutual consent the next day - meaning he was unable to join another EFL club until the January window opened.

Speaking to BBC Radio London, Cox stated: "I wouldn't say I'm in a predicament, but I have never been in this position before. It is not a nice thing for a footballer. I'm not able to do my job.

"I am going to have to sit it out again for four months before I can kick a ball in the League again. I'll try to make the best of it. It is hard to train on your own and keep yourself motivated but it is something which has got to be done."

After only nine league games, Hessenthaler was dismissed as manager. Youth team manager Andy Edwards took charge for a pair of games before veteran manager Alberto Cavasin was appointed as the permanent replacement.

Cavasin's most recent role prior to making the move to East London was in the top flight in Italy with Sampdoria where he failed to prevent their relegation - and he could not stop the rot at Orient either so he was sacked after just two wins in twelve games.

At this stage, the O's were in a perilous position and needed stability, so the aforementioned Edwards was given the manager's role on a permanent basis.

But he would only see nine games, six of which were defeats, before making a move to work with England's youth teams - becoming a member of the England coaching staff that won the U20s World Cup in South Korea that same year.

Replacing Edwards was Orient first-team coach Danny Webb, who had been with the club since 2011 and led the U16s and U18s to success in their respective leagues. However, Orient's poor form had caught up with them and after only two wins in 12 games in charge, the O's were seven points adrift of safety with seven matches to play.

During this period, Orient had been served with a winding-up order given against Becchetti himself.

Webb's assistant Omer Riza took charge until the rest of the season. However, Riza only managed to collect four points from those seven games as Orient were relegated with two games to go after a 3-0 defeat away at Crewe.

Thankfully, Orient were saved after a consortium lead by Nigel Travis and Kent Teague purchased the club and paid all debts in full, but Riza's contract was not extended during the summer as he went on to join Watford as an academy coach.

Since the takeover, there has been much more consistency regarding managers in E10. Comparing the last seven years to those three hectic years and the success that has come for the O's since shows how important continuity is when it comes to the head coach.

League titles won by the late Justin Edinburgh as well as more recently Richie Wellens will go down in Orient history - whereas these managers will more likely go down in infamy.