Leyton Orient appoint Carl Fletcher as new head coach
Wednesday 16 October 2019 19:33, UK
Leyton Orient have appointed Carl Fletcher as their new head coach on a deal until the end of the 2020/21 season.
Ross Embleton was in interim charge of the O's following the tragic death of promotion-winning manager Justin Edinburgh in the summer, although stepped down from the role in September.
Fletcher arrives from Premier League club Bournemouth where he was the loan manager.
The 39-year-old previously managed Plymouth Argyle between 2011 and 2013, guiding the club to League Two safety in his only senior managerial role to date.
Fletcher rejoined Bournemouth in 2014, a club where he spent eight years as a player, to manage the U18s before subsequently taking charge of the U23s.
Orient direct of football Martin Ling said: "The board went through the interview process with Carl and he kept coming out on top. He has leadership skills, which he obviously had as a captain of many teams he was at including his country. Everything that we were looking for, he ticked every box.
"Everyone we spoke to said everything we wanted to hear. We spoke to Stephen Purches at Bournemouth, we had people speak to Eddie Howe and Charlie Daniels.
"We spoke to a couple of players who played under him at Plymouth as well as the people at board level at Bournemouth and they all said the same thing - they believe he's going to make a top-class football manager."
Embleton will return to his position of assistant coach while Danny Webb will go back to his role of first team development coach and Jobi McAnuff will continue in his role of player/coach.
Chairman Nigel Travis added: "We are delighted to welcome Carl Fletcher to the Club. Carl brings not only plenty of football experience but also the modern up-to-date skills in managing a football team through the last seven years at AFC Bournemouth.
"I want to thank Ross Embleton for the outstanding job he has done filling the gap during the last several months. He has handled the circumstances with a sensitivity and a skill that very few could match. Furthermore, we'd like to thank Danny Webb and Jobi McAnuff for their contributions at a very difficult time following Justin's passing."
Orient are currently in 17th place in League Two with four wins from their opening 13 games. Their next match comes away to Grimsby on Saturday.
