tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54925525859167274422024-03-16T22:20:02.199+00:00View from the West StandA chance to share the joys and pain – mostly pain – of supporting Leyton OrientMatt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comBlogger255125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-38106183003173039332024-03-16T22:19:00.002+00:002024-03-16T22:19:16.022+00:00The Circus Upstairs podcast Season Two<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFhoBn6vLhnuMrac1Y6pSveeHXToh4TMvvPff9fACM4c81kJ8Wu2EKBh0jch8X7vBmYzS-Pdkda0FoDqAjlTLxdHdGkXSebn1CPhjlHlrWy9G_k3m0U9EYG2EvSvKhrOZBbS1mWGDfw5lidRQa-a6rxpI_rmpqY2Ub32pUgskVrJaGJ19dDWrz5h53rw/s1600/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-01-12%20at%2017.49.49.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFhoBn6vLhnuMrac1Y6pSveeHXToh4TMvvPff9fACM4c81kJ8Wu2EKBh0jch8X7vBmYzS-Pdkda0FoDqAjlTLxdHdGkXSebn1CPhjlHlrWy9G_k3m0U9EYG2EvSvKhrOZBbS1mWGDfw5lidRQa-a6rxpI_rmpqY2Ub32pUgskVrJaGJ19dDWrz5h53rw/s320/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-01-12%20at%2017.49.49.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>The Circus Upstairs podcast Season Two is live! </b></p><p>Listen here: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/west-stand-o">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/west-stand-o</a></p><p>This is the story of how Italian billionaire Francesco Becchetti bought Leyton Orient and almost put the club out of existence, told by club insiders and pieced together by me and James Masters. In Season Two we wade our way through the 2015/16 campaign. </p><p>Here's a list of links and other references to some of the stories from Season Two:</p><p><b>Episode 5: "We made some mistakes" </b></p><p>Story suggesting <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/francesco-becchetti-considering-putting-leyton-orient-up-for-sale-following-relegation-to-league-two-10228367.html" target="_blank">Becchetti is considering selling the club</a>. </p><p>The State of Albania issues <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/09/leyton-orient-francesco-becchetti-wanted">arrest warrants for Becchetti and his mother</a> for fraud. </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YBvU_CEFp8">Press conference with Ian Hendon and Alessandro Angelieri</a> announcing Hendon's appointment. </p><p></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAJsa6EUsXVFQGUQ8EcBGbbS2DvuF3ydKYqELi0fuCQriSfFRR2NwPnvCZs3fQZ1ZYibDii4BSyZFQcrXs9ocrDeSYO-omSRaPEvwm87cse8v43bjV3gz6r7UjZa2fSity1jnKrKwgqnWRXrTNI5gAw_9oB7h8hjAxfS-ZCi267kGf2rISaM3A2IbtVnE/s1024/CNlyBzXWsAAuadi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1024" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAJsa6EUsXVFQGUQ8EcBGbbS2DvuF3ydKYqELi0fuCQriSfFRR2NwPnvCZs3fQZ1ZYibDii4BSyZFQcrXs9ocrDeSYO-omSRaPEvwm87cse8v43bjV3gz6r7UjZa2fSity1jnKrKwgqnWRXrTNI5gAw_9oB7h8hjAxfS-ZCi267kGf2rISaM3A2IbtVnE/s320/CNlyBzXWsAAuadi.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Becchetti goes super-fan<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Ian Hendon <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FF7IcyPLOY" target="_blank">first interview as manager</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Orient Outlook podcast <a href="https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/orientoutlook/episodes/2015-10-27T06_05_39-07_00" target="_blank">interview with Alessandro Angelieri</a>. <br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><b>Episode 6: Banged up in Waltham Abbey </b><br /><br />Ian Hendon <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcAB1ovXL64" target="_blank">publicly blames players</a> after 0-1 defeat to Accrington Stanley.</div><div><br /></div><div>Becchetti <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/nov/04/leyton-orient-francesco-becchetti-albania" target="_blank">faces initial hearing over extradition to Albania</a> to face fraud charges. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://advanced-television.com/2015/11/17/end-of-the-road-for-agon-channel-italia/" target="_blank">Agon Channel ceases broadcasting</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Guardian story on the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/nov/19/leyton-orient-players-forced-to-stay-in-hotel" target="_blank">squad being imprisoned in a hotel</a> after defeat at Hartlepool. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Episode 7: A £40,000 kick up the arse </b><br /><br />Ian Hendon <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2015/11/leyton-orient-1-afc-wimbledon-1-281015.html" target="_blank">squares up to a fan</a> after a 1-1 draw with AFC Wimbledon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fans take to <a href="https://twitter.com/casualsub_/status/678329827565379585" target="_blank">waving their mobile phone torches and singing "We're fucking bored"</a> at home games. </div><div><br /></div><div>TV news report showing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8El_RPoOaU0" target="_blank">Becchetti kicking Andy Hessenthaler up the arse</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96LZRR48CYs&t=2s" target="_blank">Hessenthaler's post-match interview</a> after being kicked up the arse by Becchetti. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/27/leyton-orient-play-down-exchange-president-assistant-hendon-portsmouth" target="_blank">Club claim kick was "banter"</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Orient <a href="https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/sport/leytonorient/14201139.updated-leyton-orient-bring-in-new-technical-director/" target="_blank">appoint an Italian TV broadcast journalist</a> as Technical Director. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/leyton-orient-president-francesco-becchetti-given-sixmatch-ban-and-fine-for-kicking-assistant-manager-a6815121.html" target="_blank">Becchetti given six-game ban and £40,000 fine</a> for kicking Hessenthaler. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ian Hendon <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tuKZnskn4M" target="_blank">interview after a 3-1 home defeat to Exeter</a>, publicly blaming players. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Episode 8: Roberto rides again </b><br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxGIXpd4oGE" target="_blank">Kevin Nolan interview</a> on becoming player/manager of Orient. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/sport/leytonorient/14283666.leyton-orient-appoint-pressenda-as-head-of-communications-and-gagliardi-as-head-of-recruitment/" target="_blank">Rob Gagliardi returns</a> as Head of Recruitment. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV3SZJpNby8" target="_blank">Francesco Becchetti's video address to Orient fans </a>after removing Nolan as manager. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/2377664/wycombes-scott-kashket-quit-football-after-being-written-off-but-is-finally-wowing-with-prolific-form/" target="_blank">Scott Kashket interview</a> on how he was treated at Orient. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-19352614399399231832023-04-13T08:31:00.001+01:002023-04-13T08:31:16.367+01:00The Circus Upstairs podcast Season One <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFhoBn6vLhnuMrac1Y6pSveeHXToh4TMvvPff9fACM4c81kJ8Wu2EKBh0jch8X7vBmYzS-Pdkda0FoDqAjlTLxdHdGkXSebn1CPhjlHlrWy9G_k3m0U9EYG2EvSvKhrOZBbS1mWGDfw5lidRQa-a6rxpI_rmpqY2Ub32pUgskVrJaGJ19dDWrz5h53rw/s1600/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-01-12%20at%2017.49.49.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFhoBn6vLhnuMrac1Y6pSveeHXToh4TMvvPff9fACM4c81kJ8Wu2EKBh0jch8X7vBmYzS-Pdkda0FoDqAjlTLxdHdGkXSebn1CPhjlHlrWy9G_k3m0U9EYG2EvSvKhrOZBbS1mWGDfw5lidRQa-a6rxpI_rmpqY2Ub32pUgskVrJaGJ19dDWrz5h53rw/s320/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-01-12%20at%2017.49.49.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>The Circus Upstairs podcast season one is live! </b></p><p>Listen here: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/west-stand-o">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/west-stand-o</a></p><p>This is the story of how Italian billionaire Francesco Becchetti bought Leyton Orient and almost put the club out of existence, told by club insiders and pieced together by me and James Masters. </p><p>Here's a list of links and other references to some of the stories from Season One:</p><p><b>Episode 1: The Iron Pact of Inviolability </b></p><p>The statement announcing <a href="clubhttp://www.leytonorientblog.com/2014/06/leyton-orient-francesco-becchetti.html" target="_blank">Becchetti's take over of the club</a> </p><p>The Barry Hearn / Francesco Becchetti <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oqkaMOiUVM" target="_blank">press conference</a></p><p>Mauro Milanese's hair: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfsF5MMv2VaHofhW9sGCXzLQAcHvmF3mYvZqerNNOEmgIUhCQOD6zk2eBTg5-WKxV6aBJPLsYfyIFohr38x7Ee9ns5uWuQeT3TonFSIxd_DiK_XuK_kdYiUrWnaZe6H3S-NJjrtU-GW8J4dn8EqPltF2RHqRaazx1aYWjg7rxvGF43F2knxao65w6mg/s1200/fotocalciomercatocom_mauro_milanesevarese-470x305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfsF5MMv2VaHofhW9sGCXzLQAcHvmF3mYvZqerNNOEmgIUhCQOD6zk2eBTg5-WKxV6aBJPLsYfyIFohr38x7Ee9ns5uWuQeT3TonFSIxd_DiK_XuK_kdYiUrWnaZe6H3S-NJjrtU-GW8J4dn8EqPltF2RHqRaazx1aYWjg7rxvGF43F2knxao65w6mg/s320/fotocalciomercatocom_mauro_milanesevarese-470x305.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Russell Slade <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQTYIDynIKI">post-match interview after Notts County game</a> and "ultimatum" </p><p>Becchetti's column in programme explaining actions around the Slade ultimatum </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNdLcT_cUIXbW_l3b9qBPvbAIgPJD7gxUHB06_bC9ChquUSPDBz6zeWj0oFzCkQl5FTOx_R0cKz-AKsagRgXabmQ9DTmH100zHmQQ_EffZOuoW39s7D7Xvfqy9ONHPhfpXkH0vswzBPK9BvQzVxJ_Gx6cBcpQMbt6zXhu_XwrKC7UC2HksOGtdWO23g/s630/Screenshot%202023-04-13%20at%2007.55.24.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="630" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNdLcT_cUIXbW_l3b9qBPvbAIgPJD7gxUHB06_bC9ChquUSPDBz6zeWj0oFzCkQl5FTOx_R0cKz-AKsagRgXabmQ9DTmH100zHmQQ_EffZOuoW39s7D7Xvfqy9ONHPhfpXkH0vswzBPK9BvQzVxJ_Gx6cBcpQMbt6zXhu_XwrKC7UC2HksOGtdWO23g/s320/Screenshot%202023-04-13%20at%2007.55.24.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Episode 2: The Manager Merry-Go-Round </b></p><p>Rumours of how much <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2941681/Cristiano-Ronaldo-filthy-rich-hungry-success.html ">Andrea Dossena was being paid</a> </p><p><a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2014/12/leyton-orient-1-peterborough-united-2.html" target="_blank">Blog from Liverani's first game in charge</a>, a 2-1 home defeat to Peterborough </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUGlaG9hKgs">Dean Cox's furious post-match interview</a> after defeat to Barnsley </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5MpbcS00VI">Liverani says he should have replaced all 11 players</a> after 4-1 home defeat to Scunthorpe </p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Episode 3: Leyton Orient: The Reality Show </b></p><p>Story in The Independent <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/leyton-orient-to-become-subject-of-italian-reality-tv-show-that-will-give-the-winner-a-professional-10043597.html">confirming upcoming reality show</a></p><p><a href="https://tomandlorenzo.com/2014/12/nicole-kidman-in-prada-at-agon-channel-launch-party/" target="_blank">Nicole Kidman at Agon Channel launch party</a> in Milan</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCVoqWkBXjQNUGaQeeZJgVG2T85DGK3aA4vBKIeOgL97qyTk5gft6gJYKdhWC3TZ4NSMiqJwIX-mTnppwyQpJSjzlrdRtj0Dj4jVZMJkyLs8TBe0SmwU2olMIBZtQLozRXV8uock8YUBIq7-I6GA7v1Nrj6jm7c2Q6C0EsrufAYi-6j_5ZbZKWUJlDw/s1690/Screenshot%202023-04-13%20at%2006.46.22.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1690" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCVoqWkBXjQNUGaQeeZJgVG2T85DGK3aA4vBKIeOgL97qyTk5gft6gJYKdhWC3TZ4NSMiqJwIX-mTnppwyQpJSjzlrdRtj0Dj4jVZMJkyLs8TBe0SmwU2olMIBZtQLozRXV8uock8YUBIq7-I6GA7v1Nrj6jm7c2Q6C0EsrufAYi-6j_5ZbZKWUJlDw/s320/Screenshot%202023-04-13%20at%2006.46.22.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW7MB8Tugsw" target="_blank">Trailer for reality show</a> </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFU3YnXJoGc">Clips from the show</a></p><p>Focus on joint winner of reality show <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RdrNASfOQk">Jacopo Colangelo</a></p><p>Joint winner <a href="https://www.sportchianti.it/blog/2021/07/14/certaldo-per-la-mediana-viola-arriva-dal-ponsacco-jacopo-colangelo/">Jacopo Colangelo signs for Certaldo</a> in the Tuscan league</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqKk18OIBgpvzNeUcj4td7dxPAL0mNk2dUcXeq37DhC4vi3gDe13ppd0r2D3ZtAmJ5GpOj2JE6ybgzUasq0qMqIdO8H2ujSq8Xt17sNnWXJJJXN9BTHSpytLg2eme1-SfllZ0H9JFedRSbw8Kcr1ZqdWdgyrtDiZPXa5ty2psif4v_CTxzM4TovX-fg/s1056/colangelo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="1056" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqKk18OIBgpvzNeUcj4td7dxPAL0mNk2dUcXeq37DhC4vi3gDe13ppd0r2D3ZtAmJ5GpOj2JE6ybgzUasq0qMqIdO8H2ujSq8Xt17sNnWXJJJXN9BTHSpytLg2eme1-SfllZ0H9JFedRSbw8Kcr1ZqdWdgyrtDiZPXa5ty2psif4v_CTxzM4TovX-fg/s320/colangelo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Joint winner <a href="https://www.ilmessaggero.it/sport/calcio/cynthia_due_colpi_in_vista_fabiani_a_centrocampo_e_paletta_in_difesa-2582935.html" target="_blank">Andrea Paloni signs for Cynthia</a> in Serie D </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbeu9Y5MgojndX-bdvAUYPYceF7vAUhRZT5JEk19Pwhoz7xUR5asGn5eHp3dlP_lBs5kTbWRIjhQUplvmVlbko9fhWJymEfSyBagZBm9nWSjwMDqgAcYDN4vWYx_7WpEihRzX2bTa5UWoC_AcfDNN0VP6_igOBUH51aVQ7lZnT1MUhmpoqkdMvjlROKQ/s625/1515027_792733407410254_1607844266_n.jpg--.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="625" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbeu9Y5MgojndX-bdvAUYPYceF7vAUhRZT5JEk19Pwhoz7xUR5asGn5eHp3dlP_lBs5kTbWRIjhQUplvmVlbko9fhWJymEfSyBagZBm9nWSjwMDqgAcYDN4vWYx_7WpEihRzX2bTa5UWoC_AcfDNN0VP6_igOBUH51aVQ7lZnT1MUhmpoqkdMvjlROKQ/s320/1515027_792733407410254_1607844266_n.jpg--.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Episode 4: The Strange Tale of the Mole and Stolen Honey </b></p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/31442078">Becchetti interview with the BBC</a> </p><p><a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/revealed-leyton-orient-in-turmoil-10043908.html">Evening Standard article</a> claiming club is in turmoil </p><p><a href="https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/sport/leytonorient/11800630.leyton-orient-captain-nathan-clarke-hits-back-at-reports-over-player-unrest/">Nathan Clarke hits back</a> at Evening Standard article </p><p>Andrea Dossena <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2015/03/leyton-orient-1-bristol-city-3-3315.html">smashes ball into supporters face</a></p><p><a href="https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/sport/leytonorient/11887034.leyton-orient-owner-criticises-former-watford-and-nottingham-forest-striker-darius-henderson-for-being-late-against-port-vale/">Report on bizarre half-time announcement</a> criticising Darius Henderson for turning up late </p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/08/former-liverpool-defender-andrea-dossena-harrods-arrest">Andrea Dossena arrested for stealing honey from Harrods</a></p><p><a href="http://www.leytonorientfanstrust.com/story.asp?storyChosen=365">Alessandro Angelieri blames players at LOFT meeting</a> </p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/32556307">Nathan Clarke admits to BBC</a> off-field problems have affected players </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEKFsqW1ooI">Liverani on being relegated at Swindon</a> </p>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-68097045881175465532021-11-20T22:18:00.004+00:002021-11-21T08:09:51.745+00:00Leyton Orient 4 Sutton United 1, 20/11/21<p><b>A game in which... </b>Orient treated fans to a white-knuckle ride of a performance. Albeit a white-knuckle ride that has so many potentially fatal design flaws it's a miracle anyone makes it to the end alive. What I'm saying here by way of tortuous theme park analogy is that this was a rip-roaring win, made all the more thrilling by the reckless disregard for the basics of defending that may have given Sutton a few more goals of their own had they been able to shoot properly. </p><p>Anyway, never mind all that: let's rejoice in the occasion and be confident that with performances like this we should be capable of finishing just a handful of points off the play-off places. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5tOnlSgTGK1rVld7Tm25uTvCJhNirMIj6cIbp6IDHX4qkGHk0-K266F-vxJozIrBvGURw2vZ25QT7ST6Gg_i-hZt36-kpqL8MKVo8X7sMRjXLOICyYHsFIbU_ESAStOa64niI0GUBqij/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="2000" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5tOnlSgTGK1rVld7Tm25uTvCJhNirMIj6cIbp6IDHX4qkGHk0-K266F-vxJozIrBvGURw2vZ25QT7ST6Gg_i-hZt36-kpqL8MKVo8X7sMRjXLOICyYHsFIbU_ESAStOa64niI0GUBqij/" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Moment of magic... </b>When Kenny Jackett sought to sign Harry Smith' he probably wasn't thinking "This is the guy I need to hammer a left-footed volley into the top corner from outside the box." (He was thinking "This fucking lump will probably nick a couple if we get in the mixer enough.") More fool Jackett because Smith's goal today was almost transcendental in its beauty. If you see three wise men and some shepherds turn up at Brisbane Road, you'll know why. </p><p><b>Praise be...</b> Let's take a moment to herald Alex Mitchell, shall we? It's quite something to be singled out for the nickname of "Meathead" at Millwall – a bit like a tower of giraffes deciding to dub one of their own "Lofty" or a member of the Royal Family going by the moniker "Posho". This is a man who has never knowingly controlled a football when the option of booting it over the stadium roof is on. But note this: Meathead is never the one catastrophically gifting goals by trying to do drag backs in his own penalty area or the one bemusedly watching a ball fly over his head to an oncoming opponent. And I'm all for that. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCYVE6g9k5Tvttc_FgBjvXs2Bmb8-QUUPfIF9ThSQ8OjOPos2vgQWrrRtNOnNyiKaeGM_07aEDdQf3SsPPQv1JujhjWD9FnQt1oWLVLvn3tkUXhABJsSrXCsVKabdSZdfhndO9kLtwiaj/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCYVE6g9k5Tvttc_FgBjvXs2Bmb8-QUUPfIF9ThSQ8OjOPos2vgQWrrRtNOnNyiKaeGM_07aEDdQf3SsPPQv1JujhjWD9FnQt1oWLVLvn3tkUXhABJsSrXCsVKabdSZdfhndO9kLtwiaj/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>In the dug out.. </b>Orient have now scored more goals than any other team in League Two, which is quite something given Kenny Jackett's alleged negativity. In fact, the former Portsmouth manager has come up with a pretty sophisticated attacking ploy, which is to solely work towards putting the ball out of play on the right hand side and hoping Tom James's medium-length throw-ins do the trick. It actually worked for the first goal today. Also credit to Jackett for seeing sense and reinstating Dan Kemp into the starting eleven of late, for his buzzing creativity was behind much of today's attacking intent. <p></p><p><b>Dove sono adesso?</b> Or "Where are they now?" in English, a continuing series in which I investigate the whereabouts of some of the key figures from the Becchetti era. This time: Alessandro Angelieri. Now, if we put the former CEO's infamous and jaw dropping ineptitude aside, by all accounts Big Al was a pretty nice guy. So as long as he isn't involved in important things like medical procedures or aviation then I think we can all wish him well. Except, well, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandro-angelieri-292b5677/" target="_blank">he is now actually involved in things like medical procedures and aviation</a>. I'd write more, but I just need to cancel a couple of flights... </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORdsO6Vcm9lBkOup5iWjrB8e4wPiJF0e5ConsIz_xxqQJmfsT708MWslY88R68JP6mzOYfYLR_0PlVorJxxx4WdjZYox7lN0MEMXDxhwh6xhR1hLKIK-ms1qWYlUBxy4m1WLVoQ79-9PV/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORdsO6Vcm9lBkOup5iWjrB8e4wPiJF0e5ConsIz_xxqQJmfsT708MWslY88R68JP6mzOYfYLR_0PlVorJxxx4WdjZYox7lN0MEMXDxhwh6xhR1hLKIK-ms1qWYlUBxy4m1WLVoQ79-9PV/" width="240" /></a></div><p></p>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-42983790726825085522021-08-29T12:14:00.007+01:002021-08-29T12:15:45.733+01:00Leyton Orient 2 Bradford City 0, 28/8/21<p><b>A game in which...</b> Jacketball returned to E10! What is "Jacketball" you may ask, other than the term used by the official club Twitter feed whenever they stumble across a clip that features Orient completing more than two consecutive passes? Well, on this evidence it seems Jacketball is the new tactical innovation of lumping the ball towards a big striker and hoping for the best. And before you scoff, you think that's easy? Well a) it didn't work against Harrogate. And b) this was a performance full of energy, bite and control. A joy to watch. </p><p><b>Moment of madness...</b> Ruel Sotiriou's goal and the scenes of absolute shithousery that followed. The strike itself was a geometric marvel – blasted in from an angle so acute that today mathematicians across the world are frantically trying to rewrite the rules of trigonometry. The striker then ran the full width of the pitch to knee-slide in front of the away fans, a handful of whom had booed the South Stand's Justin Edinburgh chant. <a href="https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1431723317514416133" target="_blank">Watch this clip closely</a> and you'll see a couple of Poundland Tony Montanas from the Bradford faithful swagger to the front to voice their displeasure and throw lighters... And kudos to Harry Smith for sparking up the fag he keeps slipped into his sock with one them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL28xCzcy1rC1lQMDDmpEENGWk4RnOOecBjN5piAZsinCdh31WRx4qF6wchHb4xoYv7Kl7irVf00TmG4V0vfULeXELKv6AVq7gstLvCwKR11Z6HICUjEFd6BNMXPQUli4gGmgW9zgCnzcJ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="1135" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL28xCzcy1rC1lQMDDmpEENGWk4RnOOecBjN5piAZsinCdh31WRx4qF6wchHb4xoYv7Kl7irVf00TmG4V0vfULeXELKv6AVq7gstLvCwKR11Z6HICUjEFd6BNMXPQUli4gGmgW9zgCnzcJ/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Praise be...</b> Difficult one because every Orient player was a titan today, but let's firstly talk about Hector Kyprianou who controlled the midfield today with rangy brilliance – like a <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/search/label/Matthew%20Spring" target="_blank">Matthew Spring</a> who can pass forward, perhaps, or a <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/search/label/Jimmy%20Smith" target="_blank">Jimmy Smith</a> with a brain. And to Shadrach Ogie who until five minutes before the game was looking forward to 90 minutes of sitting on the bench picking his nose and surreptitiously checking TikTok on his phone. But he then put in a defensive performance so intimidating that the people of Bradford – from Gareth Gates to Kimberley from Girls Aloud – will be having nightmares for years to come. <p></p><p><b>Let's talk about...</b> Harry Smith. Only Leyton Orient could sign a 6ft 7in forward who can't actually head the ball. And remember, Martin Ling had actually been searching for a "big striker" since the summer of 2008 when the then manager tried to convince us that 5ft 11in <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/search/label/Ryan%20Jarvis" target="_blank">Ryan Jarvis</a> could do the job. Smith, then, doesn't so much have a head like a 50p piece, but a head like thousands of 50p pieces welded together into a jagged globe by a radical artist with the express purpose of illustrating the concept of "chaos". Or "shame" – as when he somehow managed to ricochet an absolute sitter onto the crossbar from six yards. That said, Smith's now scored two goals in three games, so I'm all for the non-heading lummock. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPi6hNDdLocoGKayhl4-wRvMq8yZjkWHC6hSnnb9tdBrY2TlOf5vyrQvmDWRr8kNVh0NqkmZlKtOmN1aX8QmR0GBSkmtRPzPh5pLVQAzZtzfxqUY3jz4Qlc7d-OjjODW1DmYaIV-Mbljfg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPi6hNDdLocoGKayhl4-wRvMq8yZjkWHC6hSnnb9tdBrY2TlOf5vyrQvmDWRr8kNVh0NqkmZlKtOmN1aX8QmR0GBSkmtRPzPh5pLVQAzZtzfxqUY3jz4Qlc7d-OjjODW1DmYaIV-Mbljfg/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>In the dug out...