Independent Leyton Orient Forum

Interesting interview with Richie on the pod cast

https://m.soundcloud.com/orient-outlook

Richie as honest and forthright as ever.

Main things I noticed

Our budget likely to be 14th in league, due to clubs with a lot more money than us coming up and dropping down.
Difficult to compete when, for example, guy at Barnsley not even in their squad is on £10 k a week and the likes of Bolton can shell out £750k/£500k for players, let along wages.

We need players that are able to come in and make immediate impact, can’t afford passengers. Several players under contract told they can find new clubs.
Joe Pigott, hasn’t worked out, JP great lad but not RW’s type of player.
Wants two athletic full backs in, as well as g/k, midfield and forward.
Like to get transfer business done early but the fact is the bigger clubs can cherry pick who they want and we might have to go for 2/3/4/5th choice, all takes time.
Got the nucleus of a good squad, if we can add 6 to it we can do something.
Loanees like Shaq, Watford will want to asses him in preseason and see if they want him for their squad or not. If they loan him out again then we would probably be high up the list.
Will look for new coach in a few weeks, no great rush, attractive position.
Ritchie looking at moving down, had house to rent in Loughton all lined up but it fell through.
Think I heard it correctly, his son is signing as a scholar for us. Assume this is a younger son & not the one that’s with Reading.

Richie’s lisp had gone! Hope he enjoys his well deserved break.

Thanks for the synopsis - that's saved half an hour!

PKM wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:08 pm Several players under contract told they can find new clubs.

Bye Moncs, thanx 4 everything.

Thanks for the summary, top work.

Stockport and Mansfield have a lot more money than us?

The 3 going up will all be ahead of us, as will the 3 going down, so not sure how our budget has dropped from top 10 to 14th. Maybe the purse strings have been tightened?

PKM wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:08 pm Joe Pigott, hasn’t worked out, JP great lad but not RW’s type of player.

Really does make you wonder how that signing came about, hopefully Richie's recruitment process improvements will be followed this summer

PKM wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:08 pm Wants two athletic full backs in, as well as g/k, midfield and forward.

Bang on, he does indeed know exactly what we need

gshaw wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:32 pm

PKM wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:08 pm Joe Pigott, hasn’t worked out, JP great lad but not RW’s type of player.

Really does make you wonder how that signing came about,

I think we all know.

gshaw wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:32 pm
Wants two athletic full backs in

Bang on, he does indeed know exactly what we need

I still think Sweeney could be one of them, given the chance...

As much as I like James, he just hasn't got that drive to get up and down the pitch.

Hoover Attack wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:14 pm Thanks for the summary, top work.

Stockport and Mansfield have a lot more money than us?

The 3 going up will all be ahead of us, as will the 3 going down, so not sure how our budget has dropped from top 10 to 14th. Maybe the purse strings have been tightened?

Not listened to the podcast, but it could be that the "14th" remark is backward looking rather than forward - ie it applies to last season, not next. I can't imagine how we could be so clear and certain about our budget for next season (and those of all the other clubs) when there's still scope for additional investment, and for existing investors to fall over in a heap.

Other Clubs' budgets only become known in hindsight

Hoover Attack wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:14 pm Thanks for the summary, top work.

Stockport and Mansfield have a lot more money than us?

The 3 going up will all be ahead of us, as will the 3 going down, so not sure how our budget has dropped from top 10 to 14th. Maybe the purse strings have been tightened?

Wrexham will have more money than us + the 3 coming down from the Championship.

Stockport + Mansfield will be about the same as us but by the sounds of things slightly more.

The Reverend wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 2:06 pm
Wrexham will have more money than us + the 3 coming down from the Championship.

Stockport + Mansfield will be about the same as us but by the sounds of things slightly more.

The 3 coming down from the Championship are offset by the 3 going up.

Wrexham coming up should be the only place we drop.

Stockport are spending a lot and get bigger gates than us.

Imagine if Mk Dons come up, they'll have more money than us as well.

Hoover Attack wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 2:28 pm

The Reverend wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 2:06 pm
Wrexham will have more money than us + the 3 coming down from the Championship.

