Football Season Guide

After seeing his side narrowly missing out on a top six finish last season, Russel Slade announced that he will spend the summer travelling around the country and searching for reinforcements that could help the O's make the step forward next season. So far, things have not gone exactly according to his plan, as the O's have signed only three players: Shaun Batt, who spent time on loan with the club last season, keeper Jake Larkins, who joins from West Ham, and forward Yohann Lasimant, who signs after a successful trial, and who is a complete unknown in England. At the same time, nine players have left the club, with some of them, such as Martin Rowlands, Leon McSweeney, Jimmy Smith, Lee Cook and Charlie MacDonald, featuring fairly regularly last season. Further signings are very much imminent, given that Slade only has 15 senior players at his disposal at the moment, but it does seem that he did not get the financial backing that he hoped for at the end of the previous season. Not all is lost, however, as the last season's back four is intact, while key player such as Dean Cox and Kevin Lisbie are still at the club, but it is quite clear that the O's will have troubles unless they significantly increase their squad in the next few weeks.