</b> It's taken only six games, but after the catastrophic defeat by Harrogate Town manager Kenny Jackett has reverted to the well-worn and archaic Orient formation of 4-4-2 with a central midfielder on the right wing, in this case Craig Clay. This, of course, is a ploy used by countless previous Os managers such as Russell Slade (with Jimmy Smith on the right); Fabio Liverani (<a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/search/label/Bradley%20Pritchard" target="_blank">Bradley Pritchard</a>); and of course Alberto Cavasin, who somehow played Ada the kit man in that spot for one game after his pre-match instructions were lost in translation. <p></p><p><b>Dove sono adesso?</b> Or "Where are they now?" in English, a new series in which I investigate the whereabouts of some of the key figures from the Becchetti era. First up: translator/goalkeeping coach/head of recruitment Rob Gagliardi who, given his searing Italian good looks, you would assume had moved into a career in either catalogue modelling or porn, right? Wrong: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-gagliardi-a84aa0ba/?originalSubdomain=uk" target="_blank">Rob is currently Head of European Scouting</a> at actual football club Portsmouth, who unrelatedly have recently signed a 56-year-old Albanian left back, the striker from a Faroe Islands fisherman team and Zan Benedicic. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4WUu5oQBEBU6J9geQkva6fLt2oAQ6Z4R_4f6SX0FWwxGShsv4hZCKgL0vTYcsK33JgTlUGndgv7kOXJDgbU1NP1YeoddpYvbSvMLHMb1UrNBesu4YJw7dK9FPZqikFDlI0xAM6fMJwil/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="437" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4WUu5oQBEBU6J9geQkva6fLt2oAQ6Z4R_4f6SX0FWwxGShsv4hZCKgL0vTYcsK33JgTlUGndgv7kOXJDgbU1NP1YeoddpYvbSvMLHMb1UrNBesu4YJw7dK9FPZqikFDlI0xAM6fMJwil/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-12026913261293424252020-12-29T22:42:00.003+00:002020-12-30T08:28:03.481+00:00Leyton Orient 2 Southend United 0, 29/12/20<p><b>A game in which... </b>Orient took to the field massively disadvantaged by the fact Ross Embleton was self-isolating on account of wanting to finish season four of The Crown. Well, I say massively disadvantaged but it soon became apparent the Os were playing with exactly the same tactical nous as in previous games. Which was none.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0EzMBGv4kEa28PIO1uWj9oEe0PuAlN0W_WILf4d9-bk39f4Yr0I61HyHLSMMZEA-9Ro9L04lMSs8I2jNQU04t5UDHFSH8tt78i-tqi7kiC2xm3LNW-2xiTOocbxW3Yf9qyJnE6EEHV4_/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="760" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0EzMBGv4kEa28PIO1uWj9oEe0PuAlN0W_WILf4d9-bk39f4Yr0I61HyHLSMMZEA-9Ro9L04lMSs8I2jNQU04t5UDHFSH8tt78i-tqi7kiC2xm3LNW-2xiTOocbxW3Yf9qyJnE6EEHV4_/" width="320" /></a></div><br />Luckily this was ultimately an improved performance nonetheless and two typical moments of class from McAnuff and Wilkinson and a unprecedented lack of catastrophic defensive errors were enough to polish off a woeful Southend side. <br /><p>But let me say this: Orient really aren't as bad as many doomsayers have been making out in the past few weeks. We're actually worse. Ok, JUST KIDDING... Christ! We're one point of the play offs, and while we obviously won't actually get promoted, in a messed up season we ain't doing too bad, and very occasionally have looked pretty good. And remember, finishing 17th in the fourth tier is actually Orient's natural resting state, so we're all good... </p><p><b>Moment of magic... </b>The moment referee Craig Hicks measured out the 10 yards required for the placement of the Southend wall when facing an Orient free kick. It seems finickity Southend players and fans believe that the man in black miscalculated by, say, a couple of kilometres or so making it too simple for McAnuff to pop the ball in the net. I guess looking at the evidence we can concede that Mr Hicks probably does have a problem estimating measurements, but it's not Southend you should feel sorry for, it's the referee's string of disappointed lovers sold a false promise, amirite? </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEau-_0Vsiy6zd7BdgqIH0i4wSNITqakXCk9iOMXb_8vjSFDuuPoAm11qAeT1D7jGWj2Am-mJyKfvDzOqdz9RYWHz2qaiBMeU4u3SUUGCoAE_nOKkA_GQZcYhweiLR_v94wIIkjYN7YE-W/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="241" data-original-width="340" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEau-_0Vsiy6zd7BdgqIH0i4wSNITqakXCk9iOMXb_8vjSFDuuPoAm11qAeT1D7jGWj2Am-mJyKfvDzOqdz9RYWHz2qaiBMeU4u3SUUGCoAE_nOKkA_GQZcYhweiLR_v94wIIkjYN7YE-W/w320-h227/GoGoGadget-Springs_front.jpg" title="Referee Craig Hicks" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Praise be...</b> It's now a firmly held Orient tradition that whenever Sam Ling – who unrelatedly is the son of the Director of Football – doesn't put in a car crash performance we have to overly praise him, so let's get that out the way: MIND-BLOWING 90 MINUTES FROM SAM LING – WHO UNRELATEDLY IS THE SON OF THE DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL – ONE IN THE EYE FOR ALL THE LING-BASHERS. Aside from that Akinola played quite well, hey? </p><p><b>Taxi for... </b>It's now five months since <a href="https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1285306425863016448" target="_blank">Martin Ling's bizarre interview</a> in which he ends up congratulating himself on signing Ouss Cisse then realises in horror what he's done so tries to backtrack by executing a two-footed tackle on the English language: "A sigh of a job well done we thought we were losing." So let's all think about what Cisse has achieved since then. Well that's three milliseconds of your life you'll never get back. But let's not be too harsh on the player who looked so promising on loan but has delivered so little this campaign. After all, I think he's just about to complete the tackle he began in the season-opener against Oldham. </p><p><b>In the dug out... </b>Forget Brexit, the real schism in this country is between the ROSS OUT-ERS and the ROSS IN-ERS. (Not forgetting, of course, the MONSTER RAVING ROSS-ERS, the THE PEOPLE'S FRONT OF ROSS, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQsbgoJU_Vk" target="_blank">THE ROSS-IAN PEOPLE'S FRONT</a> and a new organisation called RECLAIM ROSS set up by the actor Laurence Fox, who believes that #allRossesMatter and that all the rich, privileged, white Rosses have a really hard time these days.) </p><p>Is Ross the right manager for Orient or not is the question. The answer: hard to say for the long run, but it's difficult to imagine that a different gaffer would have us topping the table right now without some changes to the squad. Still, there may be a neat compromise lurking in the fact that we now have a 100% record in games in which Embleton was the manager, but didn't actually attend... </p>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-16115912372242232732020-10-04T11:30:00.007+01:002020-10-04T17:41:06.291+01:00Leyton Orient 0 Cheltenham Town 2, 4/10/20<p><b>A game in which... </b>the global scientific community discovered multiple new symptoms of Covid-19, including complete loss of positional sense, deterioration in the ability to understand the basic concepts of a game and – in the case of Sam Ling – an overwhelming compulsion to boot a football into his own net. So let me be clear: THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE FOR THIS PERFORMANCE. </p><p>It is true that Leyton Orient were the first team in professional football history to ever play a competitive match while collectively suffering from a debilitating respiratory virus and without any training, tactical instruction or face time in the preceding fortnight – although that still left them better prepared than they ever were under Fabio Liverani, and even then they managed to win <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2015/02/leyton-orient-2-oldham-athletic-0-21215.html" target="_blank">once</a> or <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2015/03/leyton-orient-3-port-vale-1-28315.html" target="_blank">twice</a>. </p><p>I'm joking of course: let's cut the players some slack and acknowledge that we were always going to lose this under the circumstances. And by "circumstances" I mean fielding a team in which three of the four defenders were Joe Widdowson, James Brophy and the aforementioned Ling. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlHW1wA3264RllA3Dn3BxxlUNIIZncSMnng9xezUIPhdmCpBAu04dLilxuWAjF3-RflS1hlbeCa0r6ORJxCqGOu7jWUxgqGptjFtnY9gLODDMR5zK7uzc1A_KJV7W94mUCmRQ6IxlerO5/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlHW1wA3264RllA3Dn3BxxlUNIIZncSMnng9xezUIPhdmCpBAu04dLilxuWAjF3-RflS1hlbeCa0r6ORJxCqGOu7jWUxgqGptjFtnY9gLODDMR5zK7uzc1A_KJV7W94mUCmRQ6IxlerO5/" width="241" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Praise be... </b>Now, technically Jobi McAnuff should have been the most debilitated by Covid-19 given that he's of the generation most at risk. In fact, McAnuff was head and shoulders Orient's most energetic and inspirational player, as he is every single week. Curious then, that he delegated set piece responsibilities to Josh Wright, the footballing equivalent of Mick Jagger inviting H from Steps on stage to sing Sympathy For The Devil for him.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg05R2uVw2BQ7UTOJKPjixbh94KbLbArRayUUrPk56IWObdA08MrdpIdu6v7SBas_1xZYvmCXi7P6p0Cat3LwioTJPfOpw9r9C_OjBOd-mBgSAA7txuWfGv15uz733hBPhhjB8HMqDzwboX/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg05R2uVw2BQ7UTOJKPjixbh94KbLbArRayUUrPk56IWObdA08MrdpIdu6v7SBas_1xZYvmCXi7P6p0Cat3LwioTJPfOpw9r9C_OjBOd-mBgSAA7txuWfGv15uz733hBPhhjB8HMqDzwboX/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Taxi for... </b>Sam Ling divides fans' opinions. Some believe he is far from a League Two standard defender and is only in the team because we haven't signed anyone better. Other believe he is far from a League Two standard defender and is only in the team because his dad is Director of Football. The latter obviously isn't true because if Martin Ling did have any influence on team selection then Brian Saah and Ryan Jarvis would be playing every week. <br /><p><b>In the dug out... </b>Ross Embleton seems to have something of a mental block around what constitutes his best team, rotating the squad so much it's little wonder they spent most of this game running around in circles to little effect. He actually has an embarrassment of riches for the front three slots – Johnson, Angol, Wilkinson, Maguire-Drew, Dennis, Dayton, Sotiriou – at the same time as having the opposite issue in defence, where currently no one seems up to the job. Meanwhile he hasn't answered the question as to who partners Cisse and McAnuff in midfield, flip-flopping between Clay and Wright almost as if the former wasn't much, much better than the latter. </p><p><b>Meanwhile in the stadium... </b>As we all know, games continue behind closed doors, which makes it curious that the volume of noise emanating from the West Stand has actually <i>increased</i>. (Albeit that largely consists of the entire coaching staff yelling "HE'S BEHIND YOU!" pantomime-style at James Brophy.) But, as we also know, outdoor theatre events are allowed to take place with socially-distant audiences, which has given me an idea: How about we simply rebrand Leyton Orient as an experimental repertory company? That way they could put on weekly 90-minute "shows" designed to artistically parody what an actual football match is like. This would allow an "audience" in and is also not that far from the truth. </p><p></p><p><b>Meanwhile in the programme...</b> Another <a href="https://www.leytonorient.com/2020/10/03/free-match-pack-cheltenham-town/" target="_blank">fascinating insight into the life of one of the squad</a>. "What do you like to do away from football?" asks the programme editor earnestly of Ouss Cissé, who answers bewilderingly, "I like to play FIFA. I like to watch football too." Next week: Jamie Turley on how he takes his mind off the game by watching replays of Orient matches from two weeks ago. </p><p><b>And happy birthday to... </b>self-proclaimed club historian Neilson Kaufman, whose tireless work in <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2011/01/mystery-who-is-hacking-leyton-orient.html" target="_blank">deleting any Wikipedia mentions of Orient books not written by himself</a> should always be heralded. </p>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-64004632730436357892020-04-23T14:36:00.000+01:002020-04-23T14:44:12.253+01:00The loyal family man: Sid Bishop (1934-2020)<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
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This is an extract from my book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leyton-Orient-Greats-Matt-Simpson/dp/1859836453" target="_blank">Leyton Orient Greats </a></div>
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If ever one needed evidence of how much football has changed, then it would be worth glancing at the career of Sidney Harold Bishop. Despite being courted by Manchester United and other big clubs, along with repeated calls for him to be included in the England squad, the inspirational centre-half chose to spend his entire professional football life at Leyton Orient. </div>
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Were a player of Sid’s calibre to come through the ranks at Brisbane Road today he’d be off like a shot, racing towards Premier League glory in a Ferrari Maranello with only the slightest of glances in his rear-view mirror to check that his diamond earring was correctly adjusted.</div>
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For Sid, life was much simpler. His priority was the happiness of his family, and they found it in east London. ‘We were set up perfectly there, and I wouldn’t have wanted to see it all go up in smoke,’ he says. </div>
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It meant that Orient supporters had the pleasure of seeing one of the finest centre-halfs of the time turning out at Brisbane Road for over 12 years. ‘Sid is by far the best defender we’ve ever had,’ says fan Mickey Kasler. ‘He never put a foot wrong, he was sheer class. He wasn’t tall but he could beat most people in the air. He had a fantastic tackle but he wasn’t crude. And he had tremendous pace. If the ball was played down the middle and the forward had a three-yard start on Sid you wouldn’t worry. He’d catch them up and get a sliding tackle in every time.’</div>
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In all, Sid made 323 first-team appearances for Orient, and formed part of a formidable half-back line with Malcolm Lucas and Cyril Lea that helped take the club into Division One in 1962. These days he lives alone in Harlow, Essex. Tragically, in February 2003, his beloved wife of 50 years Vera died after a hospital blunder during a routine operation. His son Warren, who works as an air-conditioning engineer, and daughter Denise, a former hairdresser, live nearby, and between them have given Sid four grandchildren, two boys and two girls. </div>
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Sid is quite a character and spending time with him is an entertaining experience – his enthusiasm, warmth and humour make him great company. He smokes like a trooper – he has done since he was 20 years old – and is not shy of an opinion. Get him going on the state of football today (in summary: not good) and you’re in for a long afternoon. And he’s quick to point out that he’s still slightly upset by the fact that nearly 50 years ago Orient chairman Harry Zussman refused to sell him the club house that he and Vera were renting. But that aside, he has nothing but good memories of his time at Brisbane Road. ‘I couldn’t see how it could be any better,’ he says. </div>
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Sid owes his very existence on this earth to football. His father, Harold, was involved in the day-to-day running of amateur club Tooting Town. His mother, Lou, volunteered at the nearby Mitcham Wanderers. When the two clubs merged in 1932 to form Athenian League outfit Tooting & Mitcham United the couple’s eyes met over a muddy field. The rest, as they say, is history: Sid arrived two years later, born on 8 April 1934 in Tooting. Harold worked as a foreman for Crittles, a heating and ventilation company; Lou volunteered at a local hospital. Sid has an elder sister, Betty, and a younger brother, Clive. </div>
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His earliest memories, then, are of football shirts strewn around the house – Lou was the official team kit-washer – and regular trips to Sandy Lane, Tooting & Mitcham’s old home ground. It seems Sid had a destiny. ‘At times I scratch my head and think was my life set out like this,’ he says, while literally scratching his head.</div>
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Unsurprisingly, Sid took to sport – pretty much all of them. ‘I just loved being involved in anything active,’ he says. ‘I was hardly ever in the classroom. I was reasonable at table tennis. I used to do gymnastics on a Friday with the Boys’ Brigade. I won a ball-throwing contest in the playground. I tried ice-skating. I played cricket. I have an old school mate who still rings me up and says, “I remember you at cricket – I’d go home, have my tea, come back and you’d still be batting.”’</div>
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It was football where he really excelled, captaining his school team at Defoe Secondary Modern and representing South London Schoolboys. It was for the representative side that he first came up against future Fulham legends Johnny Haynes and Trevor ‘Tosh’ Chamberlain, both of whom featured in the North London Schoolboys team. </div>
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Even at that young age Sid claims that he was never anything but a defender. ‘To get your name in the paper you had to be a forward, but I never craved that,’ he says. ‘I felt that I could talk to the lads as defender. And I enjoyed winning games, keeping clean sheets.’</div>
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At 15, after impressing in a trial, Sid began turning out for Chase of Chertsey Football Club, at the time Arsenal’s nursery side. A year later he travelled with the Chase of Chertsey team to a youth tournament in Sanremo, Italy, where they eventually lost 1–0 to Barcelona in the final. </div>
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He returned to England to find that Chase of Chertsey had been taken over by Leyton Orient, which no doubt sent many of the youths involved scuttling for the safety of careers in plumbing and carpentry. Not Sid, though – upon leaving school he was one of the handful of players invited to join the ground staff at Brisbane Road. He says he was made to feel at home at Orient. He was also made to work hard. ‘I spent the morning cleaning the ground, sweeping the terraces, goodness knows what. In the afternoons we’d do some training – mainly ball control and head tennis.’</div>
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Sid continued to skipper Chase of Chertsey and began to turn out for Orient in the midweek league. In January 1952 he was offered a professional contract at £4 a week. ‘It spins a young person’s head around,’ he says of his first few months as a salaried footballer. ‘It’s a wonderful feeling. You sat there in the dressing room with your ears open and did what you were told.’<br />
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One player in particular stands out in Sid’s memory. ‘Tommy Brown!’ he exclaims. ‘He ruled the roost at Orient; a real character. In the mornings he’d come in, look at himself in the mirror, slap his face and say, “How do I look lads?” He’d been out all night.’</div>
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Sid began to turn out for the reserves, but his pathway to first team was blocked by two obstacles. One was the fact that just a few months after signing his contract he was due to do his National Service. The second was Stan Aldous. The former Bromley player had made the centre-half position his own at Orient since signing in 1950 and he wasn’t going to be dislodged easily. ‘I idolised Stan,’ says Sid. ‘He was a big, strong centre-half. Hard as nails, he was. Down on the ground he was lacking a bit, but he was very good in the air. His timing was perfect.’</div>
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Just after he turned 18, Sid began his two-year stint in the army, stationed in Aldershot, Hampshire. He was given the job of physical training instructor and played for his regiment’s football team alongside Ben Cook, then of Arsenal but later to sign for Orient. He also had an accommodating, sport-loving sergeant major, who saw to it that Sid didn’t have any duties on Saturdays so that he could continue to play in Orient reserve fixtures. He’d play midweek too on occasion. Sid recalls, ‘Sometimes I’d be put on a five-mile walk – or a run, jog and walk – at 10 in the morning, then I’d have to play for Orient in the afternoon. But I managed it. That really helped with my stamina.’</div>
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Fitness was to play a big part in Sid’s career – the 20 cigarettes a day notwithstanding – and it was something which he prided himself on. ‘It was always important to me, ever since I was at school,’ he says. ‘At Orient I would do a bit of extra training on my own to sharpen the edges. The physical training there was a joke. Later on Eddie Baily used to take it and he was hopeless. I just used to laugh.’ </div>
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It was while he was on leave from the army that Sid met his wife-to-be, Vera, at Wimbledon Palais. As he was nearing the end of his national service, on 27 February 1954, he finally made his debut in the Orient first team, playing centre-half in place of the injured Stan Aldous in a 1–1 draw with Swindon at Brisbane Road. He went on to make a further seven appearances that season. Sid says that by then he was confident that he had the ability to play at that level, but that it wasn’t easy for a teenager. ‘I took a few bad knocks. One player said to me, “You’d better watch yourself, son. You haven’t been in the game long.”’</div>
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With his national service completed, Sid could devote all his time to football. Unfortunately in the 1954–55 season that meant reserve football – he didn’t make one single appearance for the first team. ‘I was disappointed but I knew in my mind that I still had things to learn,’ says Sid. ‘By then I was whacking a good ball, especially a dead ball, but I was struggling with my timing for jumping. I was only 5ft 10 and a half inches so I had to get it right. But I worked on it and in the end I had a good jump.’</div>
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That season, under the stewardship of Alec Stock, Orient came within a whisker of promotion, finishing second in Division Three South in the days when only one team was promoted. The next season of 1955–56, the team went one better and topped the table – and this time they did need to call on the services of Sid. He played a total of 16 games, mostly covering at right-back in place of Jimmy Lee. It was Sid who twice hooked the ball off the line in the 1–1 draw with Brighton in April that effectively sealed promotion to Division Two.</div>
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Sid describes the season as a battle and, in a game against Shrewsbury at Gay Meadow in December, he found himself under attack. ‘I’d gone in hard on the winger and ended up with my back against the terrace wall. Then suddenly: WHACK. An old lady hit me over the head with an umbrella.’</div>
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She wasn’t the only one unimpressed with Sid that day. ‘I’d given away a few fouls, which wasn’t like me,’ he says. ‘As I came off the pitch at half-time I walked past Alec Stock, and he said, “You dirty bastard”. That’s what he called me! It was one of his favourite swear words. And it was in ear shot of a few of Shrewsbury’s players and officials. I felt horrible. I thought, whose side is he on?’</div>
