This season has felt like one long culture shock for Orient fans. Having got used to the same chairman for 19 years and the same manager for four and a half, the change of ownership has led to a revolving door in the manager’s office and some bewildering comings and goings, off the pitch in particular.

For the Leyton Orient Fans Trust (LOFT), which since 2001 has campaigned democratically for a greater say for supporters in club affairs and lobbied on a range of issues, the current situation has inevitably left us with more questions than answers.

With the club perhaps more threatened by relegation than at any time since climbing back to League One nine seasons ago, there are causes for concern that go beyond the team’s inability to defend at set pieces.

Framing everything is the decline in communications between club and fans.

Francesco Becchetti has not met any fans groups since his takeover last summer, and only rarely spoken to the media, which has inevitably created a void in which all manner of rumour and speculation grows.

There are legitimate questions to be asked about where Becchetti’s lavish outlay on the club will lead.

How high is our wage bill exactly, and is that sustainable in League One, let alone League Two should we be relegated?

Given that Orient have historically tended to make year-on-year losses, how long is Becchetti prepared to underwrite them if they escalate so much?

Then there is the question of how high a priority Leyton Orient has within Becchetti’s overall business empire. Are we a secondary thought to his energy industry interests, or his Agon TV channel, which is using the O’s as a backdrop for a reality TV show about budding footballers that seems to have little direct relevance to the football club itself – other than giving the rest of English football some rather embarrassing YouTube videos to laugh at?

What has been particularly disappointing has been that the opportunity to build on what the club had developed last season on and off the pitch has been squandered, as key personnel have departed.

LOFT has always sought a constructive relationship with our club’s owners and management, even when we haven’t seen eye to eye with them.

So it was encouraging that the new regime was keen to continue the Fans’ Forums that had developed under Barry Hearn and the former chief executive Matt Porter.

Three largely positive such meetings have been held since the takeover, although the worry is that some of the key participants in those – Porter, press officer Jonny Davies (who left the club last week) and Mauro Milanese (departed last month) – have now left, and that may reduce their effectiveness.

Already we are hamstrung by the fact that club employees are answerable only to Becchetti, who as yet has not met supporters, though we remain keen to work constructively with the owner to help smooth the transition.

However, as a supporters trust, we have regular liaison with other such trusts around the country and there have been plenty of cautionary tales at other clubs in the past two decades – where overspending, unaccountable owners and instability off the pitch have led to serious crisis, at the likes of Portsmouth, Leeds United and most recently, the now-defunct Hereford United.

There is, of course, no need to be alarmist. New owners often take time to settle in – Hearn’s first season in charge saw our lowest ever league finish and its fair share of tacky gimmicks (remember those naff celebrity walk-ons?) – but what LOFT is interested in is an accountable and sustainable future, no matter who’s in charge.

It was with such a sustainable future in mind that LOFT obtained Asset of Community Value status for our Brisbane Road ground, which gives interested community groups such as LOFT a six-month window to consider bidding for the stadium should it be put up for sale.

Although Hearn’s Matchroom, which still owns the ground, has sought a review of this on a technicality, we are confident these issues can be resolved and our ground’s community value can be formally recognised.

For more information on LOFT, and to join, visit leytonorientfanstrust.com.

Tom Davies is the media liaison for Leyton Orient Fans Trust.