CARL Fletcher admits a return to management "doesn't fill me with enthusiasm" following his swift dismissal from Leyton Orient.

Fletcher left his role as loan manager at Cherries, having previously coached with the under-18s and under-21s, to take the role as O's boss in October last year, the club's first permanent boss since the tragic death of former manager Justin Edinburgh last summer.

However, less than a month and no wins in five games later, he was sacked with chairman Nigel Travis telling talkSPORT: "The cultural fit wasn't right. It's gone spectacularly wrong and we recognise that."

“It was just disbelief really,” Fletcher told The Athletic.

“I know football management is really short. If it’s six months (and) I’ve not done very well, fair enough. See you later. You get that.

"But I had about six or seven training sessions, no transfer window, none of my own staff. My best players were injured while I was there.

"It was a very unique and difficult situation with everything the club had gone through.

"There is no strategy to help guide the way. It was a very difficult time for both parties.

“One of the biggest disappointments for me was that I read it wrong, in terms of certain individuals, in terms of putting faith in people.

"That faith doesn’t always get repaid, which I think I was maybe a bit naive about. I’ve always accepted people for who they are. And that backfired.

"But I was very lucky – I had really close family, some really good friends, to get through that two, three weeks after. Because that was tough."

He added: "I'm all for failing and I don't mind failing.

"I understand it's a part of life but I would have liked the opportunity to fail."

Fletcher's association with Cherries dates back to the 1990s where he rose through the ranks to eventually captain the club, notably to victory in the 2003 Division Three play-off final before departing for West Ham. The former Wales international then returned in a coaching capacity following a spell managing Plymouth between 2011 and 2013, moving through the club before taking a newly-created position as loan manager in 2018, overseeing the club's players who are currently playing their football elsewhere.

Discussing his decision to join the O's, Fletcher said: "I wasn’t really looking to get away from Bournemouth.

"But the job came up and looked like a great opportunity – a team with some good players, location, a chance to take it forward. It ticked a lot of boxes.

"I knew it would be tough but sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone.

"I was fully understanding that this group had been together, they had a bond, both the staff and the players, that I could never just jump in to."

But following his swift departure, Fletcher admits he is in no hurry to return to management.

"I don't know, to be honest," he said.

"At the moment, it doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm.

"Football is great. I’ve learned a lot, I’ve travelled a lot through it and have had loads of experiences. I’ve made lots of good friends but there are a lot of people in it that aren’t so good.

"When you take away football and you get down to the human element of it, that’s the disappointing bit – that we can’t treat people the right way, with morals. I get that everyone is out for their own ends but we’re only human beings."

For now, Fletcher's focus is back on the role he has reprised at Cherries.

He joked: "I hadn’t been away long enough for people to realise I’d left!

"But going back to Bournemouth, as loans manager, I really enjoy that. You see the other side to the game. You see the human element a little bit more.

"But there are definitely certain aspects of football that I think are really, really disappointing. And the thing is we have a responsibility just to be nice."