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This was symptomatic of Sid’s relationship – or lack of one – with his manager. ‘You didn’t see Stocky standing around having a laugh with the players,’ says Sid. ‘And he wasn’t afraid of giving a bollocking. He was a good motivator, but he didn’t do much coaching – that was at a minimum. And he seldom praised people. He never once said to me, well played, terrific.’ </div>
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Sid recalls a time he invoked the ire of Stock during that 1955–56 season. ‘One afternoon Vic Groves and I went down to a sports shop on Fleet Street to buy a new pair of Adidas boots with the white stripes down the side. They were £4, which was the top price for boots in those days. We must have been two of the first players to wear them – they were like carpet slippers. The next day we went out to train with them on and Alec Stock said to us, “You flash bastards”. I said, “Oi! We paid for these ourselves.”’</div>
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Most galling for Sid was the way in which he received his medal for being part of the promotion-winning side of 1955–56. ‘I’m not sure why, but I wasn’t presented with the medal after the last game,’ he says. ‘But a couple of days later I was in the tunnel going towards the dressing room and I bumped into Alec Stock. He said, “Here you are” and this black box came floating in the air towards me. The medal flipped out and hit the bleedin’ concrete! There wasn’t a smile on his face.’</div>
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During that summer Sid proposed to Vera and they set a date for an October wedding. Alec Stock wasn’t impressed. ‘He said, “For Christ’s sake do it bloody right, young ‘un – get married before then,”’ Sid explains. ‘So we brought the wedding forward to the week before the first League game of the season, when we used to have the ‘possibles v probables’ match at the club between the first team and the reserve team. The goalkeeper Pat Welton was my best man, but Alec said that he’d have to play the first half of the game. So I went to the ground with the two hired morning suits, and when Pat came off at half-time we put them on. But at that time there was building work going on at the ground, so we had to climb over bleedin’ scaffold poles in our suits to get out.’</div>
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The wedding itself went off smoothly, though Sid didn’t have much time to enjoy a honeymoon. ‘I asked Mr Stock how long I got off and he told me I had to be back by Wednesday,’ says Sid. ‘So we had two nights at the Savoy Hotel in London then one night in the Grand Hotel in Brighton and then I was back in training.’</div>
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Disappointingly for Sid, his performances in the promotion-winning season were still not deemed good enough to warrant a permanent place in Orient’s starting XI, with Stan Aldous continuing as centre-half and Jack Gregory and Stan Willemse taking the full-back slots. Sid made just four appearances in that 1956–57 season. ‘It was frustrating but you took it on the chin,’ he says. ‘I did think that I deserved to be playing by then but I said this is part and parcel of the routine, this is what professional football is about – you have to fight for your place. And if you’re keen enough you know you’re going to make it in the end. And I was thinking to myself, Stan Aldous has to retire one day.’</div>
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It was actually the next season, after five years as a pro, that Sid finally made the centre-half spot his. ‘Stan Aldous was struggling in the end,’ he says. ‘He couldn’t keep the pace up.’</div>
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They were big boots to fill, for Aldous was much-loved by the Orient fans. But Sid didn’t feel any added pressure. ‘I was turning out performances in the reserves off the back of my hand,’ he says. ‘A lot of the fans thought the world of me for that. And once I got in the side I knew that if put in 100 percent every week and was consistent, I’d always be one of the first names on the team sheet.’</div>
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Sid quickly proved that he had the temperament and the skills to play regularly in Division Two and he helped Orient to a respectable 12<sup>th</sup> place finish. He also showed that, though young, he wasn’t to be messed with. ‘If I had someone giving me a dig I’d just have a word in their ear. I’d say to them, “Oi, I’ve given you a quiet game so far. You better start looking for me now.” And it used to affect them. There was one game where one guy kept nibbling me from behind and fouling me. I thought, right, I’ll sort him out. So I said to the referee, “Can I hit him in a minute?” And he replied, “Well don’t let me see you.” So that player got three-penneth – when I could get near him, that is. Because he knew I was after him.’</div>
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He also showed his versatility when, during a Challenge Cup game against Arsenal in December, he filled in for goalkeeper Pat Welton, who was injured after six minutes. The local <i>Walthamstow Guardian</i> reported that Sid gave, ‘an eye-opener of a display. He took everything any experienced league keeper might have been expected to stop – and was often better-than-most with his work in the air.’ </div>
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Sid chuckles at the memory of his one and only game in between the sticks. ‘I thought it was terrific,’ he says. ‘I was clapped off of the field. I was quite proud of that. Les Gore said to me, “We’ve found your position after all!”’</div>
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Asked if he thinks he could have made it professionally as goalkeeper Sid replies emphatically, ‘Yes, I really think I could.’</div>
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That said, it was as a centre-half that he was really impressing, which must have made it a little galling that at the beginning of the 1958–59 season Alec Stock brought in Welsh amateur international Trefor Owen and stuck him straight in the first team in Sid’s place. ‘He was always getting other centre-halfs in, top amateurs and so forth,’ says Sid. ‘I thought, what’s this bloke trying to do to me? Am I not good enough? People used to stop me in the street and say, what’s he got him for? The boys in the reserves would say, what the hell are you doing here, Sid? It was ridiculous. I can count the number of times I had a bad game on one hand.’</div>
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Does he think that Alec Stock never quite trusted him? ‘I don’t know,’ he replies. ‘But I think I must have registered in his head as a good player because he’d always pick me for the key games. I felt let down when he dropped me for Trefor but I just swallowed it, did my training and hoped my name was on the team sheet for the next week.’</div>
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Sid did force his way back into the side by mid-November and stayed there. Orient were struggling in the League that season and only managed a 17<sup>th</sup> place finish. It marked the end of Alec Stock’s rein at the club, leaving to manage Roma in February 1959. The coach Les Gore took over as manager. ‘Nothing too much changed, though there were a few less bollockings about the place,’ says Sid. ‘Les was a nice guy and things just rolled along.’</div>
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By now Sid and Vera were living in a club-owned house in Woodford – the same property previously occupied by Tommy Johnston and his wife Jean. He socialised with the likes of Frank George, Stan Charlton, Dave Dunmore, Ronnie Foster and Terry McDonald – all players who liked the occasional drink. Sid was partial to a pint of bitter but, ever mindful of his fitness, would always be in bed by 9pm from Wednesday onwards. He points to a good atmosphere at the club. ‘We had a terrific social side,’ he says. ‘There was good happy banter. If anyone wanted an argument they could sod off outside – there was no point in upsetting the dressing room.’</div>
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Sid’s pastime of choice outside of football was snooker and he’d spend many an afternoon at Jelks Snooker Hall on Leyton High Road. In the summers Sid would top up his salary by getting a part-time job. ‘I was being paid £12 a week in the winter and £10 in the summer,’ he explains. ‘So if I got a job for six or seven quid I’d be much better off. I used to do work on the stadium, or digging holes – anything really. A few of us did a bit of grass cutting at the City of London Cemetery.’</div>
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The 1959–60 season saw Orient’s fortunes improve slightly and the team managed a 10<sup>th</sup> place finish. Sid remembers in particular his battles with Middlesbrough’s Brian Clough. ‘He was never any trouble to me,’ he says. ‘You couldn’t take away the fact he got 40 goals a season, but the way I played him stopped him scoring. I didn’t kick him all over the place either. You had to be on the ball with him, and not let him turn. If you let him come at you he’d hardly get to you – Cloughie would shoot from anywhere.’</div>
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Unfortunately Orient couldn’t build upon their good work and the following season of 1960–61 saw them slogging it out in a relegation dogfight. ‘We had to dig in at the back, by Christ we did,’ says Sid.</div>
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Aside from holding the defence together, Sid also contributed to the cause with his first three goals for the club. (He was hardly prolific – he only scored four in his whole time at Orient.) One of them – against Bristol Rovers in February – was a full-blooded drive from near on 40 yards that surprised the opposition keeper and slipped through his legs. ‘I’m not too sure what happened,’ Sid laughs. ‘But I could clout a ball.’</div>
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It was a goal from a more likely source that secured Orient’s status as a Division Two club – Tommy Johnston’s winner against Norwich in the penultimate match of the season. They had avoided relegation and Sid has an insight into what may have given the players the extra resolve that was needed. ‘The chairman Harry Zussman promised us a holiday in Jersey if we stayed up – so we did,’ he says. </div>
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The chairman was true to his word and the players got their holiday. Zussman even came out to visit and, intoxicated by the sea air – that or the potent Jersey ale – promised the team that if they got promoted the next season he’d take them all to Majorca. The promise of a holiday in a Spanish tourist resort proved to be all the incentive the players needed, for they went on to do exactly that. If Zussman had upped the offer to Tenerife they’d probably have won the FA Cup too. </div>
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That famous season of 1961–62 began with two arrivals. The first was Sid and Vera’s first child, a boy they named Warren. The second was a new boss at Orient, the former Manchester United player and Everton manager Johnny Carey. ‘We were glad to have someone like that – a big name – at the helm,’ says Sid. ‘He had a good reputation as a manager and I think that inspired the players mentally. He wasn’t supernatural or anything, but I think he was the right guy to have at the time.’</div>
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Sid describes Johnny as a ‘pleasant enough bloke’ and says, ‘He always had a bleedin’ pipe in his mouth. And he had a quiet sense of humour. One time we’d just finished training and he turned to Les Gore and said, “Les, has Sid been out there training with us today?” I didn’t have a bead of sweat on me. I said, “What are you talking about, Guv? Of course I’ve been out there.” But that was just his sense of humour.’</div>
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Sid finds it difficult to pinpoint why Orient performed so heroically in 1961–62 when they’d almost been relegated the season before. But he singles out as significant the fifth League match of the season, a 5–1 win at Walsall. ‘There was nothing special about us but we steamed away and Walsall went for a burton,’ he says. ‘It was the hottest day I’ve ever played football. We came off the pitch at half-time and one or two of the boys were complaining about the heat and saying they were knackered. I said, “We’re knackered? How do you think they bleedin’ feel, they’re three goals down?” And then we went out and knocked in another couple. And to get off to a bang like that. It gave us a boost, and we had the feeling among us that we could win every game. We had a fantastic record up until Christmas.’<br />
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Sid also says that the strength of the team was built from the back, and the 1961–62 season was the first in which the half-back line of Sid, Malcolm Lucas and Cyril Lea really came to the fore – none of the three missed a single game of the entire campaign. ‘When Malcolm and Cyril first came to the club a couple of years before the other players were having long looks at one another as if to say, “Where have they got these two from?” But they worked hard, they did some afternoon training and they proved to be good players. I’d do all the calling and talking. Sometimes I’d say that I would be preoccupied with a certain striker so they would have to fill up the hole. In the end I didn’t have to talk because they knew what to expect. The defence had a good understanding; it moulded.’</div>
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It needed to, because in the second half of the season Orient’s goals dried up. Sid marks the turning point as the two fourth round FA cup ties against Burnley, in which Orient creditably held the First Division high flyers to a 1–1 draw at Turf Moor before unluckily losing 1–0 at Brisbane Road. ‘In the away game I got knocked out cold twice,’ Sid recalls. ‘They’d come on with the sponge and the smelling salts and I’d carry on playing.’</div>
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In the last 13 games of the season Orient conceded just eight goals. Their bid for promotion came down to the last day of the season, when the team needed to beat Bury at home and hope that Sunderland failed to beat Swansea at Vetch Field. ‘It was an interesting day,’ says Sid with a smile. ‘You couldn’t think about what was going on in Swansea, you just had to make sure you did the right thing at Brisbane Road. The all of a sudden Malcolm Graham decided to go and whack in two goals. Malcolm had a terrific left foot, but if he’d used his right foot as well he’d have got even more goals. I’d give him a bollocking sometimes, saying, “Use your right foot – and not just for standing on either!”’</div>
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As the final whistle went and the news that Swansea had held Sunderland to a 1–1 draw filtered through, Sid realised that all his hard work had paid off – Orient were promoted to Division One. ‘I was just elated,’ he says. ‘All the various people that volunteered at the club on match days were tearing around like headless chickens. You couldn’t get a sensible word out of anybody. Then we were in the bar celebrating afterwards and it wasn’t beer in our pint glasses, it was champagne. The director Leslie Grade got so carried away that he told us he would buy all of us a Jaguar if we got to the FA Cup Final the next year. That was a promise that would never have to be honoured.’</div>
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No matter, for the players did get to enjoy the reward of a trip to Majorca they’d been promised by Harry Zussman at the start of the season. ‘He had to keep his word,’ says Sid, ‘because if he didn’t he’d have had 11 wives on his back.’</div>
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Sid says that, with all the wives in tow, there wasn’t too much opportunity for mischief in Majorca. The team did manage an outing to a bullfight, though for Sid it was not the beginning of a Hemingway-esque love affair. ‘I didn’t think much of it, all that prancing about,’ he says dismissively. ‘The animal was half dead by the time they meet up with it for the final kill. I thought, sod this and left.’<br />
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Orient’s first game of the 1962–63 season in the top flight was a home fixture against Arsenal. Incredibly, Sid was nutmegged by striker Joe Baker. The memory still prickles 46 years later. ‘Lucky sod,’ Sid scoffs. ‘He was a good player but he didn’t give me what I’d call a hard time. I applauded him when he pushed the ball through my legs.’</div>
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Sid soon realised that Orient’s stay in Division One was going to be a short one. ‘The leap in quality was very noticeable,’ he says. ‘I felt straight away it was going to be too tough. The season before we’d fought a long, hard promotion battle, and the season before that was a long struggle against relegation. They took a lot out of certain players. We were well and truly knackered.’</div>
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He continues, ‘We’d lost a bit of that edge from the promotion season. It just drifted away. The players had a challenge in front of them: do they want to be a better players or don’t they? And what do they have to do to achieve it? I don’t think enough players took it into their heads to do that. In the end we were flogging a dead horse. We weren’t beating the teams we should have been.’</div>
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Even though Orient won four matches in September – including a famous victory over Manchester United – Sid still doubted the club could escape relegation. ‘I just couldn’t see it happening,’ he admits. </div>
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Sid does have some happier memories of the season, such as his goal in the 2–1 victory over Liverpool in May. He recalls, ‘I took it up from the back and did a push and run with Malcolm Musgrove. I was just outside the box and the goalkeeper was staring at me. I just walloped it and in it went. We didn’t have many moments like that. It was a shame.’</div>
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He says that his own form remained good throughout the season, and one of his regrets is that he didn’t have the chance to play at the highest level again. ‘I was on a learning curve. It was my first season in Division One. I’ve often looked back on it and thought I’d like to have improved even more.’</div>
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But Sid’s performances were getting him noticed. He remembers a cryptic conversation he had with Johnny Carey on the way home from an away game. ‘The train was passing through Manchester and Johnny turned to me and said, “Would you like to live up here, Sid?” I replied, “No, not really. I’m quite happy at Woodford Green.”’</div>
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Sid made a connection between this and an earlier chat he’d had with the short-lived Orient player Don Gibson, who was Manchester United manager Matt Busby’s son-in-law. ‘He told me that Busby had had three looks at me over the past few weeks, and that he’d be looking again at the weekend,’ says Sid. ‘So linking this up with what Johnny Carey said I assume there was a bit of interest from Manchester United.’</div>
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Sid appears remarkably non-plussed by the fact that he was potentially being courted by a team containing names like Bobby Charlton and George Best. It comes back to the stability he craved for his family. ‘I was just settling into a house a Woodford Green so I didn’t want to be selfish and say to Vera, look, we’re moving. She was in glory land – her mother was just down the road at Hackney Wick and we had a good life. She worked as a dressmaker, even once the kiddies came along – our second child, Denise, was born in May 1963. So if I’d have gone to Manchester I might have regretted it. I’d pushed so hard to get where I did and set up a good life for the family.’</div>
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Sid does admit to occasionally wondering what might have been if he had ended up at the northern club – or one of the others that were rumoured to be interested in him – but says, ‘There’s no use in regretting anything. I might have regretted not going there if I had a bad time at the Orient, but I didn’t. People-wise, I was with a good club; a happy club.’</div>
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There were also calls for him to be included in the England squad. And while Sid was never convinced that the national selectors even knew there was actually a football club in Leyton, he believes he could have acquitted himself with three lions on his shirt. ‘Big Jack Charlton was playing for England and while he was good in the air he needed to sharpen himself up a bit on the floor. Then there was Bobby Moore. He was a great player and good at reading the game but when it came to hard graft I can’t remember seeing a lot of Bobby. I was being looked at and noticed and was getting top marks in the paper every week. I couldn’t get any more consistent. I think if I’d done another season in Division One, or if I’d been playing for one of the bigger clubs, I’d have been straight into the international set up.’</div>
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It doesn’t appear to trouble Sid too much that he wasn’t. ‘I was just happy trying to play a good consistent game,’ he says.</div>
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After relegation – the team managed just 21 points – Orient began the next season of 1963–64 back in Division Two and, surprisingly, Sid claims there were no big ideas about bouncing straight back to the top flight. ‘I don’t remember a single conversation about it,’ he says emphatically. ‘There was no chance. We didn’t have enough strength in depth.’</div>
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The fact that by then Johnny Carey had left to take over at Nottingham Forest and was replaced by ex-Colchester United boss Benny Fenton was also significant. ‘To me he was laughable,’ Sid scoffs. ‘I thought, what can he do to save this club? Early on he came up and put his arm around me, Cyril Lea and Malcolm Lucas and said, “The team is going to be built around you three. You’re the kingpins.” I replied, “Well, these two want transfers and I’m retiring.”’</div>
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It seems strange that Sid was already thinking of hanging up his boots. He was only 29, he was fit and his performances were as good as ever. Even Sid himself struggles to explain it. ‘I’m not exactly sure why, but I think I was getting anxious about how I was going to provide for Vera and our two children. I didn’t want to be travelling all over the country living out of a bleedin’ suitcase. I wanted something stable. I thought I’d done enough at Orient and that I was too old to go to a really big club.’</div>
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Though Sid did play the entire 1963–64 season – a pretty unmemorable one in which Orient finished 16<sup>th</sup> in Division Two – he was committed to leaving. What he wanted before he said his goodbyes, however, was the chance to buy the club-owned house he and Vera had lived in since 1958. Sid recalls, with some anger: ‘I went to Harry Zussman’s office in Shoreditch and said, look, you can you have a couple more years out of me, can you let me buy the house? But he refused. I was disgusted. After all the time I’d been at the club, and the consistency I’d given them. Surely they could have respected me and helped me out? It wasn’t as if I’d clawed money from Orient.’</div>
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Worse still, in Sid’s eyes, was the fact that although he was allowed him to go part-time, Orient retained his registration so he was unable to move to another League club. ‘It was all about money,’ he says. ‘They didn’t want someone to come in and take me on a free transfer. They wanted a fee for me. But I thought, that’s it, I’m digging my heels in now, sod it. I wasn’t going to move.’</div>
