£5million of debt, nine sacked managers in less than three years and unpaid tax bills: What is going on at administration-threatened Leyton Orient?

• Leyton Orient are facing the threat of administration over an unpaid tax bill
• The club close to promotion to the Championship in 2014 but have been in turmoil ever since
• Owner Francesco Becchetti has sacked nine managers in less than three years
• Sportsmail takes a look at what's going on at the east London-based club 

Leyton Orient have been served with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid tax bill of around £250,000.

The east London-based club have suffered an embarrassing fall from grace since falling just short in the League One play-off final in 2014, one that has coincided with the arrival of Francesco Becchetti as owner. 

Since the Italian took over from Barry Hearn, the club has gone through nine managers and are believed to be in more than £5million worth of debt. So what exactly is going on at the Matchroom Stadium? Sportsmail takes a closer look. 

Weren't Leyton Orient in the League One play-off final not that long ago?

As recently as May 2014, Leyton Orient were a penalty kick away from the Championship but lost in a shootout to Rotherham at Wembley.

But since sports promoter Barry Hearn — who owned the club for 19 years — sold that summer to Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti, it has all gone downhill.

Despite investing heavily in the playing squad, Becchetti is on to his 10th manager in two-and-a-half years and under his watch the club have been involved in a number of embarrassing off-field incidents.

Already in serious danger of losing their Football League status after 112 years of membership, Orient now face a winding-up order over an unpaid tax bill believed to be in the region £250,000.

After selling to Becchetti, Hearn declared that West Ham — who were due to move to the nearby Olympic Stadium — should be 'petrified' of Orient's new owner.

As it has transpired, it was the Orient fans who should have been fearful.

Who is Francesco Becchetti?

Becchetti is a 50-year-old businessman with interests in renewable energy and waste management.

Last year the Albanian government abandoned their attempt to extradite Becchetti over charges of fraud and money laundering.

Their investigation involved a failed hydroelectric scheme that allegedly cost the Albanian government tens of millions of euros in grants and unpaid taxes. Becchetti strongly denies the charges.

In 2013 he founded the Albanian TV channel Agon which also broadcast in Italy, though it was among the assets seized when Albanian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Becchetti last June.

Before buying Orient he had no background in football but led Roma Volley to the Italian volleyball championship in 2000.

When did things start to go wrong?

It only took two months for worrying signs to appear.

The first days of Becchetti's tenure had been promising. At his first press conference, Becchetti said he was 'already envisioning a Championship club' and practised what he preached in the transfer market.

Having reached the play-off final with a tight-knit squad assembled through free transfers, manager Russell Slade quipped that he would be able to shop at 'Harrods' rather than 'Primark'.

Darius Henderson, Jobi McAnuff and Jay Simpson — all of whom had played in the Premier League or Championship — were signed on long-term contracts believed to be in excess of £7,000 a week.

But they struggled to make an impression as Orient made a sluggish start to the campaign, winning just one of their first six matches.

It was after the sixth match — a 2-0 home defeat by Colchester — that things started to go wrong.

Slade revealed that he had been told he had one game to save his job. Orient drew the next match 1-1 at Notts County and Slade was granted a reprieve, with Becchetti insisting in his matchday programme notes that he only intended 'to give a wake up jolt'.

But Orient's most successful manager in decades soon left for Cardiff and a managerial merry-go-round ensued.

Danny Webb is the 10th boss of Becchetti's regime with Kevin Nugent, Mauro Milanese, Fabio Liverani, Ian Hendon, Kevin Nolan, Andy Hessenthaler, Alberto Cavasin and Andy Edwards also having spells in charge.

Has Becchetti been a hands-on chairman?

That has been a large part of the problem.

As well as a trigger-happy approach to his managers, Becchetti has interfered with team selection.

Former Bolton, Newcastle and West Ham star Nolan revealed that during his spell as player-manager last season Becchetti wanted 'to be fully involved'.

Nolan, now Notts County boss, said earlier this month: 'He wanted me to play certain players and I just wasn't willing to do that.'

Hessenthaler, who replaced Nolan, confirmed after a victory over Dagenham and Redbridge last April that he, the coaches and the owner 'sat round a table and that is the team we put together'.

