The “Italian Job” at Brisbane Road is now virtually complete. After the appointment of Fabio Liverani as first team coach, and previous incumbent Mauro Milanese’s return to the sporting director role, a native of the boot-shaped peninsula now occupies every level within the club’s power structure.

With giant striker Gianvito Plasmati and former Azzurri left-back Andrea Dossena occupying two of the starting XI places on the field and rumours of more of their compatriots on the way in, club captain Nathan Clarke should probably start sweating just a little bit on his ownership of the armband.. It can’t be too long, you suspect, before Tijuani Taxi is replaced by Renee and Renato too.

Should we be concerned? Well, with the club in the relegation zone and just one home win all season, the answer is a resounding ‘Si!’

But not necessarily because of the nationality of the new faces in and around the club. The real concern is the lack of identity within the team. Even an Italian identity, you assume, would at least make us capable of defending set pieces. There are so few top level performers at the club this season. The quality of the new playing staff, on paper at least, should have helped raise the level of performance amongst those that took us on that wonderful journey all the way to Wembley last season.

That hasn’t happened. Jobi McAnuff continues to disappoint despite his Premier League pedigree. Both new goalkeepers are capable of absurd and game changing mistakes. Reliable players like Clarke, Cox, Vincelot and Omozusi have all been struggling to recapture the form that served the team so well.

It seems to be two steps forward and three back for Orient at the moment. Simpson, Henderson and Dagnall all hit good scoring runs but either through injury, suspension or both, we’ve been robbed of the chance for any of them to go on a sustained goal scoring run.

Other injuries and suspensions haven’t helped too of course and that lack of continuity has disrupted any chance of developing the kind of understanding that ran through the squad last season. In midfield alone we’ve had ten different central pairings and we’re not even past Christmas.

The players seem unhappy. Even the much loved goalkeeper coach and chief scout Kevin Dearden walked out this week for personal reasons. Whether all this is due to unwelcome pressure from above or from poor results, it’s clear something is very wrong.

To further our lack of stability we’re now on to our fourth manager of the season. In truth that is stretching reality somewhat. Of the four men in charge only one of them could, in their careers so far, ever be considered a football manager and he’s now doffing his cap in Cardiff.

The absurdity of our managerial merry-go-round is such that Mauro Milanese, maligned for his lack of experience, departs his post with eight matches under his belt and is replaced by a countryman who had only ever overseen seven. The complete disconnect between what the fans want (an experienced manager with an understanding of English football) and the chairman’s motivation and vision for the club (answers on a postcard please) have only fueled the fires of unrest at the club as the harbingers of relegation begin to encircle us.

Fabio Liverani is a household name in his home country having played for the national team and turning out in the colours of Lazio, Fiorentina and Palermo amongst others. On these shores however it would take even the most ardent football aficionado a good session of Googling to remind themselves of his career and achievements.

It may perhaps be a little unfair to look upon Liverani’s short tenure at Genoa alone as we attempt to assess his suitability. Genoa are, after all, a club that have burned through 25 managers since the turn of the century. As a player you could liken Liverani to a kind of Italian Kevin Nolan. Talented and reliable at club level but never really establishing a career with his country.

He has however worked under some considerable managerial talent. In the final 11 years of his career for club and country he played in teams managed by Sven Goran Eriksson, Dino Zoff, Alberto Zaccheroni, Roberto Mancini, Cesare Prandelli and Giovani Trappatoni. If his time spent in the dressing room and training pitch with these trophy-magnets didn’t rub off on him then his education at Italy’s revered Coverciano (the equivalent of England’s National Centre of Excellence in Burton) must surely have had some effect.

Whatever knowledge and influence he brings however, will have to be channeled through an interpreter. According to reports, his grasp of English would make ‘Alo ‘Alo’s Officer Crabtree’s grasp of French seem like his mother tongue. If players are already unhappy and if their fourth manager of the season is incapable of communicating himself to them, what hope do we have of turning things around quickly?

The January transfer window is fast approaching and given the turbulent few months they’ve experienced, and the changing room becoming more foreign and uneasy to them by the day, many of the old guard would be forgiven for looking for an escape. If the club’s most recent signings are to be taken as a guide, we can expect more Italians through the door in the coming weeks to fill the gaps.

Also on the horizon, Becchetti’s newly launched TV channel Agon, will be invading the club with cameras as part of their docu-talent show. It’s unlikely this won’t be a further distraction for the players trying to knuckle down and do their jobs.

What this also means for the current youth set-up if viewers 1,200 miles away can directly influence the playing squad by selecting young Italian hopefuls, also remains to be seen. None of this has been explained to us, the fans. We are, as usual, being kept firmly in the dark.

For a TV channel whose name translates as fight or challenge, we certainly have one on to wrestle the heart and soul of the club from a man powered by his own ego. Given the cast list Becchetti has assembled in all corners of the club, it’s not hard to deduce that Leyton Orient Football Club is, to him, a mere vehicle through which he can gain audience figures.

With a burgeoning wage bill and a disillusioned squad that can’t be too far from walking away from the club, the question we have to ask is, what happens when viewers switch off?

Adam Michie co-hosts the Orient Ramble podcast.