Martin Ling was the sixth longest serving manager in English league football and the second longest serving manager in League One having been appointed in September 2003. Despite five seasons of continuous improvement under Ling (including promotion), the last twelve months have been very poor and have seen the club fall from top of League One to nearly bottom. Ling and Smith have both been long serving and loyal employees of Leyton Orient, and whilst their departure will be viewed with sadness by many, the end may have been inevitable given the recent disastrous run. Barry Hearn is reported to have found the action difficult as he regards Ling as both a good manager and person.
The club state that a replacement will be in post within a fortnight and in the interim, Kevin Nugent and Kevin Dearden will run the club on a caretaker basis starting with the derby match at home to Southend on Tuesday 20th