Just what exactly is going on at Leyton Orient these days?

Russell Slade resigned as manager on September 24 and almost three weeks later it appears the club are still no closer to appointing his replacement.

Kevin Nugent took charge of the side the following Saturday for the O’s defeat to Rochdale before the Guardian Series first reported he had been offered the head coach role.

Nugent said on Saturday night he expected the club to shortly release a statement on his future but we are still waiting.

Here we are in the middle of autumn and Orient have still not confirmed whether Nugent is the man to take them forward. The longer it goes on, the less likely it appears Nugent will get the permanent role and this waiting game is doing the club no good whatsoever.

It is fair to say Nugent would not be a popular choice to lead the club forward because most fans believe he is better suited to a supporting role rather than the main job. Getting off to a losing start with successive defeats was far from ideal and probably only increased the discontent among supporters that questioned the potential ambition of the club if he was appointed.

Nugent has since guided the O’s to a routine victory over Dagenham & Redbridge but has still not won a league match in this particular caretaker spell following Saturday’s dramatic draw at Sheffield United.

All the while Orient have slipped into the relegation zone and a season that was expected to herald another promotion challenge is threatening to spill over into a disastrous flirtation with League 2.

I cannot think of a decent reason for this length of delay in announcing their next appointment. If Nugent was their choice then he should have been confirmed by now. A lot of the credibility has been sucked out of him, should the club confirm his appointment shortly, after what appears to be an almighty change of heart over their initial decision. How can fans have any confidence in him if the board have dithered over the head coach for such a long time?

If they do in fact know what they’re doing regarding Slade’s replacement they have done an exceptional job at hiding this. Perhaps patience will pay off and the O’s will pull a rabbit out the hat with an inspirational appointment. But I wouldn’t put any money on it.

At the last home game, owner Francesco Becchetti spoke to us and outlined that Nugent was the right choice for the moment. On the same night sporting director Mauro Milanese contradicted this and there have been several examples of the former Queens Park Rangers defender speaking to fans and making comments which appear to undermine the authority of Nugent.

Milanese was only too happy to talk to fans on the train back from Sheffield United yet decided he did not want to speak to the Guardian Series this week.

There is nothing wrong with communication with supporters but it would probably be more worthwhile if there could be some consistency in the answers different people are being told.

Former boss Slade has already confirmed he would like to take Nugent with him to Cardiff City. Even if he is given the nod to carry on at Orient, for how much longer? There appears to be no real stability at Brisbane Road and it would take a giant leap of faith to believe Nugent would be the club’s choice to continue 12 months from now.

There have been suggestions the O’s compiled a shortlist of Dougie Freedman, Chris Hughton and Brian McDermott this week but no-one at the club have even confirmed if they are interviewing for the position.

One thing is certain and that is a season which promised so much in August is quickly unravelling and if the club are not careful it could get a whole lot worse with a relegation battle far from out of the question.