No doubt during this close season most of the Premier League football world will be obsessed with whether Gareth Bale goes or stays at Tottenham Hotspur.

Outside of the top flight, fans of lower league clubs will second guess and speculate on every single move their clubs make.

Opinions will be formed based on what we see on the pitch, personal sentiment and guesswork, without knowing the budget the manager is working to and the motivations and ambitions of the players themselves. I’m no different, so here goes.

Russell Slade has shown before that he won’t let sentiment get in the way of making cool business decisions.

As fans though, most of us are sorry to see Lee Butcher and Leon McSweeney released, for personal as well as footballing reasons. Butch was so unlucky with his injury but Slade is obviously confident enough in Jamie Jones’ form and fitness for him to be backed up by a young prospect.

McSweeney was also popular at the club and seemed to be the ideal back up squad player. He may have been released for any number of reasons. He may have wanted a longer contract than we were willing to offer and may also have not wanted to stay as a back up and you can’t blame him in either case.

It may simply be a straight choice between him and Elliot Omozusi as the back up for a back four that picks itself, with Omozusi getting the nod as the cheaper option.

The key this summer is revolutionising the midfield.

The number one priority has to be getting a pen in Romain Vincelot’s hand before any other clubs start sniffing around him. On the other hand Lee Cook has been released because it is clear he has decided he wants to play at a higher level.

He is the most gifted player in the O’s side but also one of the most frustratingly inconsistent and offers little on his bad days. I don’t expect bigger clubs to be beating down his door and there might be a chance of him returning to Orient if he is willing to play at this level and reduce his wage demands accordingly.

The same may apply to Martin Rowlands. Injuries have obviously caught up with a midfielder who was responsible for shoring up the team earlier in the season. But the younger Vincelot has now taken on that role and Rowlands will only return if willing to do so as a squad player because he doesn’t appear to be fit enough to start more than about 25 games a season.

That only leaves Jimmy Smith and the writing was on the wall for him as he spent most of the season out of favour.

The biggest barrier to Slade being able to rebuild the squad the way he wants is going to be if he can find clubs for the returning loanees Michael Symes and Anthony Griffith. They’ve been successful away from Brisbane Road and may be in demand.

If not, they will take up space on the wage bill that Slade needs to buy at least one midfielder to replace Rowlands and the disappointing Lloyd James and a striker to compete with David Mooney to line up alongside Kevin Lisbie.

With the defence in place and Lisbie scoring regularly from the Dean Cox and Moses Odubajo supply chain, if Slade can secure Vincelot and sign a ball winning, offensive minded midfielder there is every reason to be optimistic about the O’s prospects next season.