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Sid actually stayed at the club as the 1964–65 season kicked in, and he made four appearances. In January 1965, after the sacking of Benny Fenton, Chelsea coach Dave Sexton took over as manager. Once an Orient player, he was a former teammate of Sid’s and looked upon his situation favourably. Sid explains, ‘Dave said to me, “What’s all this about you packing up?” I said, “I’ve had enough, Dave. I’m worried about the wife and the two kids now. I love this place but I’ve got to go.” Then he told me that I was free to leave. Just like that.’</div>
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It was a sad ending to an Orient career that spanned over 13 years – and the club’s refusal to let Sid buy the house in Woodford Green still rankles with him today. </div>
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Sid took a job as player-manager at Southern League outfit Hastings United but dismisses his year there as, ‘a ridiculous waste of time’. Boardroom politics – or ‘jiggery pokery’, as Sid puts it – sent him scuttling away to another non-league outfit, Guildford City. He remained there for 18 months, first as a player, then as caretaker-manager. </div>
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It was Sid’s curtain call as a footballer, for in 1968 he left to manage a pub in Leigh Park, Hampshire. A year later he relocated to Harlow, Essex, and ran another pub for 18 months before becoming a storeman at various local factories, a job he retained until he retired at 60. Aside from a couple of charity games, Sid never played football again. ‘It wasn’t in me,’ he says. ‘I was working hard. I only used to have a day and a half off. So it was unfair to the family to have a day of football.’</div>
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He did manage to squeeze in the odd game of cricket, and continued to turn out for a local Over–50s side until he was past 60 – despite the cigarettes.</div>
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Sid remains in the same house in Harlow which, after the death of Vera, he shares with his dog, Belle. He still gets to Brisbane Road a few times a season and those in earshot will always be well aware of Sid’s opinions on the current state of the club, football in general, the country… and so on! </div>
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Looking back, Sid is rightly proud of his playing career. ‘I think a brought a little bit of football at the back,’ he says. ‘Not just kick and bleedin’ rush stuff. People knew I liked to play a proper game.’</div>
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But over and above that it’s Sid’s family that most fills him with pride. ‘That was always the most important thing to me,’ he says. ‘And I’ve got a smashing family. I think that’s worth a lot of money. Being really happy.’</div>
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Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-27280109128255142002020-03-09T21:01:00.001+00:002020-03-10T18:56:59.635+00:00Leyton Orient 2 Cambridge United 1, 7/3/20<b>A game in which...</b> Orient did the footballing equivalent of a reformed 90s indie band who get a festival crowd going by playing all their early hits, then shoot themselves in the foot by announcing mid-set "Here's a new one we wrote..." thereby extinguishing all goodwill, before just about pulling it back again by finishing with one of the same early hits played for the second time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPjaljxD5cu5vmM-ThZWdNO5gW0L15tPvsOX4tr8m_4b1yNt2dW43mppCVY19f99SCa4-ipzynHXIPRGPN-Qdk1nM-cCZwRnxHoh73rpFyHxtasyVQzWClwdLbQk30fjzeTgl9VnSyrc8/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPjaljxD5cu5vmM-ThZWdNO5gW0L15tPvsOX4tr8m_4b1yNt2dW43mppCVY19f99SCa4-ipzynHXIPRGPN-Qdk1nM-cCZwRnxHoh73rpFyHxtasyVQzWClwdLbQk30fjzeTgl9VnSyrc8/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Look, what I'm saying here in this tortuous analogy – <i>obviously</i> – is that the Os were so dominant in the first 63 minutes that to then concede and find themselves hanging on at the death was rather pointlessly self-destructive. That said, what an impressive 63 minutes it was, where it almost appeared that Orient were a coherent football team. Well done.<br />
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<b>Moment of magic...</b> Orient's out-of-character first goal, in which James Brophy – a left back who's never knowingly made a tackle – executed a crunching interception, then Craig Clay – a box-to-box midfielder who's never knowingly run box to box – took the ball the length of the pitch to lay it off to Jordan Maguire-Drew – a man who's never knowingly passed a mirror without stopping to conduct a three-hour personal grooming regime – who then actually scored.<br />
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<b>Praise be...</b> So many candidates for praise today but let's start with Jobi McAnuff for an explosive return to the pitch, where in the space of 15 minutes he covered more distance, completed more passes and took more shots than he did during the entirety of his Becchetti-era spell at the club.<br />
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Next: Craig Clay. Incredibly, he's raised his level from last season. His level is now mid-to-lower table League Two midfielder. Respect.<br />
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Next: Danny Johnson. Now, it may be true that the striker has had absolutely no discernible impact on any game of football he's ever played in, other than scoring tap ins, but by God if you need someone to not miss too many open goals from six inches out then he's your man.<br />
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Next Laurence Vigouroux, whose personal motto appears to be: "Why do something the easy way, if instead you can do it with a load of shithousery thrown in." Remember, this is a man who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/sep/30/swindon-liverpool-lawrence-vigouroux-fine-1p-coins" target="_blank">once paid a £50 fine with 5,000 1p pieces</a>, a philosophy he brings admirably onto the football pitch.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUo94TKppeEFygc-H3eDP6LzLj8JX3pucn4U2NAtWXYMiHUV1fvFnXMDT4R6bQ-l1hNR34UewQX3Co-Km7wW-Axd5cZQ6q9MHCRfYaJTt6PF_0zj18mN4grTvtDr1lBLGUztAxNVBOILYK/s1600/CqegjUIWIAAwTys.jpg-large.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUo94TKppeEFygc-H3eDP6LzLj8JX3pucn4U2NAtWXYMiHUV1fvFnXMDT4R6bQ-l1hNR34UewQX3Co-Km7wW-Axd5cZQ6q9MHCRfYaJTt6PF_0zj18mN4grTvtDr1lBLGUztAxNVBOILYK/s320/CqegjUIWIAAwTys.jpg-large.jpeg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<b>In the dug out...</b> Say what you like about Ross Embleton's formations, selection or tactics, but his philosophy of playing half the team out of position finally paid dividends today and for that I salute him. And moreover, he did that without Dean Brill – off sick – by his side with a clipboard which meant no one knew who they supposed to be marking at corners.<br />
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<b>Meanwhile in the treatment room... </b><br />
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<i>Ross Embleton:</i> Sorry to hear you're injured Wrighty – shame you'll have to sit this one out<br />
<i>Josh Wright:</i> No, no gaffer – I can play, it's only my quad that's gone<br />
<i>RE:</i> Do you know what your quad is Wrighty?<br />
<i>JW:</i> Yep, it's the muscle that allows me to execute four varieties of sideways pass<br />
<i>RE:</i> What are the four varieties?<br />
<i>JW:</i> Short, quite short, very short and really short<br />
<i>RE:</i> So if you can't do that, what else do you think you'll contribute to the game?<br />
<i>JW: </i><br />
<i>RE:</i> You're back in next weekMatt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-87784780930618363182020-01-11T21:44:00.001+00:002020-01-11T21:44:05.496+00:00Leyton Orient 1 Grimsby Town 1, 11/1/20<b>A game which... </b>heralded the start of a bold new era for Leyton Orient, albeit one that differs from the previous era only by the fact Ross Embleton has blacked out the word "interim" on his business cards with a felt-tip pen.<br />
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So, same old, same old, with the new Orient paying homage to every single Orient team of the past by being mostly shit, then getting a bit of a head of steam up and nearly scoring, only to concede catastrophically before somehow rescuing a point.<br />
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But let's not be too harsh, hey, because even though the board have clearly given up on this season, the team haven't and put in a fair degree of effort for at least 20 minutes of the second half.<br />
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Converting pressure into goals might help, but Rome wasn't built in a day – indeed, if the Leyton Orient squad had been tasked with constructing the eternal city it would probably now resemble Stevenage.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheG-q600D64Dm3xBT03QZD3trE1c72FJC6vk3fhAKEt3LnWFN4AZ_Y41P3q1leEA9ukhIjq1PhnJauuDWfWvMkyyb-iOeousS0ZNwOpuZjiH68J8bS1rXfoP8b2sdyTtHtnGHNlxuaginX/s1600/rome.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheG-q600D64Dm3xBT03QZD3trE1c72FJC6vk3fhAKEt3LnWFN4AZ_Y41P3q1leEA9ukhIjq1PhnJauuDWfWvMkyyb-iOeousS0ZNwOpuZjiH68J8bS1rXfoP8b2sdyTtHtnGHNlxuaginX/s320/rome.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Moment of magic... </b>An outrageous bit of showboating by Conor Wilkinson in the second half when he weaved Lionel Messi-style in and out of probably at least 40 Grimsby players before collapsing to the ground in the penalty area dazzled by his own brilliance.<br />
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Jordan Maguire-Drew, of course, was hugely affronted by this blatant land grab for his title of Official Resident Showboater and immediately pulled off a defiant –if entirely pointless – succession of stepovers. Not to be outdone, James Brophy then attempted to dribble the width of the pitch – and I do mean width, not length – only to lose the ball, allowing Grimsby to score. Great work lads.<br />
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<b>Taxi for...</b> Josh Wright. Not because he was particularly bad – he never particularly is – but because he's in danger of joining the ranks of players such as Tom Newey, David Hunt, Tom Parkes and Andrew Cave-Brown who made numerous appearances for Orient with no discernible impact, good or bad. Let's call them The Forgettables. The type of players about whom, towards the end of a match, you wonder aloud as to their injury status, only to find they've been on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes.<br />
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<b>In the dug out... </b>A chance for head coach Ross Embleton to prove he was his own man and set himself apart from his predecessor interim head coach Ross Embleton. That meant leaving Lee Angol on his own up front trying to deliver flick ons to himself; Josh Coulson inexplicably returned to the side; and recent goal-scorer Ruel Soteriou without a part to play. As you were...<br />
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<b>Meanwhile, in the director of football's office... </b>"I'm 100% convinced Ross Embleton is the right man for the job," said director of football Martin Ling this week, which is why it only took him until January to appoint Ross even though he's been at the club for years. "Football is a results business," he went on, neatly explaining why he's backing a man whose record in League Two is played 23, lost 9, drew 8, won 6.<br />
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I jest, of course, and I'm hardly going to question Martin Ling's judgment just because in Steve Davis and Carl Fletcher he made the two worst appointments in managerial history, so to speak. Truth is, I'd also have given it to Ross who is the most decent bloke you're likely to come across in football and deserves a shot at this, even if the process by which we arrived there appeared to have the hidden hand of <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2017/06/the-heroes-and-villains-of-becchetti.html" target="_blank">Alessandro Angelieri</a> guiding it...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtInVoFIYMU5F_o0tBBaKgodDom2JpwMjorVUkvZYm1TN5QBaNaQzHoeackTakMQzEPYFktmlVwIAz4n2VTe3ZXe0Ixl3W_s17BobOJVx1kXK5eRtMTeBRoIvcdayiy2TrnVNwBBi_eUo/s1600/alessandro-angelieri-orient.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtInVoFIYMU5F_o0tBBaKgodDom2JpwMjorVUkvZYm1TN5QBaNaQzHoeackTakMQzEPYFktmlVwIAz4n2VTe3ZXe0Ixl3W_s17BobOJVx1kXK5eRtMTeBRoIvcdayiy2TrnVNwBBi_eUo/s320/alessandro-angelieri-orient.jpg" width="320" /></a>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-14113413199486708742019-11-10T22:15:00.000+00:002019-11-10T22:15:27.309+00:00FA Cup: Leyton Orient 1 Maldon & Tiptree 2, 10/11/19<b>A game which...</b> answered the question as to whether it was possible for there to be a worse Orient manager than <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2016/11/leyton-orient-1-blackpool-2-191116.html" target="_blank">Alberto Cavasin</a>. "Hold my beer" said Carl Fletcher as he somehow contrived to ensure his team lost to opponents four tiers beneath them in the pyramid – statistically the worst result in the club's history.<br />
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Except he didn't say "Hold my beer" did he? He said: "I've been working on passing my beer to someone all week, though if we knew why no one held it we'd all be millionaires wouldn't we?"<br />
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And it's not just that we lost. Shit happens. It's the fact that in the space of five games Fletcher appears to have rabbit-in-the-headlighted us from a team that seemed to be establishing themselves and holding their own in League Two to one catastrophically lacking in morale, motivation, organisation, tactics and ability. So to speak.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGyC2dcZYy9wK5Of4g7b4-7tFuBlJq79CJXTSP9WdRi5W-Uxg0yhv1QVnDpwiDMrH32dmX14bQ1MYZncjABqrHjvUgGCL34DYOU1338VnWgoz2lunF_qVBRrDe5gsOT3SnfPuY7oIlykm/s1600/Screenshot+2019-11-10+at+22.06.05.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGyC2dcZYy9wK5Of4g7b4-7tFuBlJq79CJXTSP9WdRi5W-Uxg0yhv1QVnDpwiDMrH32dmX14bQ1MYZncjABqrHjvUgGCL34DYOU1338VnWgoz2lunF_qVBRrDe5gsOT3SnfPuY7oIlykm/s320/Screenshot+2019-11-10+at+22.06.05.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Moment of magic...</b> All the moments of magic came from Maldon & Tiptree, who were superb and fully deserved their victory. And good luck to the Salty Jam Lads (I'm guessing that's their nickname, right?) in round two. Back to Orient, and curiously we did actually score a goal courtesy of substitute James Dayton who will now be fined his entire match fee for ignoring Fletcher's instruction to "stay in your own half Dayts, we've got Matty Harrold up front, he doesn't need any support".<br />
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<b>Taxi for... </b>Ooh, tough one this week. I'm going to go for... Carl Fletcher. It is possible that the new manager's first weeks at the club could have gone worse, but only if he inadvertently poisoned the entire squad with his welcome gift of homemade flapjacks; accidentally burnt the entire Breyer Group Stadium to the ground while frying an egg in the club kitchen; and re-signed Connor Essam.<br />
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Now, if I sift through all the clichés and nebulous blandisms in Fletcher's <a href="https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1190706826993553408?s=20" target="_blank">car-crash interviews</a> I think what he's trying to say is that he wants to the team to play in a certain way and that'll take time to work. That certain way appears to be lumping the ball to an isolated lone striker and hoping for the best. That could indeed take time to work. All of time.<br />
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No one wants to return to the managerial merry-go-round of the <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2017/06/the-heroes-and-villains-of-becchetti.html" target="_blank">Becchetti era</a>, and I do hope that the Fletchmeister, as no one will ever call him, turns it round. But I'll say this: so far it appears the manager is so far out of his depth that there are as-yet-undiscovered species of marine life swimming past him wondering how he hasn't exploded under the 16,000 psi of pressure typically found in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadal_zone" target="_blank">Hadalpelagic Zone</a> of the oceans. (Thanks Wikipedia.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFFsPrgXnxa5lFYHQsfGbIoMpLXfgeLjATzO2nPQwnE5GTeF5Q8dqpgdvPhLW_IWoCjh4Zlttif8Cbt_i_iMw1UbSJ_oiZ8qcCXIpyEt4sDvmY84P7Sl1t4FWRlfxpSmY5XchFfHZJubq/s1600/cw6tn8mDAproPTjdjqndFV.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFFsPrgXnxa5lFYHQsfGbIoMpLXfgeLjATzO2nPQwnE5GTeF5Q8dqpgdvPhLW_IWoCjh4Zlttif8Cbt_i_iMw1UbSJ_oiZ8qcCXIpyEt4sDvmY84P7Sl1t4FWRlfxpSmY5XchFfHZJubq/s320/cw6tn8mDAproPTjdjqndFV.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>In the director's box... </b>"Every time I looked at what we was looking for he ticked every box," <a href="https://twitter.com/e10_rifles/status/1193573191907782656" target="_blank">said Martin Ling</a> of his decision to hire Carl Fletcher. Which begs the question: what were the boxes? Was this perhaps the result of a catastrophic mix up of forms and in fact the former Bournemouth man was simply applying for a free ticket to the Plymouth game to scout Marvin Ekpiteta? Or perhaps an enthusiastic local teenager named Carl Flitcher had applied to be a ball boy and wires got crossed? Or perhaps the other 39 applicants were just really bad at ticking boxes and kept smudging the ink and stuff?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhQldkRMM3UaQ-nRaem1A7igyjUgh_Kklac2CPbGI7aHrtYphree1mde1_5Ug1Vt26B5CzkfhsTaqNE2vtfaRY_84HigHfaHLXdYTu4Y1DeOa89gCuGSYgde15k7bDWtbLo211MXP1SaS/s1600/Screenshot+2019-11-10+at+21.51.18.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhQldkRMM3UaQ-nRaem1A7igyjUgh_Kklac2CPbGI7aHrtYphree1mde1_5Ug1Vt26B5CzkfhsTaqNE2vtfaRY_84HigHfaHLXdYTu4Y1DeOa89gCuGSYgde15k7bDWtbLo211MXP1SaS/s320/Screenshot+2019-11-10+at+21.51.18.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Meanwhile in the press room...</b><br />
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<b>Media officer:</b> Right Fletch, you ready for your post-match interview?<br />
<b>Fletch: </b>Like I said, I've put in 110%. <br />
<b>Media officer:</b> You didn't say that, but fine - you're ready? <br />
<b>Fletch:</b> I take each interview as it comes. So to speak. <br />
<b>Media officer:</b> Fletch, you know it might be better if you used fewer clichés...<br />
<b>Fletch:</b> Like I said, a stitch in time saves nine.<br />
<b>Media officer: </b>Ok. Just try answering the questions honestly Fletch...<br />
<b>Fletch: </b>If we knew how to answer questions we'd all be millionaires and wouldn't be here.<br />
<b>Media officer: </b>You're thinking of the TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Fletch, rather than a post-match interview.<br />
<b>Fletch: </b>Depends how you look at it. So to speak.<br />
<b>Media officer:</b> Just get out there and try not to embarrass us too much.<br />
<b>Fletch:</b> Like I said, I'm just focused on the next interview.<br />
<b>Media officer:</b> No Fletch, you haven't done this one yet...<br />
<b>Fletch:</b> A good interview is better than a bad one, but a bad one is worse than an ok one.<br />
<b>Media officer: 😐</b>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-64517235676165789132019-10-13T22:16:00.002+01:002019-10-13T22:16:16.086+01:00Leyton Orient 3 Walsall 1, 12/10/19<b>A game in which... </b>Joe Widdowson scored. Take that in for a moment and spare a thought for Eliud Kipchoge who, just hours earlier, became <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/12/sport/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-vienna-intl/index.html" target="_blank">the first human to run a sub two-hour marathon</a> only to find that by teatime his feat was only the second greatest sporting achievement of the day.<br />
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But wait, there's more: Joe Widdowson scored the goal – his first since 2009 BC – with his<i> right foot</i>. Remember, the defender is so left-footed that he rarely even bothers booting up his right, preferring to take to the field wearing a single novelty Spiderman slipper he received for Christmas a few years back. Occasionally he simply leaves his right foot with kit man Ada for safe keeping.<br />
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And so, in scoring a right-footed screamer, Widdowson's achievement transcends that of sporting endeavour and sits proudly alongside man's first landing on the moon; the mapping of the human genome; the development of vaccines; and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.<br />
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From an Orient perspective the sheer euphoria of the goal propelled them to perhaps their most convincing 45 minutes of football this season, scoring twice more in the second half and cruising to victory. And there was only the one catastrophic defensive calamity too, which is progress.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaH9s8SpOt_KODXdGtlhAw6CUTaZX558ZCpcEV9e-waTzATkOinWzbAZaOPC5nqEdlaLoeUozgRtrctfsADx-B6nY0tJuG9ZWz8NjZ0Vvrpwvb_IpNIqKP4wHBJPm3FdmvQ_zP8nfTjLiY/s1600/1*LlApAvpPD-lMg9PKByY4wg.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaH9s8SpOt_KODXdGtlhAw6CUTaZX558ZCpcEV9e-waTzATkOinWzbAZaOPC5nqEdlaLoeUozgRtrctfsADx-B6nY0tJuG9ZWz8NjZ0Vvrpwvb_IpNIqKP4wHBJPm3FdmvQ_zP8nfTjLiY/s320/1*LlApAvpPD-lMg9PKByY4wg.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Moment of magic... </b>Widdowson aside there was also the fortifying sight of Matt Harrold scoring his first career goal that wasn't either a header or a tap-in during a last-minute scramble in the six-yard box. And thank the Lord that when Craig Clay was put through on goal by a Walsall mix up he had enough time to remember he couldn't shoot for toffee himself and therefore the good sense to square the ball to his ginger-headed team mate. Tidy finish it was too from Harrold, who is likely to lead the line for the next three games thanks to Conor Wilkinson's attempt at strangling an opponent to death.<br />
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<b>Taxi for...</b> James Alabi. And I mean that in the kindest and most literal sense: Alabi would have needed a taxi home after expending so much energy chasing down lost causes in his first three minutes on the pitch that he was subsequently unable to even drag one foot in front of the other. This was unfortunate as in his fourth minute on the pitch he was actually played through on goal and could do nothing more huff to a bewildered stand still. Which is a shame as he would almost definitely had scored had he made it anywhere near the goal. Right?<br />
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<b>In the dug out... </b>It's incredible to witness how simply removing the title "interim head coach" from Ross Embleton has liberated him into making sensible footballing decisions like not playing five at the back and dropping Sam Ling. Yes, yes I know he's injured, don't write in. Credit to Ross though, he seems to have got the team into something of a groove, just about in time for a new manager to come in and rip it all up again.<br />
