Leyton Orient Staff Checked into Hotel in Bizarre Attempt to Improve Form

How to arrest a form slump, with Leyton Orient owner Francesco Becchetti.

Orient's 3-1 loss to Hartlepool over the weekend extended a run of poor form that has seen the League Two side win just twice in 12 games, after winning their opening five games to the season.

Becchetti's side are seventh in England's fourth tier, but the Italian has had enough and checked his team into the £100-a-night Marriott Hotel in Waltham Abbey immediately after Sunday's defeat, reports Sam Cunningham of the Daily Mail.

While the squad of 18 and six staff are at least allowed to visit their families, they have to eat, sleep and live at the hotel, as well as travel to and from training with their team-mates.

The move is expected to cost the club thousands, though it will feel like short change if they can achieve their goal of promotion.

Alex Broadway/Getty Images

"I wouldn’t want to be the one paying the bill," manager Ian Hendon said. "The owner has had different sporting ventures over the years and he said sometimes it’s good to get together and spend time together. It helps team bonding."

Forty-nine-year-old Becchetti bought the London side in July 2014 for £4 million.

It's unclear whether the side will remain holed up in the hotel after Saturday's match against York, but Hendon jokes that his employer might want him there longer-term "if we win four or five-nil."

If not, well, the boss might well try confiscating his cellphone.

[Daily Mail]