Richie Wellens, Leyton Orient manager, lambasted his team’s’shambolic’ performance following their FA Cup exit on Friday night.
The O’s, 13th in League One, were soundly defeated 4-0 by Wellens’ previous side Salford, and will therefore miss out on the potentially lucrative third round.
The League Two side seized the lead in the 23rd minute thanks to an own goal by Killian Cahill, before Kallum Cesay, Fabio Borini, and Kelly N’Mai scored late goals to seal the victory.
The result enraged Wellens, who chastised his players in a scathing post-match interview.
What did Wellens say about his players?
The interviewer began by remarking, “Hard luck tonight,” to which Wellens swiftly replied, “Hard luck?” “It wasn’t bad luck.”
That opened the floodgates for Wellens to rip into his underperforming players.
“From our point of view, nowhere near good enough,” he told TNT Sports. “I turned it on, and the first 20 minutes were slow and uninteresting, with no tempo or passion.
“For as bad as were were you have to give them (Salford) credit.”
Wellens, who formerly played for Blackpool, Leicester, and Doncaster, highlighted a serious issue with his team before kickoff.
“Too many of us are grumbling, saying the pitch isn’t good enough. “I heard them talking after the warm-up,” Wellens said.
Well, they (Salford) played on the same pitch and could handle the ball.
“For us, it’s far from satisfactory. Currently, it is too inconsistent. When we are beat, we concede too many goals. When we play well, we win and look great.
“Today’s first goal was a goalkeeping error. The second goal, we roll it out, it goes over Omar’s (Beckles’) foot, and we give a goal away.
“The third goal. Jack Simpson is on the ball at the halfway line for the fourth goal.The aims are completely ludicrous.
“They were miles better than us.”
No excuses.
Wellens was questioned on whether the pre-match pitch complaints had a detrimental impact on his team’s performance, but the Orient manager promptly dismissed that notion.
“They can’t make excuses,” he explained. “Our last game was in Tamworth. The pitch is significantly superior than Tamworth’s.
“We couldn’t even kick the ball while clearing it. The technique lacked effectiveness.
“Decision making and angles must be worked out early in order to play on a subpar pitch.
“They were well-deserved victors in terms of our performance. It was awkward and chaotic.”
A angry Wellens noted that this isn’t the first time his team has performed in a similar method.
“We’ve had two of these before,” Wellens explained. “We have got Mansfield and Wycombe away.
“Inconsistencies can occur when you have new players in the team, as well as young players just beginning out in their careers.
“Dom Ballard is the second-highest goal scorer, but his play is inconsistent. There are a few others.
“But listen, we are a young gang; we will batten down the hatches and go again.
“Our supporters took the day off or finished early and came up here to support us. That was not nearly good enough.”
Wellens guided Leyton Orient to the FA Cup fourth round last season, where they notably led 1-0 against Manchester City before Pep Guardiola’s side won 2-1.
This year’s campaign saw them triumph 1-0 at Tamworth of the National League, but there will be no more heroics.
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