Stockport + Mansfield will be about the same as us but by the sounds of things slightly more.

The 3 coming down from the Championship are offset by the 3 going up.

Wrexham coming up should be the only place we drop.

Stockport and Mansfield could be slightly above us. Although I do struggle to see how that could be the case for Mansfield.

Is it possible that any of the clubs who were below us this season have suddenly had a cash injection? Reading or Wigan spring to mind as they were in financial trouble last year but possibly stabilised now?

Wycombe have a super wealthy new owner. Expect they will be challenging for auto

Considering everything Richie said and how tough League One is going to be next season our Summer transfer business has to be spot on . IMO, It's going to be one of our most important Summers for transfer business . Get it wrong and we could be facing a relegation battle next season so fingers crossed we pretty much get who we want .

Very publicly saying that Pigott isn't his kind of player is also a massive power move, given how much money JP is on.

OyinbO wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:22 am Very publicly saying that Pigott isn't his kind of player is also a massive power move, given how much money JP is on.

I agree. That’s very hard to come back from or claim misinterpreted comments. You would think he will certainly move over the summer.

RedDwarf 1881 wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2024 11:27 pmGet it wrong and we could be facing a relegation battle next season

Hoover Attack wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:43 am

RedDwarf 1881 wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2024 11:27 pmGet it wrong and we could be facing a relegation battle next season

With 6 key signings forming the spine of the squad to come in it's still very much up in the air. Look at our current squad excluding those yet to renew to see just how much some key positions need to improve...

Just remember how bad our CM was before El Miz arrived, that signing is absolutely critical if he doesn't return.

Howes

Sweeney
Cooper
Beckles
James

Brown
Sanders
Galbraith

O'Neill
Agyei
Graham*

DrWindy wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:40 am

OyinbO wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:22 am Very publicly saying that Pigott isn't his kind of player is also a massive power move, given how much money JP is on.

I agree. That’s very hard to come back from or claim misinterpreted comments. You would think he will certainly move over the summer.

Also another criticism of the "process" behind these acquisitions. And unlike with Adu-Adjei and Edwards, there's a lot more money at stake with this one.

OyinbO wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:22 am Very publicly saying that Pigott isn't his kind of player is also a massive power move, given how much money JP is on.

I don't know why we signed Pigott in the first place if he doesn't suit our style of play . People said on here he was a panic signing so maybe they were right .

Proposition Joe wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:13 pm

PKM wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 12:08 pm Several players under contract told they can find new clubs.

Bye Moncs, thanx 4 everything.

Defo one of the players and he didn't mention him in his squad list of ppl he would look to have going forward.

RedDwarf 1881 wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 12:16 pm

OyinbO wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:22 am Very publicly saying that Pigott isn't his kind of player is also a massive power move, given how much money JP is on.

I don't know why we signed Pigott in the first place if he doesn't suit our style of play . People said on here he was a panic signing so maybe they were right .

Agreed, but last summer I think our striker options shrank so the pig was the last one left on the list. Must have been because I can't see what Ritchie would have seen in him.

Cambridge only got 6-7 players signed for next season according to my mate who supports them. He could possibly do a decent job in a more industrial team like that - although thats straying a bit far from his home in Maidstone. Perhaps Kenny Jackett will do us a favour????

He’s on very decent money and will struggle to get a club in League One. We might have to take a bit of a hit on this. Hope you’re all ready to buy lots of crap food in the ground next season to help cover it.

Guessing it's lucky we didn't put him on a 3 year contract so as to protect our asset.....

Richie Wellens was very happy after he signed Pigott 10 months ago: "He's a focal point in terms of his size, but he's certainly not a target man. He's great with his back to goal and a really clever footballer. In terms of goals, he had a wonderful spell at Wimbledon which got him a great move to Ipswich and subsequently a loan at Portsmouth. He can play centre forward, but he can also play wide, so his versatility is something that could be really important for us. I think he needs to find a home and someone who trusts him to get back to his goalscoring form, but he offers an awful lot of qualities. He can score headers, tap-ins and free-kicks, he's technically a really good player and we think his qualities will really help us this season."