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<b>In the bars... </b>On Friday night fans of the recently introduced O's Lager – all zero of them – were left shell-shocked when it was announced that <a href="https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1182708380412141570" target="_blank">the lukewarm dishwater was to be replaced</a> in the bars around the stadium. By what, though? Well, <a href="https://twitter.com/dannymacca81/status/1182716176465645568?s=20" target="_blank">the logic from CEO Danny Macklin</a> appears to be that since it would be impossible to find a lager universally liked by all Orient fans it was safer to opt for two that are universally despised, namely Budweiser and Coors Light. The last word, however, went to the club's social media manager who cheekily chose to celebrate victory on the official Twitter feed with <a href="https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1183048500491231232" target="_blank">the off-brand message</a> "If Carlsberg did second-halves..." I say "last word" because he's now been fired.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4k7-wrNdNT83QMohqHTt4ow06Ttz0hXUaWBGafVwbaoJIt2y_XPuwU7SgWNwPCIvj6SaKbjyIJ_KVilESBSzSycN8Vh3uDY2NzMH_h5c7anAkvW3MSiET_dlr089eVF-xGqcaHzlxKsC/s1600/Alcohol_Causes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4k7-wrNdNT83QMohqHTt4ow06Ttz0hXUaWBGafVwbaoJIt2y_XPuwU7SgWNwPCIvj6SaKbjyIJ_KVilESBSzSycN8Vh3uDY2NzMH_h5c7anAkvW3MSiET_dlr089eVF-xGqcaHzlxKsC/s320/Alcohol_Causes.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Meanwhile in the Director of Football's office... </b><br />
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<b>Kent Teague:</b> Hi Martin, what's up?<br />
<b>Martin Ling:</b> Not much<br />
<b>KT: </b>Just wondering how the search for a new manager was coming on Martin<br />
<b>ML:</b> It take time to read 40-plus application forms Kent<br />
<b>KT: </b>Right, I estimate it would take about four or five hours. It's been three weeks<br />
<b>ML:</b> I also have to cross-check them on Wikipedia<br />
<b>KT: </b>Ok, but again that's probably another three or four hours' work...<br />
<b>ML:</b> And I've been on the phone to Colin Calderwood<br />
<b>KT:</b> Great! What about?<br />
<b>ML:</b> Oh nothing, just saying hi really<br />
<b>KT: </b>Martin...<br />
<b>ML:</b> Yes?<br />
<b>KT:</b> Have you lost the application forms?<br />
<b>ML:</b><br />
<b>KT:</b> Martin?<br />
<b>ML:</b> I think they're definitely somewhere... Sorry. I heard Ryan Jarvis has got his coaching badges. No?Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-37521747904986300822019-09-30T19:34:00.000+01:002019-10-01T10:24:36.046+01:00Leyton Orient 3 Port Vale 3, 28/9/19<b>A game which...</b> began with a miracle right up there with feeding the five thousand, the raising of Lazarus and the 1848 apparition of the Lady of Lourdes: namely that Port Vale's defence appeared to be actually <i>worse</i> than ours. "Hold our beers" said the Orient back five as they set about undoing this celestial aberration by conceding two typically calamitous goals and ensuring the team went into the break 2-1 down.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6hzjx2OmTETPVPLSlr5cfQyDMJXlYBEOQWOylVAD3a05GGm1bgWTR-3uiI4P1BmEkCaKYFPOQELfFiwT52TGnDT3D4lsx6PQhlgxOIwC33n6kPJPdtGj2vSWQMXmtTg9a5IeStqeKSk5/s1600/5-Loaves-and-2-Fish-Jesus-Feeds-the-5000.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6hzjx2OmTETPVPLSlr5cfQyDMJXlYBEOQWOylVAD3a05GGm1bgWTR-3uiI4P1BmEkCaKYFPOQELfFiwT52TGnDT3D4lsx6PQhlgxOIwC33n6kPJPdtGj2vSWQMXmtTg9a5IeStqeKSk5/s320/5-Loaves-and-2-Fish-Jesus-Feeds-the-5000.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Something was clearly said at half-time, that something being "Get in the shower Ekpiteta you donkey, you're off" and the Os reverted to 4-4-2 and some semblance of balance. Well, at least Port Vale weren't getting in behind our "wing backs" – and, yes I am making quotation marks in the air right now with a sarcastic look on my face – quite as often.<br />
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There was also a lot more attacking intent and impetus, which is nice to see – well done – not least because it's now clear that we're going to need to score at least three goals to even get a point in every game from here on...<br />
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<b>Moment of magic... </b>An absolute banger of a goal from Conor Wilkinson who I might have <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2019/09/leyton-orient-1-crewe-alexandra-2-17919.html" target="_blank">accidentally said had no end product last week</a>. In fact the former Dagenham and Redbridge man is showing increasing evidence that he might actually be quite good, also setting up the O's opener with a delightfully-placed cross. He needs to be careful though: if he starts to put in a decent shift <i>and</i> score a lot of goals then a large proportion of Orient fans will demand that he is dropped, as is our quaint tradition.<br />
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<b>Praise be... </b>Did you see Josh Wright's attempted bicycle kick in the second half? Well, I say bicycle but perhaps broken scooter doused in petrol then set ablaze and thrown into a canal might better describe his affront to the art of acrobatic goal attempts. Aside from that a good day's work – two goals and a few telling interventions – from the Essex Exocet, as he's known to no one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYRBzBmvfDcHuV4_st_pm_FDPAgV3ivoyZdyk9dGNT2lk5tnrHcaiheQMVs5ZxryCq6TuzQgX_XtHbVriiHhji9qGuO9IfW_kzfv_RuCQ4IkxFk9E8WeANgP7r3JC0oI1RNEkblnuwcsi/s1600/2c29e965-50b7-4152-8287-040acdf582f1-PoseidonSwimChallenge_KW_026.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYRBzBmvfDcHuV4_st_pm_FDPAgV3ivoyZdyk9dGNT2lk5tnrHcaiheQMVs5ZxryCq6TuzQgX_XtHbVriiHhji9qGuO9IfW_kzfv_RuCQ4IkxFk9E8WeANgP7r3JC0oI1RNEkblnuwcsi/s320/2c29e965-50b7-4152-8287-040acdf582f1-PoseidonSwimChallenge_KW_026.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Taxi for... </b>Craig Clay. And I obviously write this with great regret because I put my heart and soul into supporting that guy last season and didn't even slag him off once apart from one time at the start of the campaign when I <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2018/08/leyton-orient-2-barrow-afc-2-11818.html" target="_blank">made him the punchline of a cheap joke about Charlie Lee</a>. So let's try to be calm and balanced about his display against Port Vale and simply say it was the worst performance by any sportsperson in any sport in all of time.<br />
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<b>In the dugout... </b>The crowd sung Ross Embleton's name at the conclusion of the game, which is some achievement since it's a name syllably-inconsistent with most traditional football chants. No matter: Ross deserves it for taking on a role he never aspired to at a time of great emotional distress for the club. He is a man of dignity, integrity and total professionalism and should continue to command the highest respect among our fans. That said, employing the failed 5-3-2 formation again – what a twat.<br />
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<b>Are we going to be relegated? </b>Well, let me put it this way: has a team that concedes at least two goals every game ever stayed up? I have literally no idea what the answer to that is so feel free to hit me up with some stats if you're Neilson Kaufman. I should say that there was enough in the second half to give me faith we'll avoid the drop: Conor Wilkinson's increasing influence; George Marsh's maturity in midfield; Jordan Maguire-Drew's peach of a cross for the last-minute equaliser; and Matt Harrold's all-round gingerness. It's going to be a bumpy ride though, isn't it?<br />
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<b>Meanwhile on Soccer A.M.... </b><br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4d_CFT42PK3HdTPNOQdmbuM2bSMcbgA9TMw72A_6d-vT00hZFXbayCZLm9MBfIbm9EEd6jfd_ev9T3ZUptLKUXKsWSvHXDIZUJ0HDdlx7henFt8zPLGM5sAC4StMTl6JhyphenhyphenuZDhaNCAoDs/s1600/Screenshot+2019-09-30+at+17.57.17.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4d_CFT42PK3HdTPNOQdmbuM2bSMcbgA9TMw72A_6d-vT00hZFXbayCZLm9MBfIbm9EEd6jfd_ev9T3ZUptLKUXKsWSvHXDIZUJ0HDdlx7henFt8zPLGM5sAC4StMTl6JhyphenhyphenuZDhaNCAoDs/s320/Screenshot+2019-09-30+at+17.57.17.png" width="320" /></a></b><br />
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<b>Ross Embleton: </b>Right lads, we're on You Know The Drill this week. We need two volunteers - first come first served. Who's up for showing what skilled players we have at the club?<br />
<b>Conor Wilkinson</b>: I'm in gaffer!<br />
<b>RE:</b> Nice one Sargent Wilko. Anyone else?<br />
<b>James Alabi</b>: Me too gaffer!<br />
<b>RE:</b> .... ... ... ... Anyone else?<br />
<b>JA:</b> You said first come first served<br />
<b>RE: </b>I think I said we'd draw names out of a hat<br />
<b>JA:</b> No, you said first come first served gaffer. It was like three seconds ago. <br />
<b>RE: </b>You know it's a shooting drill James?<br />
<b>JA:</b> My speciality!<br />
<b>RE: </b><br />
<b>JA: </b>I mean my speciality compared to say goalkeeping or embroidery <br />
<b>RE:</b> Just try not to embarrass us James<br />
<b>JA:</b> Message received and understood gaffer...<br />
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Watch what happened here: <a href="https://twitter.com/SoccerAM/status/1178248766626902022" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/SoccerAM/status/1178248766626902022 </a><br />
<br />Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-86955824937267806432019-09-18T21:25:00.002+01:002019-09-18T22:20:36.711+01:00Leyton Orient 1 Crewe Alexandra 2, 17/9/19<b>A game in which... </b>after six consecutive seasons of either boom or bust, Orient returned to their normal resting state of being mildly shit. This means that anyone who began supporting the team post-2012/13 will now be experiencing a sickening realisation akin to Charlton Heston discovering that the Planet of The Apes <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvuM3DjvYf0" target="_blank">was actually Earth</a>; Keanu Reeves uncovering that humans were being <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX3qLIwHoUo" target="_blank">farmed for energy</a> by a race of artificially intelligent beings in The Matrix; and fans of Milli Vanilli receiving the news that Fab and Rob <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGJMi2C3Tng" target="_blank">didn't actually sing</a> on their own records.<br />
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Yeah, don't come here expecting any contemporary cultural references, right? Otherwise I'd have used the shattering revelation that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uwTtzQVP_0" target="_blank">Drake doesn't write his own raps</a>. I digress: my point is that fans longer in tooth will have felt the warm glow of familiarity in seeing Orient fail to trouble an opposition goalkeeper for 90 minutes; give away sloppy goals; huff and puff a bit to no discernible effect; and make all the wrong substitutions at the wrong time. In other words business as usual for the years 1881 to 2012 with only a handful of exceptions. Welcome back Orient, we've missed you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFDBTfvcTRV6NJmgf39u4CrVzCXlGQce_9jtXwAY50Jf_rQUNsf9xBlohiDrb_fKqzQjVshktoDbClgbGxMMVQDvH1F5iAJDe_NaFPK6qnapMOrgVbuhTjDFxuDZVnTo-xohPpsjn3cpF/s1600/the_matrix_human_batteries.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFDBTfvcTRV6NJmgf39u4CrVzCXlGQce_9jtXwAY50Jf_rQUNsf9xBlohiDrb_fKqzQjVshktoDbClgbGxMMVQDvH1F5iAJDe_NaFPK6qnapMOrgVbuhTjDFxuDZVnTo-xohPpsjn3cpF/s320/the_matrix_human_batteries.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Moment of magic... </b>A penalty! Rejoice. Oh hang on, Angol's gone off injured. Shit. And some bloke who made it as far as the judges' houses in the 2013 series of The X Factor has wandered onto the pitch to take it. Oh, he's missed...<br />
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I mean, to be fair Dale Gorman – sensing the impending catastrophe – did initially try to take the ball off Jordan Maguire-Drew, but the winger stuffed it up his shirt to prevent him doing so. Either that or Maguire-Drew was reprising his hilarious training ground skit – "Look lads I'm <i>pregnant</i>! Did you hear that - <i>pregnant</i>!! Hahahahaha!!" – which at least two of his team mates found mildly diverting the first time, less so the 57th. Whatever – he must never ever take a spot kick again.<br />
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<b>Praise be...</b> Hilariously the sponsors – clearly well into their seventh bottle of Echo Falls by this point – gave man of the match to Conor Wilkinson. So let's go along with that for a laugh shall we? Conor Wilkinson has tidy feet, no one can deny that. Equally he worked industriously in the final third of the pitch, winning a few headers and holding on to the ball, all of which amounted to literally nothing. Zilch. Diddly squat. No end product whatsoever. He's the footballing equivalent of a master civil engineer who spends years painstaking designing a bridge to traverse a ravine, only to accidentally leave a gaping hole in the middle, yelling madly "EVERYTHING WORKS FINE APART FROM ALL THE PEOPLE FALLING TO THEIR DEATHS!" <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLswHfzejvdEia-kTj4-_0Z73fLnqivstReY1ZSAOQ5TUg7jkha4yPT_RC8D8p2mjPfT51d2s2LYHicG4VQlhJGDJRqe-S-PCcIYi3Bdozxh2HT4Z4c03f4A3WYdmtPGC5WPiYWVFZo-6R/s1600/VIC-FALLS-3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLswHfzejvdEia-kTj4-_0Z73fLnqivstReY1ZSAOQ5TUg7jkha4yPT_RC8D8p2mjPfT51d2s2LYHicG4VQlhJGDJRqe-S-PCcIYi3Bdozxh2HT4Z4c03f4A3WYdmtPGC5WPiYWVFZo-6R/s320/VIC-FALLS-3.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Taxi for... </b>Let's get back to Jordan Maguire-Drew shall we? I mean, there's no denying he has hair and tattoos. I would also back him to casually chip the keeper and score if ever gifted the ball by an opposition defender, as was the case in this game. Unfortunately we can also rely on "The Magpie" (is that his nickname? Let's agree it is) to repeatedly give the ball away in dangerous areas and generally arse around to little effect for much of the game. Let's give him the benefit of doubt and call him an "enigma" for the moment though, ok?<br />
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<b>In the dug out...</b> Well, you have to feel for Ross Embleton when he thinks to himself "I need to change things up here" only to turn around and see James Alabi looking up at him with the expectant eyes of yapping cocker spaniel. Mind you, Embleton was probably the idiot who removed him from the transfer list so what goes around comes around. Still, calling for his head is ludicrous. I might be old-fashioned, but I'd rather give a new manager more than nine games to prove his mettle. He can have ten.<br />
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<b>Are we going to be relegated?</b> I refer you to my earlier point: we are mildly shit, which means we'll likely spend most of the season mathematically in danger of relegation but probably just keep above the danger zone by virtue of inexplicably against-the-run-of-form victories against northern teams away from home. It is probably also fair to say that a number of our players have yet to fully adjust to League Two, but let's not have them summarily executed just yet, hey? We must restrict ourselves only to the more courageous activity of being sarcastic about them on blogs and social media.<br />
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<b>Meanwhile in the Orient programme... </b><br />
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<i>Editor</i>: Hey Jordan, we need a recipe from you for Tuesday's edition.<br />
<i>Jordan</i>: My recipe is to score lots of goals hahahaha!<br />
<i>Editor</i>: Right. I'm going to need an actual recipe.<br />
<i>Jordan</i>: Sorry.<br />
<i>Editor</i>: What's your favourite meal?<br />
<i>Jordan</i>: I eat defenders for breakfast hahahahaha!<br />
<i>Editor</i>: Yeah, again, I need an actual meal.<br />
<i>Jordan</i>: Sorry. It's steak and eggs.<br />
<i>Editor</i>: Do you know how to cook steak and eggs?<br />
<i>Jordan</i>: Yes! You cook the steak and then cook the eggs.<br />
<i>Editor</i>: But how?<br />
<i>Jordan</i>: ... could you write that bit?Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-87239404280040614812019-08-05T21:40:00.001+01:002019-08-05T22:08:44.192+01:00Leyton Orient 1 Cheltenham Town 0, 3/8/19<b>A game which...</b> was always going to be a difficult one for players and fans, imbued as it was with the tragedy of Justin Edinburgh's death in the summer. The club is still reeling from the loss of not just a great manager, but a great man.<br />
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We can take some solace in the legacy he leaves behind, not least the fact he built a squad that knows how to win football matches – or at least not lose them that often. So despite the high emotions, the opening game pressure and a resolute Cheltenham side, win they did. And the fact we had to endure a nervy final 10 minutes clinging on to a one-goal lead against nine men was evidence that despite everything, Orient will always still be Orient. I mean for fuck's sake...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfjQrbwHM28tjoRlzl1i2kF3zH2dCaWhgBVLwedp5P5EGkDWSrVPtETlzm_ZB3HhgnDBergzxBbsUfUpMsNni6Imy7vSzoQRA3MR6PrJ0AeRYDhoyKKxet9B-OoA2qplNwTlsJxWLuKXAp/s1600/leytonorient0308.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfjQrbwHM28tjoRlzl1i2kF3zH2dCaWhgBVLwedp5P5EGkDWSrVPtETlzm_ZB3HhgnDBergzxBbsUfUpMsNni6Imy7vSzoQRA3MR6PrJ0AeRYDhoyKKxet9B-OoA2qplNwTlsJxWLuKXAp/s320/leytonorient0308.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Moment of magic...</b> The pre-game tribute in which Cheltenham fans revealed the banner they'd created in honour of Justin Edinburgh and donated a collection to the <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/justinedinburgh3" target="_blank">Justin Edinburgh Foundation</a>. Absolute respect for that: Edinburgh had no particular connection with the Robins – this was just a moving example of the football family coming together. That said, I'll still never forgive them for selling us JJ Melligan. <br />
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<b>Praise be...</b> There are many things to admire about Josh Wright: for example, his tousled hair, chiselled jaw, strong cheekbones and dreamy eyes. But he's not only in the team for his boy band good looks, he's also there to scrappily put away bobbling loose balls in the area, as he duly did for Orient's winning goal. And as a close friend of the Edinburgh family and Justin's last signing it was only fitting that he did so. Near brought a tear to my eye. Did I mention the boy band good looks?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6L6Dt4ZNONfVmJAeI09Zk945d6Xnaa4D1WZjAdLa_dWov48055uM51KIYgzZ6EMgZRSb3b0FXfH4ycRQ5bl-qewmWyhr8tBijXbrMXgDAf3qUkgjUtiFXaqHdbsjbdw_1baFzT1YIPC3p/s1600/8b5f9c5477ff4c6d8adb00cf67c07539.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6L6Dt4ZNONfVmJAeI09Zk945d6Xnaa4D1WZjAdLa_dWov48055uM51KIYgzZ6EMgZRSb3b0FXfH4ycRQ5bl-qewmWyhr8tBijXbrMXgDAf3qUkgjUtiFXaqHdbsjbdw_1baFzT1YIPC3p/s400/8b5f9c5477ff4c6d8adb00cf67c07539.jpeg" /></a><br />
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<b>Are we any good?</b> Let's reserve judgement on that, for it was inevitable that this would be a jittery start to the campaign. Some promising signs, but the Os need a bit more time to gel – not unlike Jordan Maguire-Drew, whose floppy fringe could have done with more attention to its shape and body.<br />
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<b>In the dugout...</b> Ross Embleton looked to stamp his authority on the squad early doors by dropping Joe Widdowson on account of him having his hair cut. "I've read chapter 16 of Book of Judges in the Old Testament," the gaffer explained after checking Wikipedia. "Samson was never quite the force at left back once he'd lost his locks." Yes, yes, I know he was injured. Don't write in. Aside from that it was pretty much business as usual, with the Os lining up in the familiar 5-3-2 (or 3-5-2 depending on whether James Brophy is bothering to do any defending).<br />
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<b>Meanwhile in the club pressroom: </b><br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxvf-wNu7FJz_tahN5mXzSig29HFeLaBmFYIg_RY18Vg-6Z9fIWVxni1gW1GmN7bGDzJIeAuaFcmhT6rhnY06QVvxv1VBGjTm_kgk4x8hsAM0HTpnJQDGVa9DY8gOV5PNof4Kl58i_t7Y/s1600/Screenshot+2019-08-05+at+21.24.59.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxvf-wNu7FJz_tahN5mXzSig29HFeLaBmFYIg_RY18Vg-6Z9fIWVxni1gW1GmN7bGDzJIeAuaFcmhT6rhnY06QVvxv1VBGjTm_kgk4x8hsAM0HTpnJQDGVa9DY8gOV5PNof4Kl58i_t7Y/s320/Screenshot+2019-08-05+at+21.24.59.png" width="298" /></a></b><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1157339527171588097">https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1157339527171588097</a><br />
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<i>Press officer:</i> Right James, as you know we make a gif of every player doing a celebration and post it on Twitter when they score<br />
<i>James Alabi: </i>Great, so you won't need me for a bit then?<br />
<i>PO:</i> We like to cover all eventualities. We've done one for Arthur Janata too.<br />
<i>JA: </i>Then count me in!<br />
<i>PO: </i>Great: one, two, three, four...<br />
<i>JA: </i><br />
<i>PO: </i>James?<br />
<i>JA: </i>Sorry, I meant count me in as in "Let's do this!"<br />
<i>PO: </i>Right. Are you ready now?<br />
<i>JA: </i>LET'S DO THIS! [rips shirt off]<br />
<i>PO: </i>You have to pay for the shirt.<br />
<i>JA: </i>Do I have to pay if I do it in a match too?<br />
<i>PO:</i> Let's not worry about that for the moment James...Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-31344541879610976422019-05-21T17:33:00.000+01:002019-05-21T17:43:34.675+01:00FA Trophy Final: Leyton Orient 0 AFC Fylde 1, 19/5/19<b>A game in which...</b> the Orient players staggered onto the pitch ravaged physically, mentally and emotionally by the demands of a three-week post-promotion bender. Just hours before kick off Dean Brill was wearing nothing but body paint and glitter as he danced at a Full Moon party on Koh Pha-ngan beach; Craig Clay was in the 56th hour of a psychotropic experience with local shamans in the jungles of Bolivia; Matt Harrold was lying face-down in a pool of his own bodily fluids in a Berlin crack den; and James Brophy was stumbling up and down Leyton High Road with a bottle of blue WKD and a half-eaten kebab wondering where everyone else had gone.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1PJip4pi8CWHTm_jOqNHPuLWKSvUc-bLDvgBNpxtpBjug3KxGE4_2_qh48rbrKbpps6WHcyz_sEOg2dYyK4Uaotsbbl3WQuNYZ0a7U1dng8LGLF54DOGxC6axMTmvwHMmbMtocF7Ux6u/s1600/full-moon-party-phuket.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1PJip4pi8CWHTm_jOqNHPuLWKSvUc-bLDvgBNpxtpBjug3KxGE4_2_qh48rbrKbpps6WHcyz_sEOg2dYyK4Uaotsbbl3WQuNYZ0a7U1dng8LGLF54DOGxC6axMTmvwHMmbMtocF7Ux6u/s320/full-moon-party-phuket.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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AFC Fylde, predictably, took advantage and created almost a million chances in the first half, though curiously failed to convert any of them. Their second-half goal was enough to clinch it for them, however, despite the Orient team somehow finding hitherto unknown reserves of strength to mount some sort of fight back. Hey ho.<br />
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<b>Moment of magic...</b> Do you remember that time Joe Widdowson nearly scored a goal? That's right, it was <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2019/04/leyton-orient-0-braintree-town-0-27419.html" target="_blank">against Braintree</a> just a matter of weeks ago. I mean, when I say "nearly" obviously I mean "was on a football pitch during a game in which it was not theoretically impossible that he could be the last object a ball connected with before crossing the goal line". Funny thing is, Joe actually nearly scored a goal at Wembley. Read that again and question every facet of your entire existence. He even hit the post. Somewhere in an alternate universe Joe Widdowson is banging in 25 a season, surely?<br />
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<b>Praise be... </b>So when I mentioned that Orient mounted some sort of fight back in the second half, what I should have said was simply "Jordan Maguire-Drew came on" for the winger single-handedly took on all team responsibilities – including defending, attacking, goal-keeping, tactics, hydration and physiotherapy – for the entire 45 minutes. He hit the post too, goddammit, with a cheeky free kick. <br />
