John Sitton: 'F*ck the technical shit', Leyton Orient v Brentford rant - 1995

26 December 1994, Griffin Park, London, United Kingdom

John Sitton was coach as Leyton Orient faced fanancial collapse in 1994-5 season. This rant appeared in the documentary Orient: Yours for a Fiver. Language warning.

I’ll tell you the fucking truth

I said to him on the bench, there’s no fucking players anymore! I want to say, I’ll fucking, do with you. From me to Lee Shearer you’re saying, go on,you have a six yard run at me.

You can’t mark like that in the fucking box!

He’s popped it in, that’s the fucking second goal. The third goal, I know I’ve told you to stay up, but you’ve gone from one extreme to the other ...

[game description]

Well now I'll tell ya! I'll fucking tell ya! What this fucking geezer wants. But you, you'd have sussed him out. He's looked at it, and there's about six or seven of you in ere, he's eight, Westys nine, who are on 35 grand a year plus.

You've all gotta go. You've all gotta go. Any of yer on 35 grand and all that, you've all gotta go. He [the chairman] wants to bring players in on 250 pound a week. He wants a wage bill of 5 grand a week. That's what he wants.

But who's gonna fucking come and take ya? On that performance. What he don't know, he's playing with the big boys now it's a different ballgame.

he don't realise that contracts mean something

But what he's thinking about, because he's got the clout, he's thinking about offering you settlements. That's what he's thinking, and I said to him, out on the sideline, I hole me hands up ... I'm beginning to think the geezers right!

Because I know if Shearan'd be in a kit, you'd be off!

And I know if Wilkie be in a kit, you'd be off!

Because I'd get more out of them fucking kids! Bernie there is holding the back four together, and the only one who's done any work is the goalkeeper.

So I'm beginning to think he's right. Let's get people in on 200 pound a week and 250 pound a week. They might fucking listen. And then we can get the back right, and then we can get the midfield right, and then we can move to the forwards.

He might be right! I think he is right! Because none of you, except for those two, have done anything to justify the money that you are being paid. None of you!

You're a fucking disgrace!

Fuck the technical shit, it's down to this [taps heart]

In the words of Graham Taylor, to his fucking crew, when he was coach of Aston Villa, you got us into the is fucking mess, now you get us out of it!'

John Sitton: 'And if you come back at me, we’ll have a f*cking right sort out in here', half time v Blackpool - 1995

7 February 1995, Brisbane Road Stadium, East London, United Kingdom

Sitten's Leyton Orient 1-0 down at half-time against Sam Allardyce’s Blackpool in February '95 and exasperated with his team, Sitton sacked defender Terry Howard before offering to fight two of his players, Barry Lakin and Mark Warren. Tirade appeared in documentary, 'Orient: Yours for a Fiver'. Language warning.

I spoke to you the other day about a new contract. About the possibility of a new contract. And all I’m saying is, when it pops out, you’ve got to be crafty, you’ve got to drift off. And when it pops out, you’ve got to establish possession ... for a red shirt.

And all I’m saying to you is get your body ... you is lucky that you go the free kick.

Now don’t be coming back at me, when I’m shouting at ya, above the crowd and above the [inaudible]

Because I’ll run this fucking football club until I’m told otherwise by the fucking circus upstairs. If you come back at me, you’ll be off the field, and you’ll be following Terry down the rope.

You come and see me because you’ve already got a fortnight’s notice, because that performance is the straw that broke the camel’s back!  And that will not be tolerated in this dressing room ... while I’m charge, with Chris Turner.

That is the fucking straw that broke the camel’s back, that is typical fucking Leyton Orient,

You sit, ‘you fucking too intense, nobody can talk to you, you’re this your that’. I never fucking followed two good games up with a fucking game like that. The reason I was fucking intense was that I wanted to play well again.

But I’m wasting me breath on some of ya. I’m wasting me breath on some of ya.

What did I say to ya, about good players, they want to be good players all the time? Don’t you know how profound that is, are you’re not examining the fucking words.

Because you’ve had two good performances and you think I’m ‘Bertie Big Bollocks tonight, I’ll fucking play how I like.’

But you won’t play how you like, because if you play how you like, I’ll fucking stick the youth team in. If I’m going to take abuse from a bunch of cockroaches behind me, I’ll take abuse by doing it my way.

And that is fucking conformity, not fucking non conformity.

So you, you little c*** when I tell you to do something and you, you fucking big c*** - when I tell you to do something, do it. And if you come back at me, we’ll have a fucking right sort out in here.

‘And you can pair up if you like. And you can fucking pick someone else to help you, and you can bring your fucking dinner. Because, by the time I’m finished with you, you’ll fucking need it. Do you fucking hear what I’m saying or not?'

[To Terry Howard] You see me in the morning.