Such meddling has also extended to freezing out certain players such as Scott Kashket, who was released by Orient earlier this season.

The 21-year-old striker told Sportsmail: 'One time I was standing on the sidelines, stripped off and ready to come on as a sub when one of the owner's people came down and said, 'Bring on anyone but him'.

'The manager thought it was disgusting. In the summer, Andy (Hessenthaler) was telling me I was in his plans and the next thing I was being told by one of the owner's staff I was not going on the pre-season tour. I was eventually told the chairman had said I was not allowed to come.'

That Kashket has scored 15 goals for Wycombe this season has made the decision all the more baffling.

What about off the field?

Orient have lurched from one off-field controversy to the next in the last two-and-a-half years.

The first surrounded Becchetti's reality TV show for his Agon channel in Italy in which young players competed for a professional contract — though none ever signed for the club.

During a game against Port Vale in March 2015, Becchetti ordered stadium announcer Phillip Othen to give Henderson a dressing down over the tannoy for arriving late after being stuck in traffic.

The following season Sportsmail revealed that Becchetti had ordered the players to check into a hotel on their way back from a defeat at Hartlepool live on Sky.

The week-long stay at the Waltham Abbey Marriott was a bizarre attempt to halt a run of two wins in 12 games.

Simpson later told Sportsmail: 'I've never experienced something like that before. A lot of players have children and to explain to your partner that, 'I'm on my way back but now I've got to go to a hotel' is not nice. The players were really not happy about that.'

That season Becchetti also copped a six-game stadium ban and a £40,000 fine for kicking Hessenthaler on the touchline after Orient's 3-2 win over Portsmouth on Boxing Day in 2015.

And one of Becchetti's directors seems to have had enough — with chief operating officer Vito Miceli's season ticket appearing on eBay last week for £130. It sold for £50.

Has Becchetti tried to explain his decisions to the fans?

Communication with the supporters has been virtually non-existent since Becchetti's arrival — and when the hierarchy have spoken it has been in bizarre circumstances.

The most notable example was an incoherent statement posted on the club's website in January from chief executive Alessandro Angelieri.

It was argued that 'a squad without future was inherited' — despite taking over a side that narrowly missed out on promotion to the Championship.

Becchetti has not been seen at the club since a fan protest during the home defeat by Blackpool in November and the statement continued: 'Mr Becchetti did not like the fan protests because at the beginning of the season everyone, supporters included, praised the club for their summer transfer business. Thereafter Mr Becchetti doesn't play on Saturday.'

As the crisis at Orient has deepened in recent weeks, the silence from Becchetti has been all the more concerning.

'It's much harder to second-guess Mr Becchetti's intentions because he never talks to anyone,' said Leyton Orient Fans' Trust (LOFT) vice-chair Tom Davies this week. 'He's unaccountable, which is reflected in how he has run the club — the hirings and firings of managers, the high player turnover, the reported meddling in team affairs, the rash spending initially followed by the starving of funds now.'

Why have Orient been hit with a winding-up order?

It is believed Orient owe HMRC £250,000 in unpaid taxes.

The most recent financial results for the club paint a worrying picture, too, with debts exceeding assets of more than £5.5m.

Orient's wage bill was reduced in January with Simpson and former Millwall defender Alan Dunne among the departures.

Becchetti is willing to listen to offers for Orient but it has been reported that he is reluctant to take less than the £4m he paid for the club.

What next for the crisis club?

LOFT met on Thursday to set out plans to raise a £100,000 fighting fund to protect the club.

They have also held talks with 13 other fan trusts about setting up a phoenix club like AFC Wimbledon — though this is seen as a last resort.

Speaking to the Evening Standard on Thursday, Hearn said he would be willing to help rescue Orient but only if there is a viable plan to save the club.

On the pitch the Os' fortunes seem as bleak. Six points adrift of safety in League Two, Orient are having to rely on youngsters for their relegation battle after the departure of senior players in January.

Orient's winding-up hearing will be held at the High Court on March 20. Even if the club survive, an uncertain and troubling future lies ahead.