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<b>Taxi for... </b>Wembley. And Orient's "Wembley curse". We've now played there probably 30 or 40 times (*checks*: ok, it's three) and lost on every occasion. With that and the stadium's outrageous policy of charging the same price for beer as a London pub and <a href="http://www.wembleystadium.com/news/2018/sep/07/wembley-restricted-bag-policy" target="_blank">refusing to allow anyone other than origami experts to bring bags in</a>, it all amounted to a terrible day out for Os fans. And when I say fans I actually mean only the "<a href="https://www.onefootballforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/leyton-orient-up-for-sale-again.5630/page-19" target="_blank">magnificent" seven people who were sent a text message by Alan Bowers</a> during his failed takeover bid of the club. The rest of us 24,000 part-timers who haven't been to every single game since 1881 deserved everything we got.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibykRgnZ6AsWAX3DE4_UQY2v1wIjZUPbAkleDVoSxq8mUv5mrK8bvPyAYp47Q0eF3OjV5JbTxBv3griBChUuzq2xPndRJwHQGsALJP7m6CefCPV72hpjK5pVZbRS-d1ah8mPUphCi5yx9s/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-05-21+at+10.29.48.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibykRgnZ6AsWAX3DE4_UQY2v1wIjZUPbAkleDVoSxq8mUv5mrK8bvPyAYp47Q0eF3OjV5JbTxBv3griBChUuzq2xPndRJwHQGsALJP7m6CefCPV72hpjK5pVZbRS-d1ah8mPUphCi5yx9s/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-05-21+at+10.29.48.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>And so what does this result tell us about next season? </b>Well, fan opinion seems to be divided between "WE'RE DEFINITELY GOING TO BE RELEGATED" and "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE GOING TO BE RELEGATED I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU" so it's good to see that promotion and a day out at Wembley haven't stifled healthy debate. Personally I'm torn between the result telling us either nothing, nada or fuck all.<br />
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<b>And a word for those departing... </b>Shame about Alex Lawless since I never got to describe an unblemished performance of his as "flawless", but in all seriousness he never let us down and had a beard. Good vibes to Jay Simpson and Charlie Grainger too, and let's not forget that Orient were <a href="https://www.whoscored.com/Players/126234/Fixtures/James-Alabi" target="_blank">unbeaten in 23 of the 26 games in which James Alabi featured</a>. Hashtag impact.<br />
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But let's leave the last word for Charlie Lee. Whatever happens next season, we now won't be singing "We all love Charlie" except in the event we sign another player called Charlie who we love, which could happen. If not any popular player named Blow, Dust, Line, Rail, Snow, Stash, Pearl, Bump, Flake, Toot, Yeyo, Prince Charles or Colombian Marching Powder would allow us to keep the double entendre going. Over to you Martin Ling...Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-66943063662624517972019-04-29T22:58:00.002+01:002019-04-30T09:33:28.335+01:00Leyton Orient 0 Braintree Town 0, 27/4/19<b>A game in which...</b> Orient won the league. Read that again and weep actual tears, for this is only the third time that's happened in our 138-year history and comes just two years after an Italian psychopath <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2017/03/an-open-letter-to-francisco-becchetti.html" target="_blank">nearly poisoned the club out of existence</a> through a deadly mix of megalomania, spite and Valpolicella.<br />
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Sink down to your knees and praise the Lord, then, for this gutsy, determined and talented group of players, who have taken us back to the holy land of League Two and the sunny uplands of Morecombe, Crawley and Stevenage (pictured below).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yfLZOwB1KZHQB4zlusRegw6aZbDqERBH6GBj6vLqx7y-QbmhREkyAXPFhANTayZdbxqQ69K36rRUvk7LbU0hzIf6qYvM2siLNL2b115jYFdx9tqfWZJE7vFhP3rJWWId3uUqrZb6UJS4/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yfLZOwB1KZHQB4zlusRegw6aZbDqERBH6GBj6vLqx7y-QbmhREkyAXPFhANTayZdbxqQ69K36rRUvk7LbU0hzIf6qYvM2siLNL2b115jYFdx9tqfWZJE7vFhP3rJWWId3uUqrZb6UJS4/s320/image.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Greater glories would surely await a team of this calibre were it to stay together, though other better-resourced clubs are already coveting our jewels. For now then let's just enjoy the heady glow of success in a season with so many magical moments.<br />
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That said, failing to beat an already-relegated bunch of part-timers from Essex at Brisbane Road in the final game – absolute disgrace.<br />
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<b>Moment of magic... </b>The moment, of course, that the referee's final whistle <a href="https://twitter.com/MattyLOFCEvans/status/1122197620141830144" target="_blank">signalled that the title was ours</a> – although the South Stand had recklessly thrown caution to the wind 15 minutes earlier by singing "campeones" even though it was still possible for Salford to come from behind to win and Orient to concede five goals.<br />
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That didn't happen, despite many of the most weathered fans believing that it would be "typical Orient" to somehow blow our chance of taking the honours right at the death. What utter nonsense from these doomsayers. It would actually be far more "typical Orient" to get relegated again the next season then spend the next 15 years in the National League.<br />
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<b>Praise be... </b>It looked very much like Joe Widdowson might score the first goal of his entire career in this match – or at least it would have looked like that to anyone who hasn't previously seen Joe Widdowson play. (Which, given the 8,000+ attendance was presumably quite a lot of fucking part-time glory hunters who weren't even there when we won the Third Division South in 1956.)<br />
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Anyway, when Macauley Bonne ill-advisedly slipped Widdowson clean through on goal the left back ran and ran and ran like a frizzy-haired Forrest Gump before hitting an immovable object many, many hours before he presumably intended to finally get a shot off. Joe will never, ever score a goal, but boy what a great season he's had.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1ATIkHXdSdUaDpzYKpz2-yIDF1uKuiAU4fOxINPOnTpOexn2rf5R8jBl2OOKakJmBowiRWrRQqzBZcPnaPqUIn_H0aEFPEIkTXn3syXQOnWGNbBIY84_yjUoW-3IKw0CKZIVHI6ZZr5x/s1600/Forrest-Gump-large.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1ATIkHXdSdUaDpzYKpz2-yIDF1uKuiAU4fOxINPOnTpOexn2rf5R8jBl2OOKakJmBowiRWrRQqzBZcPnaPqUIn_H0aEFPEIkTXn3syXQOnWGNbBIY84_yjUoW-3IKw0CKZIVHI6ZZr5x/s320/Forrest-Gump-large.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Taxi for... </b>The Orient fans, who <a href="https://twitter.com/longlivejk11/status/1122175708485378049" target="_blank">according to Josh Koroma</a> have been "a joke all season". Today even the euphoria of winning a league title wasn't enough to prevent supporters dividing into two warring factions. On one side were those who remained on the pitch for the trophy presentation, on the other those who were furious at the turf-dwellers for blocking their view, starting up a chant of "OFF THE PITCH" to the tune of Napalm Death's From Enslavement to Obliteration.<br />
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The warring factions were then divided into further sub-warring factions: those who believed Bonne should've been dropped in February and those who didn't; those who have meltdowns and those who complain about people having meltdowns; those who embrace the idea of part-time fans coming to Wembley, and those who think they should be summarily executed; those who'd like Dean Cox back, and those who wouldn't; and finally, those who actually quite rated Dean Morgan and those who didn't, which to be fair was just me versus everyone else. God I love you guys.<br />
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<b>In the dug out... </b>But not this week the actual dugout, but the "third dugout", a <a href="https://www.leytonorient.com/news/2019/april/third-dugout/" target="_blank">madcap innovation from the commercial team</a> that allows select fans to watch the game from a bus shelter on the corner of the pitch and to take over responsibility for the tactics for a 15-minute period of their choosing in the second half.<br />
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This Saturday that presumably coincided with the time during which James Brophy was unshackled from any notional responsibility he previously had to maintaining team shape and buzzed about spraying the ball around randomly as if he'd set off a fire hose in his own brain. Still, the lucky fans got a pizza delivered to their bus shelter at half-time for their troubles, something that Kevin Dearden tried and failed to do on many occasions during his stint at the club.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSlA6NZfdP-u7mcupcpmI-KZfOeKA4gtBnz_pp2fnaBkOb1DfTTH5wwBblDDEJPSy7y6sXv_smW-B_NImZ-E7aYftWtRvvdR4LMZnBfybsHokiPUyorjoxn0p2jOFdWsZYrwrQwc4080u/s1600/image_update_7d4adef8425ac9fe_1357217996_9j-4aaqsk.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSlA6NZfdP-u7mcupcpmI-KZfOeKA4gtBnz_pp2fnaBkOb1DfTTH5wwBblDDEJPSy7y6sXv_smW-B_NImZ-E7aYftWtRvvdR4LMZnBfybsHokiPUyorjoxn0p2jOFdWsZYrwrQwc4080u/s400/image_update_7d4adef8425ac9fe_1357217996_9j-4aaqsk.jpeg" /></a><br />
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<b>And finally...</b> Big up to CEO Danny Macklin who, by 11pm on Saturday, was so intoxicated on success and serotonin that he launched into a <a href="https://twitter.com/dannymacca81/status/1122261839268675585" target="_blank">lengthly, loved up exaltation to Orient on Twitter</a> that had all the hallmarks of an 18-year-old at their first warehouse rave when suddenly everyone is their new best friend for life. Fair play to Danny, he had a hard act to follow in <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/search/label/Alessandro%20Angelieri" target="_blank">Alessandro Angelieri</a> but his passion, commitment and good sense shine through. So thanks Danny, thanks Kent, thanks Nigel, thanks Martin, thanks Matt, thanks Justin, thanks Ross and thanks everyone connected with the club. I'm still in the queue for fucking Solihull tickets though, guys...<br />
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<br />Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-39474902489618588332019-04-23T09:09:00.001+01:002019-04-23T09:09:22.673+01:00Solihull Moors 0 Leyton Orient 0, 22/4/19<b>A game in which... </b>Orient showed nerves of steel, fists of iron, balls of fire and guts of glory – which was just as well given that Solihull's tactics largely consisted of propelling 11 human-shaped blocks of concrete in their direction for 90 minutes.<br />
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And I don't mean this disrespectfully, as the Moor Men (is that their nickname? I shan't bother to look it up) are very, very good at this and in the first half made it impossible for the Os to find any rhythm at all – much like the time Josh Coulson ill-advisedly attempted to body-pop at Faces nightclub, Gants Hill, after downing two expresso martinis and a WKD Mango Crush in quick succession.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHcXyTjvydk6rf0wyQmdb8MQ8kVhO_2A9wjUAUVX9ZNABZ4-3mphDIRuPdb3rdxqEZvVjBFFceee2CcRHW8L1WPY1QOqEmBOsFosXmIwuk2VBw8fLlRtthMbJqnxPFwirsp0lW7IhmarF/s1600/WKD-Mango-Crush-24x275ml.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHcXyTjvydk6rf0wyQmdb8MQ8kVhO_2A9wjUAUVX9ZNABZ4-3mphDIRuPdb3rdxqEZvVjBFFceee2CcRHW8L1WPY1QOqEmBOsFosXmIwuk2VBw8fLlRtthMbJqnxPFwirsp0lW7IhmarF/s320/WKD-Mango-Crush-24x275ml.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The second half saw more chances – for both sides, to be fair – but this gritty, resolute Orient team held firm. And with Salford – still reeling from Man Utd's 4-0 defeat to Everton – losing to Fylde, promotion is now within Orient's grasp. It's in touching distance. The fat lady's about to sing. It's ours to lose. Or to put it another way: it's the equivalent of us being <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2014/05/play-off-orient-rotherham-report.html" target="_blank">2-0 up at Wembley</a> at half-time in a play-off final. What could possibly go wrong?<br />
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<b>Moment of magic...</b> Two, actually so let's worship at the altar of Dean Brill and probably bring him some hot cross buns or something as he gets hungry a lot. On 75 minutes he somehow managed to <a href="https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/1120352541479456770" target="_blank">claw the ball off his line</a> and smother it to prevent the Moor Men (?) taking a late lead. Earlier he pushed a goal-bound header round the post with an acrobatism that belied his hefty frame to such an extent that any watching quantum physicist must have scratched their head and thought "Right, I think we may need to look at the laws of the universe again."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRf14pHAqW_I1pZTSoTpVnh-61cMXjpgG2nyf_zd6A6TmSZtLXPxUpu2agBCUV12JPr23w4w_ZTitcJA6y4elz3RswxqtJbvLvkK2qe5phR-i2G7DiV3pxsIT_9uE9kZSD2MvXTG3kHXX/s1600/quantumleap-520x293.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRf14pHAqW_I1pZTSoTpVnh-61cMXjpgG2nyf_zd6A6TmSZtLXPxUpu2agBCUV12JPr23w4w_ZTitcJA6y4elz3RswxqtJbvLvkK2qe5phR-i2G7DiV3pxsIT_9uE9kZSD2MvXTG3kHXX/s320/quantumleap-520x293.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Praise be... </b>It says something about the brilliance of this squad that in any other campaign any of Craig Clay, Jobi McAnuff, Macauley Bonne, Joe Widdowson, Josh Coulson, Dan Happe, Josh Koroma, Marvin Ekpiteta or Dean Brill would be a shoo-in for player of the season. Everyone else has played a vital part too. I mean, consider this: if we lose on Saturday but still go up on goal difference then we'll be parading James Alabi around the streets of Leyton for his late leveller against Halifax in September that will have made the difference. How's that for impact?<br />
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<b>In the dug out... </b>Justin Edinburgh described watching this game as "hell", an overstatement that demonstrates he probably never saw Orient play in the 40-odd years before he became manager. Sit through 90 minutes of an <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2016/11/leyton-orient-1-blackpool-2-191116.html" target="_blank">Alberto Cavasin-era performance</a>, mate, I'll show you hell. Anyhoos, as he's done pretty much all season the manager got the selection, tactics and substitutions spot on – all the while sporting a chinos/trainers/open-necked shirt combo which suggests that post-match he'll be heading to a mid-market seafood restaurant on the Marbella beach-front.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_hAWezlTtFfWLbKPqSeqy3AbXOae0NpBnd19UvMeaYlv45xL5EAq-0p8atDN7FSXPVjyx5s8AEPvDL2vOGj-u52CQkk5EL3ipdxtYt-gjGAjjuv2kSfXX0Uqv_A-aiqTamfHAOaaWHvL/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-23+at+08.32.21.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_hAWezlTtFfWLbKPqSeqy3AbXOae0NpBnd19UvMeaYlv45xL5EAq-0p8atDN7FSXPVjyx5s8AEPvDL2vOGj-u52CQkk5EL3ipdxtYt-gjGAjjuv2kSfXX0Uqv_A-aiqTamfHAOaaWHvL/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-23+at+08.32.21.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Meanwhile on Twitter... </b>Orient celebrity fan <a href="https://twitter.com/JLloydWebber/status/1120225683312205826" target="_blank">Julian Lloyd-Webber set the tone for the day with this</a>: "Setting off this morning for @SolihullMoors V @leytonorientfc Can't remember feeling this nervous since the first time I performed @BrittenOfficial's Cello Symphony!" – something I think all fans can relate to.<br />
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<b>"</b>Some gloriously non-League row ordering" <a href="https://twitter.com/DaveFawbert/status/1120325083954917376" target="_blank">tweeted Dave Fawbert</a> in response to the quirky seating arrangements at Damson Park (his picture below). Mid-game the home supporters lobbed a flare at us, which is apparently a traditional greeting in some parts of the West Midlands. "Solihull fans using their team tactics in the stands. Fair play. That flare went straight up in the air as high as they could get it," <a href="https://twitter.com/DirkTurk/status/1120374925162893312" target="_blank">observed Matty</a>.<br />
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But the final word has to go to Keith Goldhanger, who perfectly captured the mindset of an Orient fan with <a href="https://twitter.com/HIDEOUSWHEELINV/status/1120387390391095296" target="_blank">this prediction for Saturday</a>: "Salford will lose, Orient will lose 1-0 and Solihull will win 9-0 at Dagenham." Hold tight all...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTRZMfriHAVq6G3z1WBGdKYHaElFVx2Br5jVV4gvvO9w7NqeSitTN6nsUUaTzFXvLNOJfkdjCv8LiAZa2F735Dv2hlsfTie1XG1fLl-RMjAaBQ5G1DZH_1JCKw1zXVwQkL9uxDqmmuOPRP/s1600/D4wxtAZW0AAkOLg.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTRZMfriHAVq6G3z1WBGdKYHaElFVx2Br5jVV4gvvO9w7NqeSitTN6nsUUaTzFXvLNOJfkdjCv8LiAZa2F735Dv2hlsfTie1XG1fLl-RMjAaBQ5G1DZH_1JCKw1zXVwQkL9uxDqmmuOPRP/s320/D4wxtAZW0AAkOLg.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<br />Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-92018084304686292382019-04-19T23:42:00.000+01:002019-04-20T08:40:24.985+01:00Leyton Orient 2 Harrogate Town 0, 19/4/19<b>A game which...</b> was the footballing equivalent of joyously stuffing yourself with a massive chocolate cake shortly after entering a restaurant, then nervously picking at the cheese plate over the next 90 minutes, before finishing with a glorious single McVitie's Ginger Nut. Yes, that's right readers, the laboured metaphors are going to be OFF THE SCALE this evening, so hold tight.<br />
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So, while Orient certainly weren't at their flowing best for much of the game, they did restrict fellow promotion-contenders to a handful of chances and played with such grit that Waltham Forest Council have asked if they can spread the team across icy roads come winter.<br />
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Anyway, this was a victory of huge significance, especially given Salford's late winner at Boreham Wood which was no doubt celebrated wildly by whichever of their 38 fans in attendance didn't miss the goal because they were sneakily watching a YouTube compilation of Nicky Butt's best Man Utd goals on their iPhones.<br />
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<b>Moment of magic... </b>Another late goal from the "Ginger Alabi" Matt Harrold, who joins that special pantheon of Orient players who can consistently change games from the bench but are largely ineffective should some freak set of injuries ever require them to play 90 minutes. Efe Echanomi, Jonathan Tehoué and Shaun Batt to name but three (because I can only name three) all have a place in fans' hearts, as will Harrold if he can do the same against Solihull or Braintree...<br />
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<b>Praise be...</b> Let's all take a moment to appreciate the full glory of the walking-forehead-with-a-few-other-smaller-body-parts-attached-to-it that goes by the name of Josh Coulson. This guy has been immense this season and today bookended the game with a goal – expertly spammed from bonce to back of the net – and a <a href="https://twitter.com/shoppa_supa/status/1119368224259362819" target="_blank">flying interception</a> that prevented a last-ditch Harrogate equaliser.<br />
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<b>Taxi for... </b>Now, referees in the National League have a very tough job, so we shouldn't criticise them lightly. We should criticise them very, very heavily because God knows we have been on the receiving end of some howling decisions of late. Last week James Dayton was sent off for having his ankle dislocated, and today Craig Clay was yellow-carded for the little known football offence of "having the same surname as the material used in pottery".<br />
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<b>In the dug out...</b> An interesting revelation about the art of the manager from Dean Cox this week in E10 Mess's superlative <a href="https://soundcloud.com/e10mess" target="_blank">four-part podcast on the 2013/14 season</a>. Apparently Russell Slade would send the diminutive winger into the Supporters Bar after games to find out what fans thought about the tactics and formation, and then would GENUINELY TRY TO IMPLEMENT THEIR SUGGESTIONS IN TRAINING!<i> </i>Seriously. Fans are notoriously idiots! We know nothing. Obviously Justin Edinburgh isn't resorting to such lunacy otherwise he'd have listened to the "drop Bonne" Brigade and we'd have been relegated. And just imagine if Ian Hendon had paid attention to fans' calls to never ever allow Connor Essam, Sean Clohessy or Armand Gnanduillet near a football pitch again. Where would we be now? Oh, hang on...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_dGUpNvs0zxpK_Z4gf1Ep_Lbuq6ReNvopuELjwC6iT6A7NxOWr_3Xgm4L-Oipn9pJ1FTZUpY7ueX2OTPFtKnSyWIayaJ0uIF6gQpSeEsZsuoIaLJoahM7XGC1sChZZtiEsPN7bBtm6XA/s1600/unnamed-2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_dGUpNvs0zxpK_Z4gf1Ep_Lbuq6ReNvopuELjwC6iT6A7NxOWr_3Xgm4L-Oipn9pJ1FTZUpY7ueX2OTPFtKnSyWIayaJ0uIF6gQpSeEsZsuoIaLJoahM7XGC1sChZZtiEsPN7bBtm6XA/s400/unnamed-2.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Meanwhile... </b>"We have received reports that fraudulent tickets for Solihull Moors on Monday are being sold on Leyton High Street" <a href="https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1119203066715213824" target="_blank">tweeted the official club account today</a> without any apparent irony or being hacked or anything. First up, lads, it's Leyton High Road not Leyton High Street you flaming idiots. Secondly, I took it upon myself to check the authenticity of said tickets – pictured below – and found them to be flawless copies of the originals, which does me a favour as I can now finally leave the queue after two weeks. See you in Solihull...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYoAAhp8xa6bkcadR-gbbllukEKkBHBj46n_VcIT6PjDj_S2YuPKeqXHZAsMx-Xh-taCxUbk4aE80bhSgkewAg0m4x-Bee7270CcyW147DsUkAfM9pgXH1Ls4njz0MP7tLUCudyzYE2Ry/s1600/IMG_3685+2.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYoAAhp8xa6bkcadR-gbbllukEKkBHBj46n_VcIT6PjDj_S2YuPKeqXHZAsMx-Xh-taCxUbk4aE80bhSgkewAg0m4x-Bee7270CcyW147DsUkAfM9pgXH1Ls4njz0MP7tLUCudyzYE2Ry/s320/IMG_3685+2.JPG" width="320" /></a>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-65781229959223368062019-04-06T22:34:00.002+01:002019-04-06T22:34:54.249+01:00Leyton Orient 2 Halifax Town 2, 6/4/19<b>A game which... </b>began with only three points being good enough, yet ended with Orient fans wildly celebrating a draw thanks to a last-gasp bundle into the net by the illegitimate son of Princess Diana and a gingerbread man.<br />
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Some stuff happened in between – mostly our defence looking uncharacteristically baffled at the sight of a little circus fella with a top knot running at them with the ball. But fair play to Orient, coming back from 2-0 down takes character and the late goal will be psychologically significant if nothing else. That said, failing to beat a building society team – what the fuck?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwnzHt95l4RWb1-ihFhyOLS8IVTqDishxtK7yLzwjh4tcSP3NPQnV10fWJQKiw3GR27ZNyu_JV9Fu33Wt1vFdWumLcOv0VK_YlCIFB9f-XRUssNqrX5o15HNUuB3GYZn3vMCQCv9ox-f7/s1600/prince-harry-136426256387902601-180405212030.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwnzHt95l4RWb1-ihFhyOLS8IVTqDishxtK7yLzwjh4tcSP3NPQnV10fWJQKiw3GR27ZNyu_JV9Fu33Wt1vFdWumLcOv0VK_YlCIFB9f-XRUssNqrX5o15HNUuB3GYZn3vMCQCv9ox-f7/s320/prince-harry-136426256387902601-180405212030.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Praise be... </b>Josh Koroma, a player whose selfishness has such force it is sucking all the world's limelight inexorably towards him. A player whose stats today read: attempts at goal: 467; passes: 0. And a player who'll shoot from any angle, including from within the home dressing room or the team coach. But by God if he keeps scoring the type of screamer he did today, keep being selfish mate.<br />
