"Not a great strategy" - Transfer demand sent to Leyton Orient and Nigel Travis | OneFootball

FLW's Leyton Orient fan pundit believes the club need to become less reliant on loan signings.

This article is part of Football League World’s 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It has been an incredibly disappointing start to the season for Leyton Orient in League One.

Orient secured a respectable 11th-placed finish last season in their first year back in the third tier following their promotion from League Two, but they have been unable to maintain their form in the early weeks of this campaign.

The O's lost their first four league games, but it looked as though they had turned a corner after back-to-back away wins at Reading and Stockport County in September.

However, Orient are now without a win in their last five games, and they suffered their third consecutive defeat as they were beaten 1-0 by fellow strugglers Northampton Town at Sixfields on Saturday, with Cameron McGeehan's 48th-minute strike sealing all three points for the Cobblers.

Manager Richie Wellens described his side's second half display as "diabolical", and the O's sit 20th in the table ahead of the home game against Rotherham United on Tuesday night.

While it has been a disappointing start to the season, it has been a successful seven years for Orient since Nigel Travis' takeover in 2017, with the club going from the National League to League One during that time.

Leyton Orient fan pundit issues Nigel Travis demand

When asked what demand he would make of the club's owner, FLW's Leyton Orient fan pundit Lee Goulding urged Travis not to be as reliant on the loan market in future transfer windows.

"My one demand for the current owner is to rethink using the loan market so heavily," Lee said.

"Last year we had seven, and this year we have six.

"I get that we have to loan players due to our budget, but long-term it just doesn't feel like a good strategy for the club.

"A good example is last season we had a goalkeeper - Sol Brynn - on loan from Middlesbrough and he did really well, but we didn't sign him, he went back, and now we've loaned two goalkeepers, another from Middlesbrough and one from Tottenham as a back-up.

"I think long-term, using the loan market that heavily is not a great strategy.

"For me, we should be either investing more in our youth team and giving them a chance or making more permanent signings.

"I just don't think using the loan market consistently and to that volume is the way to go."

The O's signed seven players on loan during the course of last season - Sol Brynn, Ed Turns, Brandon Cooper, Idris El Mizouni, Shaq Forde, Daniel Adu-Adjei and Khayon Edwards - and they adopted a similar strategy this summer, with six players arriving at the Gaughan Group Stadium on a temporary basis.

Poor Leyton Orient start is a warning to Nigel Travis

Given that Orient also started last season poorly before climbing the table, there is no need for supporters to panic just yet, but it has been a concerning first two months of the season for Wellens' men.

As Lee says, bringing in up to seven loan signings per season is not a sustainable transfer strategy for the O's, particularly as they are unlikely to be able to sign many of them on a permanent basis.

Relying so heavily on loans will mean significant changes in the squad every year, but it may also be difficult to recruit the same quality of loanees each summer, as Orient found during the recent transfer window.

It is difficult for the O's to compete financially with some of their League One rivals, so loans can be an incredibly useful way to strengthen the squad, but Travis must find a better balance between temporary and permanent deals.