' Slade won't get his man '

16/10/14
Nugent Given Orient Management Job

League One side Leyton Orient have appointed a replacement to Russell Slade, following his departure to Cardiff City. They have given his former assistant Kevin Nugent the title of Interim Manager until the end of the 2014-15 season, according to East London paper, the Ilford Recorder. Nugent has been in the Caretaker Manager position since Slade's departure, and had made clear that he did not plan to follow his boss to South Wales, preferring to persuade Orient's new Italian owners that he was the man for the job.

Nugent has told the paper that the decision to give him the First Team Manager's job was made last Friday, prior to their trip to Sheffield United's Bramall Lane ground, but due to the importance of the fixture he chose to keep that under his hat to not divert attention away from the match. Nugent explained that he had never been in doubt that the position was his to take:

"It’s been business as normal since this whole situation has arrived. It’s slightly different now because on Friday I signed an amendment to my contract which gives me a role to manage the team on an interim basis. I have been given the role as interim manager and my contract has been amended to that. That was signed on Friday before the Sheffield United game so I am very happy about that."

The former Swansea City player said that he had even kept last week's news away from his players, as he wanted the headlines to be kept on their 2-2 draw that was obtained thanks to a Romaine Vincelot equaliser in the 99th minute of the match, despite Orient being down to ten men. Because of that drama he wanted to make sure that his players got the focus and not himself:

"The players didn’t know the whole situation. It’s been ongoing and I spoke to the press but I didn’t want to take anything away from the players spirited performance so I didn’t want to speak about my own situation because there has been enough about it. The main thing for me is to focus on getting us climbing up the league table. I spoke to the players on Tuesday (about the appointment) and they know that I will be running it as I see fit now. I’ll be picking the side and anything to do with the football side is down to me now. There’s no excuses on who is or isn’t in charge. How long that lasts I don’t know. If I was to go back to number two I certainly don’t fear that situation, that’s fine."

Nugent's appointment should bring an end to a series of speculative articles in the West Country local media that attempted to connect Gary Johnson's name with the vacancy at Brisbane Road. The East London press have not mentioned Johnson's name at any stage, and have largely centred upon the length of time it has taken since Slade's September 24th resignation for the position to be filled. Nugent's decision to leave the appointment under wraps for six days elongated that process a little further.

I don't think that's a big blow

Not too disappointed with that...

Good get someone better and more experienced