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<b>Taxi for... </b>Come on, you think I'm going to single out a player for criticism when we're pushing for promotion? Well you're right, I am. Jay Simpson: terrible performance. Almost as if he came to us having played virtually no football in a country more renowned for sports such as baseball, beer pong and cheerleading. Don't worry, though, he'll come good.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx7PwQKvlgW-7GmSrfuLM-AW_YxnXCqeSQwjCwUjV670bCbi0NKMOJov9tJmMm06-GCDWBy174vFZsKlH9m8sz9oFCW9kThLjN8fooPemBe0jiXzvt1FHin5WTnvoFQpsnLUYqMbfWCMsK/s1600/gettyimages-150080082.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx7PwQKvlgW-7GmSrfuLM-AW_YxnXCqeSQwjCwUjV670bCbi0NKMOJov9tJmMm06-GCDWBy174vFZsKlH9m8sz9oFCW9kThLjN8fooPemBe0jiXzvt1FHin5WTnvoFQpsnLUYqMbfWCMsK/s320/gettyimages-150080082.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>In the dug out...</b> I'll say one thing about Justin, he's not afraid to throw everything at a victory, and by the time the game ended today there were only two defenders left on the pitch, one of whom is the club's most prolific goal-scorer of 2019. Meanwhile four strikers, three wingers, Craig Clay and a kitchen sink all piled into Halifax's box, and I'm pretty sure every single one of them – and perhaps even James Alabi who wasn't even playing – got a touch in the scramble that led to the equaliser. In Just we Trust – unless we don't get promoted then sack the fucker immediately.<br />
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<b>Are we going to get promoted?</b> Well, we ain't gonna do it the easy way, but God bless this spirited group of players for getting us in the position where it's still in our own hands with five games to go. They are knackered, clearly. Macauley Bonne has played so much football this season he no longer bothers taking his kit off between matches and just jogs around the dressing room from Saturdays to Tuesdays to keep warm. Dean Brill rarely has time to have more than 6 or 7 meals a day. James Brophy's left foot is so tired that today he kicked the ball with his right for the first time in his career, with predictably catastrophic consequences. Keep the faith though, readers.<br />
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<b>Meanwhile... </b>The club's attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records for slowest moving queue in history is proving highly successful, with some fans waiting up to three or four hours before being able to shuffle forward another six inches today. Yes, in a time when we can land craft on Mars, grow human organs in a laboratory and build robots to perform complex tasks, Leyton Orient Football Club cannot get its shit together to issue tickets to more than four people at any one time. There are still some unfortunate fans queueing for tickets to the <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2013/02/i-bet-eddie-baily-i-could-walk-on-water.html" target="_blank">promotion decider against Bury in 1962</a>, while those waiting for a chance to see our <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2011/02/tony-grealish-on-orient-v-arsenal-fa.html" target="_blank">FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal in 1978</a> still have many years before they're going to be near the front...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_M4HDMEr6jbfBe5P2gJor0pFb49XEfIqQkpCxZmSOc3XfEmZZkHmdCQo_JAiNic4J8E9wI65hnXXZxMFlCW8C3mqA268T7_jv1Ox6qoQr_hMnPP8jF5nQvou5wJ16TVqy0q4aiEoVPt9/s1600/queue.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_M4HDMEr6jbfBe5P2gJor0pFb49XEfIqQkpCxZmSOc3XfEmZZkHmdCQo_JAiNic4J8E9wI65hnXXZxMFlCW8C3mqA268T7_jv1Ox6qoQr_hMnPP8jF5nQvou5wJ16TVqy0q4aiEoVPt9/s320/queue.jpg" width="320" /></a>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-40818434279464747392018-12-01T22:28:00.002+00:002018-12-02T10:57:33.301+00:00Leyton Orient 2 Gateshead 0, 1/12/18<b>A game which...</b> began with Orient's 11 players suffering collectively from the extreme chronic fatigue caused by playing 90 minutes of football once or occasionally twice a week. As such, it looked very much like the game might be heading the way of the 0-0 draw with Aldershot, or worse, until Justin Edinburgh presumably <a href="https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1068800589436342272" target="_blank">bawled at half-time</a> "DON'T YOU IDIOTS KNOW THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PROVIDING A SERVICE THAT OFFERS A DEGREE OF EXCLUSIVITY TO SUPPORTERS WHO PAY A PREMIUM?"<br />
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That seemed to do the trick. Well, that and another moment of magic from Josh Koroma and a juggernauting assist from James Alabi. Top of the league? Yep, we're having a laugh.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhceWNt2llfSHo-2RGOv-xfCLyk_WrghV86wVTveE-FOSNCFgQGeE6VTF6CuDDbTZrQOZHEDPyR4D_HPPwZSlNhYqdCC_PlYomDS0qRqTRzdgaSUyx1Nzq2gRqbTGcEUk3cq102LfafHU5c/s1600/4500405648-14efeaf3d0-b.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhceWNt2llfSHo-2RGOv-xfCLyk_WrghV86wVTveE-FOSNCFgQGeE6VTF6CuDDbTZrQOZHEDPyR4D_HPPwZSlNhYqdCC_PlYomDS0qRqTRzdgaSUyx1Nzq2gRqbTGcEUk3cq102LfafHU5c/s320/4500405648-14efeaf3d0-b.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Praise be...</b> Occasionally a young player comes through the ranks at Orient and lights up Brisbane Road with mercurial talent. The next day we sell that player to Norwich or Barnsley. No doubt Josh Koroma will go on to bigger and better things, but let's enjoy him while it lasts. Today's goal was yet another twisty-turny treasure, and if it wasn't for the extreme chronic fatigue I suspect he would have celebrated by running all the way to Bromley to <a href="https://twitter.com/lordgriff98/status/1064214490206674944" target="_blank">laugh in George Porter's face</a>.<br />
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<b>Taxi for... </b>With another table-topping victory under our belts, it would be unnecessarily cruel of me to single out a low-performing player from today's game. So that's exactly what I'll do: Sam Ling. Rubbish. What's that – he wasn't match fit? Yeah, tell that to the supporters who pay a premium.<br />
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<b>In the dug out... </b>"I hold my hands up and admit that I majorly fucked up the team selection," <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBs29of2FwA" target="_blank">said Justin Edinburgh</a> after Tuesday's draw with Aldershot, officially the worst result ever in the history of the club. Did he, though? Or is it probably acceptable that we don't win every single game? Personally if I was the manager of a team that had amassed 50 points in 23 games I'd select the same players over and over again until they bled through their eyes. Which, coincidentally, is what happened to me when I tried my first bottle of vino from the <a href="https://www.leytonorient.com/news/2018/november/online-wine-club/" target="_blank">new Orient Wine Club</a> last night.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibiTFDx0MXMVuMrW0ZBTNoOYt0jgWOUmm1pzrfIfiYmsk9wo-5WDDJub4VztuFbKHQJKiRHpwxkUuA8LwO5OS1ie-vzavpiKEV_KoWYMQXvA4PivPsZk_ShDX4HUC5WspO7rA_Zlw8oGMA/s1600/365c.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibiTFDx0MXMVuMrW0ZBTNoOYt0jgWOUmm1pzrfIfiYmsk9wo-5WDDJub4VztuFbKHQJKiRHpwxkUuA8LwO5OS1ie-vzavpiKEV_KoWYMQXvA4PivPsZk_ShDX4HUC5WspO7rA_Zlw8oGMA/s400/365c.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Are we going to get promoted?</b> Well, frankly if you're blessed with a striker who'll probably score 30-odd goals if he doesn't get injured, one of the league's brightest young attacking talents, a rock solid defence and, weirdly, Craig Clay then probably even Fabio Liverani could get us up to League Two. I jest, naturally, because a lot of the credit has to go to Justin Edinburgh for instilling the spirit and getting the team to play as it does – and Liverani would of course still be playing <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/search/label/Bradley%20Pritchard" target="_blank">Bradley Pritchard</a> on the right wing.<br />
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<b>Meanwhile...</b> And so to the Legends Lounge debacle. Quick summary: If you drink a pint of your own piss, or run naked across the pitch, or watch Orient's 2002/03 season review DVD, you become an "Orient Legend" and are allowed to drink in the Legends Lounge in the West Stand, which is modelled on the waiting lounge of a regional airport in the 1970s. Non-legend fans are also allowed in the bar after matches and mix with the legends and possibly some celebrity ex-players like <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/search/label/Marc%20Laird" target="_blank">Marc Laird</a> or Billy Beall.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZz2YY9H4XaJqC7PtOtarqJHCmEaSwvCvLWlTxO4HMG38X9qFlX8irf5DyaGr1AvU-qNLpqUQzPl56NUOt2-zc52Ux3ZVPNz8kV98ZJ3rh3FQ6yVg1gxWAKFIU-7KYrwaEdjY4_DCg1x_i/s1600/Large-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZz2YY9H4XaJqC7PtOtarqJHCmEaSwvCvLWlTxO4HMG38X9qFlX8irf5DyaGr1AvU-qNLpqUQzPl56NUOt2-zc52Ux3ZVPNz8kV98ZJ3rh3FQ6yVg1gxWAKFIU-7KYrwaEdjY4_DCg1x_i/s320/Large-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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This week the club hierarchy decided to <a href="https://www.leytonorient.com/news/2018/november/legends-lounge-gateshead/" target="_blank">end the practice</a> of allowing the plebs to mix with the aristocracy on the basis that legends should expect some sort of exclusivity and to have a post-match pint without some fucking peasant from the South Stand asking for a selfie. Then literally three or four people <a href="https://twitter.com/Daniel_slaw/status/1068585257098719233" target="_blank">mildly questioned</a> whether this was a good idea and the club immediately did an about turn and <a href="https://www.leytonorient.com/news/2018/december/legends-lounge/" target="_blank">reversed the decision</a>.<br />
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Anyway, I think I have a solution. The club should absolutely "provide a service that offers a degree of exclusivity to supporters who pay a premium" so perhaps everyone else should be forced to leave each game after 85 minutes to ensure the "legends" can enjoy the final moments in relative peace? You're welcome.Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-64429705531486980952018-08-12T22:28:00.001+01:002018-08-12T22:28:39.961+01:00Leyton Orient 2 Barrow AFC 2, 11/8/18<b>A game which... </b>began with all 11 Barrow players simultaneously hurling themselves to the ground, each in apparent need of sustained medical treatment. It turned out this was all part of a monumental effort on the part of the away team to waste as much time as possible, a curious tactic against Leyton Orient where every second the ball is in play is a second in which our defence could make some sort of catastrophic goal-conceding error.<br />
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Still, can't blame Barrow for literally destroying the whole point of football and it was up to Orient to respond. And respond they did, by ensuring that they did indeed make two catastrophic goal-conceding errors in the small amount of time the ball was actually on the pitch. </div>
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I would comment further on the game, but I think the Barrow goalkeeper is still getting ready to take a goal kick...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRmzu2K1Vbs5YRunKSe8n-o0LNB0B_0fCmbfWs2jsbEY7swDa-mbXv5euWqRXOapmjrloLXM7dPqrBV1LafyFwa05jJ2NqWwXbuL51UEEklqe7QtnD2ztvwaQWOtiHfQvcVXqW69g3OZ8/s1600/lying_down_game_75-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRmzu2K1Vbs5YRunKSe8n-o0LNB0B_0fCmbfWs2jsbEY7swDa-mbXv5euWqRXOapmjrloLXM7dPqrBV1LafyFwa05jJ2NqWwXbuL51UEEklqe7QtnD2ztvwaQWOtiHfQvcVXqW69g3OZ8/s320/lying_down_game_75-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barrow in training for their match against Orient</td></tr>
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<b>Praise be...</b> Mercifully, due to an administrative error, Macauley Bonne still plays for Orient, and we can thank the striker for the two goals that ensured we didn't actually lose. That said, Bonne did somehow manage to hit the Barrow goalkeeper (yes, I've mentioned him twice now but am still refusing to look up his name on Wikipedia) from point blank range minutes before his first, which means of his three shots on target he only converted two, which is frankly unacceptable at this level. Get rid. </div>
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<b>Taxi for... </b>Charlie Lee, who was so anonymous against Barrow that I'm beginning to suspect he did actually play every single game last season entirely undetected. Someone other than me check the stats. And while you're at it, is there any evidence that Lee is actually any good? Other than in comparison to Craig Clay, obviously. </div>
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<b>In the dug out... </b>You can say one thing about Justin Edinburgh: he knows his best team. And that team is the one constructed in his imagination with all the summer signings that didn't materialise. Still, can hardly blame the gaffer for sticking to the centuries-long Orient tactic of playing 4-4-2 and hoping for the best. But his team probably need to be a bit more streetwise in this league, for at the moment they are metaphorically paying a Soho pedicab driver £40 to take them 30 yards up Shaftesbury Avenue to an Aberdeen Angus Steak House while simultaneously being pickpocketed.<br />
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<b>Are we going to be promoted?</b> Well, three points from three games, and only 129 points left to play for. You do the math. That's right, it's literally impossible and now the focus must be on building for 2019/20. I jest: of course it's mathematically possible for Orient to be promoted. Probably won't be though unless we get a better goalkeeper and central midfield, but let's not have a meltdown just yet. After all, winning games early on is overrated. We achieved eight consecutive victories in 2013/14 and didn't even get promoted. Pathetic. </div>
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<b>Meanwhile... </b>Superb trolling (as spotted by <a href="http://twitter.com/weststandmick" target="_blank">@weststandmick</a>) from Barrow manager Ian Evatt, whose take on the game was: "We dominated the early stages but then got involved in their gamesmanship and physical side of things. We are not built for that, we are a footballing side." Evatt can currently be seen wandering the streets of Barrow dressed as a pot maniacally accusing kettles of being black. </div>
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Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-78120986891130756212018-06-14T22:54:00.000+01:002018-06-14T23:02:17.095+01:00School Report: Leyton Orient 2017/18 <b>Just because the season ended ages ago and it's the World Cup, doesn't mean there isn't time to run the rule over Leyton Orient's class of 2017/18... </b><br />
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeSsRPNGdRLHSg_PK1OvcSk0VXi7RZo9VaeS_36Q-6-IvIIDCij_Pycf3gYV_wvQhifTOxullRGgXc6DxRQHpTPP4Tt8j68C6sVdxKELZzG29F3KgtAteivlwtndtCfwYhZyOu-fw8tfQ/s1600/leytonorient2107a.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeSsRPNGdRLHSg_PK1OvcSk0VXi7RZo9VaeS_36Q-6-IvIIDCij_Pycf3gYV_wvQhifTOxullRGgXc6DxRQHpTPP4Tt8j68C6sVdxKELZzG29F3KgtAteivlwtndtCfwYhZyOu-fw8tfQ/s320/leytonorient2107a.jpg" width="320" /></a></b><br />
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<b>Steve Davis </b><br />
<i>“A total lack of aptitude in all areas. Expelled.” </i><br />
“We searched high and low, applied rigorous criteria and left no stone unturned in our search for the ideal manager of Leyton Orient – and Steve Davis is that man” said director of football Martin Ling in the summer of 2017, shortly before hiring a colour-blind decorator to repaint his house and asking a block of concrete to teach him to pole vault. Turned out there was good reason Davis was the only manager available in mid-July for thus began the most eye-bleedingly catastrophic tenure of the Orient dug out since, well, the season before. At least Alberto Cavasin had the excuse he couldn’t speak English and Fabio Liverani that he was clinically insane. What was Davis’s get out clause? I’ll tell you: it was all the players’ fault. Yet unlike the equally hapless Ian Hendon (also all the players’ fault) he didn’t have Connor Essam in the team to substantiate it. Next.<br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUWq0chEp5pELk-XAnqfi7G_WilCyGOnsvrFbnTTD8SLVlNOJvpxgt9vbDdu8YujWvrEA_fvA1SvEN4SCZCpkMMoAaLZHMwlsMjczBkyAX0poTT3X_VIBKKo9JOkTLm1OedRaYjdw2nzK/s1600/_97646595_rexfeatures_9037808b.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUWq0chEp5pELk-XAnqfi7G_WilCyGOnsvrFbnTTD8SLVlNOJvpxgt9vbDdu8YujWvrEA_fvA1SvEN4SCZCpkMMoAaLZHMwlsMjczBkyAX0poTT3X_VIBKKo9JOkTLm1OedRaYjdw2nzK/s320/_97646595_rexfeatures_9037808b.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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<b>Macauley Bonne </b><br />
<i>“Top of the class” </i><br />
There have been countless barren years in which Orient fans dreamed of a hard-working striker with both skill and physical presence – a selfless team player who’d lead the line and bang in 20+ goals a season. We got one of those this year in Macauley Bonne, yet for some it wasn’t enough. “HE MISSES TOO MANY CHANCES” they yelled, apoplectic with rage at the sight of a National League striker not converting 100% of his goal attempts. Me? I’m off to smoke an extremely expensive Cuban cigar in honour of Bonne’s season. Although if it doesn’t light first time it’s going straight in the fucking bin, that’s for sure. <br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMjuaeH1GSon9E7nhEp_yZUzkod8hITJZWM-QPlTz6Uv3v0I4IWBLq5LbBkddNDzfWfwM9IPt6vB2NEFul5prIuADvDlSD7b-Wq2Qtj3Kbzd0QMLzQcspM6wMB9yef2nJ5NtonXwKMpv9/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMjuaeH1GSon9E7nhEp_yZUzkod8hITJZWM-QPlTz6Uv3v0I4IWBLq5LbBkddNDzfWfwM9IPt6vB2NEFul5prIuADvDlSD7b-Wq2Qtj3Kbzd0QMLzQcspM6wMB9yef2nJ5NtonXwKMpv9/s320/image.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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<div>
<b>Dean Brill</b><br />
<i>“Vocal. Momentary lapses in attention. Good eater.” </i><br />
“Hey Deano. Neither Charlie or Sam are quite cutting it in goal. What do you suggest?”<br />
“Well, funny you should say that…” <br />
<br />
It’s not often that the goalkeeping coach becomes the goalkeeper, but then again it’s not often that a man can eat his own weight in cheesecake and survive, yet Dean Brill has achieved both. I mean, fair play to the lad, he was pretty adept at beach-whaling himself in front of goal-bound shots and plummeting himself at the feet of opposition strikers. He also couldn’t keep his mouth shut – useful both for berating Joe Widdowson and ensuring that any airborne sources of nutrition found their way into his stomach. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheadqN4m5XmkVuQ8aiMP6AcV7x8PQ0PsHKY5U0pMrx_9WcjK4yY641cXuBObJJgHeC7kLdFSZuzbox2x4F14D5xFI9a313e7TfZLVypoacjnAbSJNJWbSGKK-u9eiJkV2CJ5Khk1oSakM8/s1600/image-2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheadqN4m5XmkVuQ8aiMP6AcV7x8PQ0PsHKY5U0pMrx_9WcjK4yY641cXuBObJJgHeC7kLdFSZuzbox2x4F14D5xFI9a313e7TfZLVypoacjnAbSJNJWbSGKK-u9eiJkV2CJ5Khk1oSakM8/s320/image-2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<b> Jake Caprice</b><br />
<i>“</i><i>Fast worker, but error-ridden”</i><br />
I have to confess, I quite liked Caprice for the first part of the season, if only because he was the one Orient player who you’d fancy beating a critically-wounded sloth in a race. He got forward well, got a half-decent cross in and could create space with a sharp change in a direction that, while identical from match to match, benefitted from the fact National League defenders don’t get to watch video reports on their opponents. What I failed to notice until later in the season was the bloodcurdling trail of destruction he was leaving behind him in his own half, as left wingers marauded through the vast open spaces Caprice had left unguarded, picking off goals at will. Thankfully Justin Edinburgh thought to himself: “The one thing we definitely don’t need in this team is pace” and put Caprice out of his misery for the remainder of the season. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilI7fyDtZMVTmd0QvYwL54bhQy-sxWzr2tFG24nQR5hzqir1v2b3B7UdtkkmS91j2HnZl_cl8AQLY4EKerViOcpsSw65ybuuTpoOaK3UWZtWD83ZhsGjxXOSDOjv1dYtxlEOBGEcV-Mk1F/s1600/O%2527s+v+Dover_FA+Trophy_008.jpg.gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilI7fyDtZMVTmd0QvYwL54bhQy-sxWzr2tFG24nQR5hzqir1v2b3B7UdtkkmS91j2HnZl_cl8AQLY4EKerViOcpsSw65ybuuTpoOaK3UWZtWD83ZhsGjxXOSDOjv1dYtxlEOBGEcV-Mk1F/s320/O%2527s+v+Dover_FA+Trophy_008.jpg.gallery.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>David Mooney</b><br />
<i>“</i><i>Inspirational, yet mostly ineffective”</i><br />
Oh Moons. I wouldn’t say a bad word about the man who almost propelled us to the Championship if only he hadn’t changed his priorities midway through the season from promotion to “scoring with a lob”. But this story has a fitting denouement for after Orient had typically blown a 3-goal lead against Dover Athletic, Moons’ four-year mission to successfully chip the keeper finally came to pass. Aside from that sublime moment, not much else happened for the Irishman this season other than the usual conveyor belt of offsides, dives and misses. Still love him though. <br />
<br />
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TNEoHPeSBjDgy9esqNzHGhtZHPO7Ieliu_mbeUfTNYqPPTz1yzl-X6sw29jISvd2aXG-n4LWYSLodUef-7CTTNE6UEIuawd_yIzS90qutSrNjQkv99b1jAnz_Kg1Fg10Aw4ema8Vb-uG/s1600/image-1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TNEoHPeSBjDgy9esqNzHGhtZHPO7Ieliu_mbeUfTNYqPPTz1yzl-X6sw29jISvd2aXG-n4LWYSLodUef-7CTTNE6UEIuawd_yIzS90qutSrNjQkv99b1jAnz_Kg1Fg10Aw4ema8Vb-uG/s320/image-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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<b>George Elokobi</b><br />
<i>“Big character” </i><br />
You might think that it would take an industrial-standard hydraulic system to raise someone of George Elokobi’s stature off of the ground. You’d be wrong, as evidenced by the bicycle-kicked goal the defender scored against Aldershot and his numerous less successful attempts to repeat the trick. For those who were there on this momentous occasion it was like watching if not poetry in motion, at least a limerick or the sort of senseless rhymes you make up as a six-year old. George is a talisman, a leader and quite frankly I would still have him in the Orient team even if he literally could not kick a ball to save his life. He wouldn’t be the first after all. <br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzt6GDPsmlqywzWKSYdDogUacyaW4KEgRI4kO7ymQTz3FJNjR6lD9ztJnNABxSFbE0yKTe-qSPR6LS__WfzIsktGuNPFvWm09uxnUOnZRAUbwKAkvLm70JiMiPkmuYfJWDjCtL7L9jx8C4/s1600/Ebou+Adams+2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzt6GDPsmlqywzWKSYdDogUacyaW4KEgRI4kO7ymQTz3FJNjR6lD9ztJnNABxSFbE0yKTe-qSPR6LS__WfzIsktGuNPFvWm09uxnUOnZRAUbwKAkvLm70JiMiPkmuYfJWDjCtL7L9jx8C4/s320/Ebou+Adams+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Ebou Adams</b><br />
<i>“Must stick at things for longer” </i><br />
<div>
What a tidy little player Ebou Adams proved to be in his loan spell. Always hungry for the ball, strong in tackle, careful in possession, penetrating in delivery. Scored the best goal of the season too. Still, it was obvious to fans that we’d be hard pushed to keep such a talent at Orient into 2018/19 – this young man was destined for bigger and better things. So it came as no surprise when he signed for, hang on… EBBSFLEET UNITED! Kill me now. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinasR8oTnx5TA292YPScLxHEbAjtTiSiYy-HhuLWDoFn9zJcFmv0l-vbwxboq1biA7zLfU_XsuUUAzGtkL0UebAPJ_9g2w0CUPuLeD97gWu-ZSgDHGPrHVz4mEWX6jO2745XxLwHQODOmH/s1600/Large.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinasR8oTnx5TA292YPScLxHEbAjtTiSiYy-HhuLWDoFn9zJcFmv0l-vbwxboq1biA7zLfU_XsuUUAzGtkL0UebAPJ_9g2w0CUPuLeD97gWu-ZSgDHGPrHVz4mEWX6jO2745XxLwHQODOmH/s320/Large.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>Jobi McAnuff </b><br />
