Leyton Orient have appointed former Gillingham boss Justin Edinburgh.

Edinburgh has been out of work since being sacked by Northampton at the end of August. He joins Orient with the title of head coach on a two and a half year contract.

He left Northampton after losing his first four games at the start the current league campaign.

The former Spurs defender was manager of the Gills from February 2015 to January of this year.

A great start to his time at Gillingham saw his team competing at the top of League 1 during the first half of the 2015/16 season, but a drastic dip in form saw them finish the campaign ninth place.

The Gills won the first two league games of the following campaign but the team soon nosedived and he left with the club sitting 17, to be replaced by Ady Pennock.

Edinburgh took over at Northampton less than two weeks after leaving Priestfield. He refused to shake hands with Pennock when his new side met the Gills on the final game of the season.

Orient had a torrid summer, with the threat of liquidation hanging over them, but Edinburgh will now hope to revive their fortunes, taking over a club sitting 20 in the National League.

Edinburgh took his former boss Paul Scally – the Gills chairman – to an employment tribunal in the summer. Mr Scally said at the time he was defending the club over a “ridiculous claim”.

The original hearing was adjourned with a new date set for this week.