Before today's 3pm kickoffs in the Football League, Jeff Stelling earned the plaudits of Leyton Orient fans for spending 10 minutes on Soccer Special blasting the Football League and club owner Francesco Becchetti regarding the London club's current financial predicament.
Orient's League Two fixture with Hartlepool this afternoon was almost called off due to a strike by their medical staff, who haven't been paid since the end of February.
Becchetti, instead of paying his staff ther overdue wages, sought new medical staff so that the fixture could be completed. A defeat for Orient would have seen the relegated to non-league for the first time in the club's history, while opponents Hartlepool - of whom Stelling is an unapologetic fan - sat third from bottom before today's game, three points from safety.
A must-win game for both clubs saw a supposedly disoriented Orient - whose starting XI featured eight players under the age of 20 - take the spoils, plunging Stelling's Hartlepool precariously towards the drop.
It was at the beginning of the second half, with Hartlepool trailing 2-1, when one Bianca Westwood update from Brisbane Road finally sent a concerned Stelling over the edge. And it wasn't your typical Soccer Special b****r, either. He was genuinely pissed off.
He later added the following as Hartlepool missed a late opportunity to level proceedings.
Jeff Stelling being normal 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/64AdIHx6Qj
— Darren Meredith 🏴☠️ (@darrenmedge) April 17, 2017
At full-time, Stelling ascertained that Hartlepool had gotten 'exactly what they deserved'.