<i>“Wise head on old shoulders” </i><br />
What’s the difference between Jobi McAnuff’s second spell at Orient to his first? More tackles in the second spell for starters – one compared to none. But that’s not why we pay to see Jobi McAnuff is it? We pay to see the winger use both his Premier League and international experience to dominate games, destroy defences, score wonder goals from distance. And he definitely did do all those things last season, although admittedly most of them were in the same game. </div>
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Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-28814849072138312152017-10-25T00:10:00.002+01:002017-10-25T00:10:44.452+01:00Leyton Orient 0 Gateshead FC 2, 24/10/17<b>Imagine a team assembled by Paul Brush, coached by Fabio Liverani, motivated by Alberto Cavasin and given tactical instruction by a packet of cheese and onion crisps. That team would've made swift work of the Orient side that lost 2-0 at home to Gateshead tonight. </b><br />
<br />
Now, Orient have certainly suffered bigger defeats in the past and, by God, there were some calamitous performances in <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2017/03/an-open-letter-to-francisco-becchetti.html">the Becchetti days</a>. But in the context of a bottom-of-the-National League clash against a side who haven't won in six, and who haven't won away all season, tonight's loss could be considered the ultimate nadir of a football club whose entire history is a nadir in itself. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOzdnNZIu2ix2R_1Tuu3fbhFjHaVNJDfjUzEzYtQ_S4xKzdYvsMT1fw_p0CayjqOAXkcBxdjdyLIydGq2bLNJmWOnEaS9QjwrrqSGc5zE_c96jajAb9TUuEWwHlL_FYVVFihwJWhnvwmT/s1600/image-2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOzdnNZIu2ix2R_1Tuu3fbhFjHaVNJDfjUzEzYtQ_S4xKzdYvsMT1fw_p0CayjqOAXkcBxdjdyLIydGq2bLNJmWOnEaS9QjwrrqSGc5zE_c96jajAb9TUuEWwHlL_FYVVFihwJWhnvwmT/s320/image-2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
But anyway, don't listen to me, listen to Steve Davis. Here's what the "manager" had to say about how tonight's catastrophe unfolded:<br />
<br />
<i>"I have to hold my hand up. The system didn't work and I needed to change that." </i><br />
<br />
Ok. The "system" – let's call it that, shall we? – Davis began the game with was the 5-3-2 that has served him so well in the previous four or five games in that we haven't lost every single one of them. Fifteen minutes – and one goal down – later and the manager ditched that in favour of playing our top-scoring striker wide out on the left; our non-scoring striker in the middle; one of the two right backs on the wing; and our two wingers in central midfield.<br />
<br />
Somehow that didn't work, so via a couple of other short-lived, transitional formations, Davis eventually opted for a trusty 4-4-2, with our right back at left back; and three wingers across the midfield four. By the end of the game I think we were playing 3-2-5-2-4 or something, but by then I'd lost the will to live.<br />
<br />
Now, you could say that this constant tinkering demonstrates that Davis has an astute, nimble football brain. But if you did say that you'd be sectioned.<br />
<br />
<i>"It was a very scrappy match." </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Thing is, by calling the game "scrappy", Steve, you're sort of implying that both teams were complicit in a less-than-pedigree spectacle. This is bullshit. Gateshead were efficient enough. Conversely, each Orient player reacted as if every single nightmare in their life had been visually illustrated on the ball such that they became rigid with terror every time it span towards them. <br />
<br />
<i>"The way we reacted after the second goal was very disappointing. We just gave up." </i><br />
<br />
I dunno, it looked to me like Orient had given up shortly after kick off, Steve. Or perhaps on the way to the game. Or perhaps after you slagged off the whole team after Saturday's defeat. Or perhaps when you were appointed manager in the first place.<br />
<br />
<i>"Dave's miss was a real turning point." </i><br />
<br />
This could be true, in the sense that it could bring an abrupt end to the whole Football's Funniest Bloopers genre. I mean, no future compilation of howlers could ever compete with just looping Mooney's miss over and over again. As a turning point in the game: less so, in that "turning points' usually infer that something has changed from before to after. In this case, Orient were equally abysmal either side of it.<br />
<br />
<i>"That was the poorest home performance we've had."</i><br />
<br />
Add ".... in the entire history of the club" and you may have hit the nail on the head there Steve.<br />
<br />
<i>"We were second best straight away." </i><br />
<br />
That is very flattering, as there were blades of grass, small insects and discarded globules of player mucus out on the pitch that could well lay claim to being better than Orient tonight.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudlCWYL460Mo7Yqyoj3rKbAAvmIkTA7KRvLSpNZM7gBUk774lcEQyX_wcSE7Y-SZX09QRv-hLh9ldCMHQn8lomoltBbQJWPQRfIubgBYJjYNpz5ZeUMXLD_BXuBbpa0eM_IFRuZn1lxTn/s1600/Unknown-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudlCWYL460Mo7Yqyoj3rKbAAvmIkTA7KRvLSpNZM7gBUk774lcEQyX_wcSE7Y-SZX09QRv-hLh9ldCMHQn8lomoltBbQJWPQRfIubgBYJjYNpz5ZeUMXLD_BXuBbpa0eM_IFRuZn1lxTn/s400/Unknown-1.jpeg" /></a><br />
<br />
<i>"The young players are finding the pressure difficult to deal with."</i><br />
<br />
Oh yeah, it's definitely all their fault isn't it? If anything the young players have been the ones showing the most resilience and grit, while seasoned professionals (such as Ellis and MacAnuff tonight, for example) have been woeful. Next.<br />
<br />
<i>"I know I'm the right person to turn this around." </i><br />
<br />
There really is precious little evidence to support this, is there? No one wants to return to the trigger-happy days of the Becchetti regime where gaffers were fired for having the wrong socks, or playing Scott Kashket. But then again there's nothing "stable" about persisting with a demonstrably inept manager with a penchant for blaming everyone but himself for the unfolding disaster.<br />
<br />
You can't blame Davis for individual player mistakes, and no one really expected us to get promoted this season. But this group of players should be doing much better than they currently are and the visceral lack of understanding between them on the pitch; the apparent lack of team spirit and fight; the absence of any discernible plan; and the bizarre press conferences don't exactly support the idea that in Davis we've got the right man to take the club forward. (Here) we go again...Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-47908819874822895242017-08-09T22:22:00.000+01:002017-08-11T09:05:12.098+01:00Leyton Orient 3 Solihull Moors 1, 9/8/17<i>[Caveat: Thanks to British Airways I actually arrived 30 minutes late for this game, so what you'll read below contains even more made up stuff than usual. View From The West Stand: Keeping editorial standards low since 2010. #fakenews] </i><br />
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<b>A game in which...</b> Orient proved that the National League is actually a doddle and that we'll win the division at a canter. JOKE, JOKE... alright, calm down everyone, why so serious? I'll tell you this much though: there was enough promise in last night's performance to suggest that the Os have a pretty good chance of winning every game they play on the actual-sized pitch of Brisbane Road.<br />
<br />
So given that we will lose every single away fixture, by my calculations that means we'll end up with 69 points and hence just miss out on the play-offs. And given everything that's happened to the club in recent times, that would be an absolute disgrace. Travis out. ANOTHER JOKE! Jesus, what is it with you lot today?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx61HQr09IFyWtM8XJesnDw_woSFWxsXmxawsMUOFKhnng0KPJnUH-GxXT4p0q7DWNOSChIpM5V2cEtaZhvqF0tUTglsKBZFuL1XIUOO69z0kGCMslKGrTdhxZtiInCkJ9ggwqLBNkpmot/s1600/7e34b0e1323b6a088fd0d848396199ec.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx61HQr09IFyWtM8XJesnDw_woSFWxsXmxawsMUOFKhnng0KPJnUH-GxXT4p0q7DWNOSChIpM5V2cEtaZhvqF0tUTglsKBZFuL1XIUOO69z0kGCMslKGrTdhxZtiInCkJ9ggwqLBNkpmot/s320/7e34b0e1323b6a088fd0d848396199ec.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>Moment of magic...</b> The moment David Mooney slid into the box to poke a Jake Caprice cross into the net, evoking memories of the heady days before he started trying to chip the keeper with every single goal attempt. And what better epitomised the joyous fact that we have #OurClub back than the sound of "... he used to be shite, but now he's alright..." ringing out from all four sides of the ground apart from the West Stand?<br />
<br />
<b>Praise be to... </b>Jake Caprice. Orient have a proud history of attacking right backs, from Stan Charlton to... nope, that's it. Stephen Purches? Anyway: Caprice has stepovers in his locker, and that's where they should stay, under a heavy duty padlock. But nonetheless the "model" professional (I'm required by law to make that joke) was a constant menace to the workers of Solihull's Jaguar Land Rover plant and laid on the cross for David Mooney's goal. You beauty.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilkxACXwCi9F7zriQ2ela9iupV6P5CVnAC67BTzUOYUTUmfx6BZC2_rHG8vUgC3QosPzEAAbsGwRKYCmhK0W1-UUBT-WB4kWjzPnvQ7fulkkJcaFD0vkpnMhviRICiU8PfWp90sRssi5Q/s1600/caprice+bourret+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilkxACXwCi9F7zriQ2ela9iupV6P5CVnAC67BTzUOYUTUmfx6BZC2_rHG8vUgC3QosPzEAAbsGwRKYCmhK0W1-UUBT-WB4kWjzPnvQ7fulkkJcaFD0vkpnMhviRICiU8PfWp90sRssi5Q/s320/caprice+bourret+photo.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>The bit where I moan about something or slag someone off... </b>Yes, that's right, just because Nigel Travis, <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2017/07/interview-kent-teague-i-have-history_6.html">Kent Teague</a> et al saved Leyton Orient from the brink of extinction that does not make anyone associated with the club exempt from this blog's solemn duty to gratuitously complain about stuff. To wit: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bEfQoMC2M8" target="_blank">Steve Davis's post-match interviews</a>, which I would generously describe as "soul-crushingly boring" and less generously describe as PLEASE-GOD-FIND-ME-SOME-PAINT-TO-WATCH-DRYING-MAKE-THIS-STOP-PLEASE-PLEASE-NO-MORE. Almost makes you yearn for the inexplicably hostile and aggressive interview technique of Ian Hendon. Almost.<br />
<br />
<b>New regime watch... </b>"We need a big, strong, powerful forward," <a href="http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/football/leyton-orient/leyton-orient-working-hard-to-bring-in-strong-and-powerful-forward-admits-boss-steve-davis-1-5138389" target="_blank">said Steve Davis</a> in the wake of the Sutton defeat, no doubt channelling the words of his boss, Martin Ling. Curiously, the baby Ling's first words at the tender age of 13 months were "We need a big, strong, powerful forward" and Orient's director of football has been on a life mission to find one ever since. Without success. One season Ling tried to convince us that 5ft 9in Ryan Jarvis was the big, strong, powerful forward we'd all been waiting for. Another time he signed local brickie <a href="http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11717/4378464/parkin-heads-to-orient" target="_blank">Sam Parkin</a>. The quest goes on...<br />
<br />
<b>Meanwhile on TV... </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
"Hi Sam, it's your mum."<br />
"Hi mum. Did you see the game on telly?"<br />
"No I was out I'm afraid. But I told all my friends from the church to watch"<br />
"Ah, right..."<br />
"You did comb your hair didn't you?"<br />
"Yes mum"<br />
"And you didn't bite your nails with all those TV cameras around?"<br />
"No"<br />
"And no picking your nose?"<br />
"No mum"<br />
"Of course, sorry Sammy, I know you wouldn't embarrass me on the telly"<br />
"Erm, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/4177552/leyton-orients-reserve-keeper-recorded-scratching-his-privates-during-sutton-defeat/" target="_blank">there was just one thing</a>..."<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPydgmfYiZTtneg6UUyxMobrgAHGdstZ2g6jmZTLsbXxgUbF2mh5yH5_T_MpObj8CoUumsWjXSCa6jqfMuHaxKlmybJgevnN5roEKd4TEJ08qvm7-Gpjpugj5B5NgwXELAyVQ1I_X_XC9/s1600/110.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPydgmfYiZTtneg6UUyxMobrgAHGdstZ2g6jmZTLsbXxgUbF2mh5yH5_T_MpObj8CoUumsWjXSCa6jqfMuHaxKlmybJgevnN5roEKd4TEJ08qvm7-Gpjpugj5B5NgwXELAyVQ1I_X_XC9/s320/110.jpg" width="320" /></a>Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5492552585916727442.post-90050467194123429372017-08-03T21:09:00.002+01:002017-08-03T21:09:47.280+01:00GUEST BLOG! James Masters: "At our lowest ebb, we were there together"<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b>Orient lost every single game journalist and lifelong fan <a href="https://twitter.com/Masters_JamesD" target="_blank">James Masters</a> attended last season. Here he writes about how close we came to losing much more than football matches – and the renewed hope he has for the club's future... </b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">By the end, I was numb.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">Try as hard as I might, I could not feel
a thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">What I longed for was some sense of anger,
of frustration. What I got was silence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">What I yearned for was the rage of
burning injustice to ignite and spark off a reaction inside the empty
chasm which I had become.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">But there was nothing. What I had
held so dear for so long had been taken from me.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyY7nIfPpZXR1CNKR8ODyii8-9DEEvhoCYTDZFgnnrsbGYkOKa3fBbT8CKfW5LBHxzFV4zFiYv07MGbpxAzqAjKF52Tr-WgMcEHuBmvidKmCQgB-wkGp5gOe9iz71hKXpjoB2eWh8QeCML/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-08-03+at+20.53.48.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyY7nIfPpZXR1CNKR8ODyii8-9DEEvhoCYTDZFgnnrsbGYkOKa3fBbT8CKfW5LBHxzFV4zFiYv07MGbpxAzqAjKF52Tr-WgMcEHuBmvidKmCQgB-wkGp5gOe9iz71hKXpjoB2eWh8QeCML/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-08-03+at+20.53.48.png" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535;">In a world where there is so much horror
and tragedy, it seems trivial to lose oneself over one man's unerring quest to
decimate a football club and raze it to the ground.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">Perhaps it is churlish, when you
consider the brutality of the world in which we live, to consider the desperate
plight of one's football club in such grandiose terms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">And yet, perhaps it is
precisely because we live in a world where there is such a constant source
of upheaval and doubt, that the opportunity to escape from the toil of
daily life, is so important.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">For some that solace comes through
prayer or meditation. For others it may be exercise, reading, or travel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">I make no secret of the fact that for
many years now, <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2014/05/Leyton-Orient-is-a-family.html" target="_blank">Orient has been the source of my escapism</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">Orient allowed me to forget. It washed
over my fears of social awkwardness, my own foibles, and provided the
opportunity to cast my worries aside and instead focus on the most important
of the world’s trivialities, Orient.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">And yet, for the past three years, that
has been so very difficult both in terms of results, and in terms of losing
that one place where you can lose yourself. I lost my happy place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">Even now, some 30 years on from my first
ever visit, I can still remember the spark of excitement in the pit of my
stomach which rose upon the sight of Brisbane Road. Never did I imagine a
time where that spark would be extinguished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">But I do not want to dwell on the
past few years. We’ve spoken about it, <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2017/03/an-open-letter-to-francisco-becchetti.html" target="_blank">dissected every minute detail </a>and
replayed it over and over in our minds. There is little we can do to change it
now. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimls4Kt3RtRF6zX1d5CasUw8bpsZ7WVaZpMuW6oS3kIOQjQPDVViKLu7_CuO3ZkPYldAr3i1vPiXCbHL4l7OGZ0IHzqsG7s9b-mtlcqQP9nM6oxdO4qNA8MPNPWbiAcCJ9XJAmxrgNay8a/s1600/image-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimls4Kt3RtRF6zX1d5CasUw8bpsZ7WVaZpMuW6oS3kIOQjQPDVViKLu7_CuO3ZkPYldAr3i1vPiXCbHL4l7OGZ0IHzqsG7s9b-mtlcqQP9nM6oxdO4qNA8MPNPWbiAcCJ9XJAmxrgNay8a/s320/image-3.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">Instead, it is time to look forward, gathering the lessons of the
disastrous era and ensuring they are never forgotten. For while the past may be
painful to look back upon, to commit the same mistakes once again would be
folly. Now, there is only way to look and that is forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">What this season will bring is beyond
any of our wisdom. From a logical point of view, it would take something
remarkable for a team full of new players with barely a few weeks of
pre-season under their belt to achieve promotion this year. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">I do not doubt
the quality or spirit of the squad, nor the expertise of the management, but
factors such as continuity and time are crucial to long-term success, two
luxuries we have not been able to enjoy. Let us not run before we can walk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">That aside, a season of
stability bordering on the boring dare I say, would be rather welcome. For
all the unrest and upheaval of the past three years, an opportunity to start
again, to gather ourselves and re-establish the club should not be dismissed
lightly. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">Of course, promotion and an instant return to the Football League
would be wonderful, a dream, something all of us are working towards. But there
must also be a level of realisation of the situation we find ourselves in. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">The
new owners have already pledged they are here for the long term, the return of
Martin Ling and Matthew Porter are two pieces of business which although
simple, underline their understanding of this club.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvLMMkdAJfhdyubcrJGFxBjS2e1Il68oQMysO1FNRTTpDaIRmdK01uU9Xs1c8ELPEeVmwXxpJ10e0GvAlGz51OZGqMN1kdJ1dYEZdt-d7-0gIDLQltgf8NZWShDmZLNhMtk89RrRQYwcf/s1600/nintchdbpict000334841882-e1498946229838.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvLMMkdAJfhdyubcrJGFxBjS2e1Il68oQMysO1FNRTTpDaIRmdK01uU9Xs1c8ELPEeVmwXxpJ10e0GvAlGz51OZGqMN1kdJ1dYEZdt-d7-0gIDLQltgf8NZWShDmZLNhMtk89RrRQYwcf/s320/nintchdbpict000334841882-e1498946229838.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535;">Over 3,500 season tickets have been
sold, a remarkable number given Orient’s dreadful past few years and the fact
this will be their first season in non-league football for 112 years. But
the drop into non-league football was never likely to deter those who hold
Orient so dear for it has never been about the football, has it?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">It’s about having our club back. It’s
about looking forward to your weekends again, making new memories, sharing
laughs with friends, travelling around the country in hope rather than
resignation. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">It’s about the singing, the last minute winners, the grotesque
burger vans which have you checking your armpits as the smell wafts through the
air. It’s about being where you want to be, reclaiming your pride and valuing
that sense of belonging.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">Now, more than ever, that sense of
belonging is crucial. It is crucial because we lost it. It was taken from us,
right in front of our very noses and at the time it seemed there was little
that we could do about it. <a href="http://www.leytonorientblog.com/2017/04/leyton-orient-1-colchester-united-3.html" target="_blank">And yet, at our lowest ebb, we were there, together</a>. The small club with a big heart – the heart which belongs to all
of us – the fans – got going once again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">I will never be able to express my
gratitude to LOFT for all the work they have done. To those who organised the
protests, the fundraising, the social media campaigns and the constant
television and radio interviews, this is because of you. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">To the football fans
from hundreds of other clubs across the world who gave us their support in our
time of need to the journalists who helped spread our story, this is all
because of you. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">It is because of those staff members who stayed even when
they were not being paid because they believed that something good would come
of all this. Even when some staff members were forced to leave their homes
because they couldn’t afford the rent, they left only out of desperation and
with a sadness in their stomachs. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">The staff and the supporters refused to
give in to a man who was so hell bent on destruction, he could not see what was
right in front of him – a group who never gives up.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535;">Forget the team from 2013 – it’s our
slogan now. We’re the group who never gives up. Every single supporter knows
how close we came to losing our club, we will not let a day go by where we do
not appreciate what we have.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">And so if you take anything from the
past few years, take this thought. For however chastening the past few
years have been, however many times you have felt helpless, bewildered and disenfranchised, we won out. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">It was not the way we wanted it. Nobody would have
wanted relegation from the Football League unless it meant the end of
Becchetti. That the two coincided was more his doing than ours. But we’re still
here, and he’s not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQ71NgUwr6qPpYACcFgk77Znw2ikOQFJKyYzu9Qz8MsDoMELVdzEkDT871PAWeCFjSFfB95gl9TfJLWVMDpyXHf8Zi5Ps5kHGJS5bFLs9Cxc48imfbF6J1MLtXWeNxdNDnRAnWtqqCllu/s1600/becchetti01031-1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQ71NgUwr6qPpYACcFgk77Znw2ikOQFJKyYzu9Qz8MsDoMELVdzEkDT871PAWeCFjSFfB95gl9TfJLWVMDpyXHf8Zi5Ps5kHGJS5bFLs9Cxc48imfbF6J1MLtXWeNxdNDnRAnWtqqCllu/s320/becchetti01031-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">It’s our club. It will always be our
club. It belongs to every single one of us who were ever fortunate enough to be
introduced to Leyton Orient. We may never be as big as Arsenal or Tottenham, nor
as successful as Manchester United, but being a Leyton Orient fan has never
been about the football alone. It’s about belonging, having a club we can each
call our own.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #353535;">When we return to Brisbane Road on
Tuesday night for our first home game in the National League, we will come back
together at the start of the next chapter. It’s in our hands now and the
future is what we make of it. It is ours to shape. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #353535; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AppleSystemUIFont;">So, when you take your seat,
say hello to the person who sits next to you, take your time to soak in the
atmosphere and the new season feel. And then, take a breath, and perhaps allow
yourself to realise just how lucky we are to have our Orient back, or any
Orient at all.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Matt Simpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18282543750548287988noreply@blogger.com