LONDON : Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens is not the type to ask for selfies but even he could not resist that temptation when attending a seminar at which Pep Guardiola was offering insight into his coaching genius.
Wellens will come face to face with Guardiola again on Saturday when the League One club host Manchester City in the FA Cup fourth round.
“Pep’s caused me a lot of pain with how good City have been,” Wellens, a lifelong Manchester United fan, told reporters. “He is a genius. He’s a pioneer for a lot of coaches.
“I hope he picks a few young ones to give us a chance. But whoever plays, it’s going to difficult. We’ll try and put on a show and stay in the game as long as possible.”
Orient, whose 9,200-capacity Brisbane Road ground overlooks the London Olympic Park and is within earshot of West Ham United’s stadium, will break off from their quest for promotion to the second tier to try to deliver a Cup shock for the ages.
If it were based on form alone, they might have a shot.
While Guardiola’s Premier League champions are struggling in season of relative woe, Orient have been on a stunning run, sparked by a memorable FA Cup second-round win over Oldham Athletic in which goalkeeper Josh Keeley scored a last-minute headed equaliser.
Wellens has shown his players videos of City’s defeats against the likes of Liverpool, Paris St Germain and more recently the 5-1 drubbing at Arsenal.
Less happy viewing was City’s 8-0 FA Cup third-round win at Wellens’s old club Salford City.
“I say vulnerability lightly, because they are still fifth in the Premier League. They beat Ipswich Town by six and Salford eight. So we realise the level’s above us,” Wellens told reporters.
“But you’re also wary that the PSG and Liverpool players make better decisions than our players. They are quicker, sharper, stronger, better in duels. There are vulnerabilities but it’s a question if we’re good enough to even remotely capitalise on them.”
LOAN POLICY
Orient beat second-tier Derby County on penalties to reach the fourth round for the first time since 2011 – a tie that epitomised the value of Orient’s policy of loaning promising players from other London clubs.
Charlie Kelman, on loan from Queen’s Park Rangers, scored and Irish keeper Keeley, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, continued his FA Cup heroics with the deciding save in the shootout.
“Everyone knows he’s a hero. He’s milking it,” Wellens said of the 21-year-old who kept a club record seven successive clean sheets this season.
Orient, a club at the heart of their east London community, reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1978, losing to Arsenal.
In 2011 they held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at Brisbane Road before losing the replay 5-0 and three years later were on the brink of a return to the second tier for the first time since 1982, losing a playoff final on penalties to Rotherham United.
Hard times followed, however, as long-time owner Barry Hearn sold the club to Italian Francesco Becchetti and they tumbled out of the Football League and almost out of existence.
Their saviour was Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin’ Donuts and a lifelong Orient fan. He bought the club in 2017 and the O’s sit sixth in League One.
“To be where we are in the league and to be hosting what I consider the best team the Premier League has ever seen is a huge testament to how far this club has come,” Wellens said.
