GUEST POST! Shrewsbury 0 Leyton Orient 2, 7/1/14

For the moment, I'm in Germany's version of east London - i.e. Berlin - so in my absence Orient fan and blogger Andy Brown (of WAGU and The Two Unfortunates fame) has kindly stepped in to give his view of the game against Shrewsbury... 

Eldin Jakupovic

A game in which... Orient never got out of second gear, but didn’t need to against a Shrewsbury team whose striking accuracy resembled Stevie Wonder trying to hit a bulls eye at the PDC. Meanwhile Eldin Jakupovic, our new keeper on loan from Hull, also seemed to intimidate them - nothing to do with his size and resemblance to Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction.

Orient didn’t really connect with their passing in the first half, often giving the ball away, but improved massively in the second-half. Nevertheless the Os looked sharp going forward all game and had that extra class up front. It was a real treat for the 144 hardy souls, many of whom had witnessed an unpleasant 4-0 FA Cup mauling at the hands of the Tractor Boys down in Yeovil.

Moment of magic... Jamar Loza, a 19-year-old  youth-loan arrival from Norwich City (who didn't arrive in time to make the back of Shrewsbury's programme) weaved between several players to slot through a lovely ball for January Os calendar poster boy Moses Odubajo to take it round the keeper and slot home Orient’s first from a tight angle.

Moment of madness... Former Os favourite Tamika Mkandawire, who headed firmly into his own net after a corner from Dean Cox. All the plaudits went to Scott Cuthbert, but it was clearly Tam who got the connection. Cheers for that, old chap! Scott Cuthbert had a dodgy second half, giving the ball away a few times and proving he’s about as comfortable at right back as jumping on a bike missing a saddle.

Top gun... A few candidates but Dean Cox and Moses Odubajo both looked a class apart, tormenting the full backs all night and creating plenty of chances. Lloyd James and Marvin Bartley were also excellent in preventing Shrewsbury’s midfield creating any real chances, as Jakupovic didn’t have one serious save to make.

Little donkey(s)... Tom Eaves and Aaron Wildig - aka Shrewsbury’s MIA strike-force - who despite being ably supported by the very talented Jon Taylor still couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo, even on the rare occasion that Captain Clarke was out-muscled. Easily the worst frontline the Os will face this season.

Russ wins the World Cup

In the dug out... Russell Slade got it dead right on the pitch again, bringing in Bartley and leaving Ness on the bench and the Os looked hard to breakdown throughout the game. The gaffer also came right up to the fans at the end punching the air like we’d won the World Cup, rather than away at Shrewsbury on a Tuesday night. High-fives all round and real togetherness in the club right now. Can you feel the love?

View from the opposition... A pretty quiet bunch all in all, despite piping up with “same old cockneys, always cheating” after various two-footed lunges on Dean Cox and Lloyd James that that should have resulted in dismissals. Also confusing was the number of fans wearing Man Utd gear in the Pro-Sport bar before the game - maybe they missed the coach to Sunderland? However, they are decent bunch who are really struggling for home form right now, which Os fans will hope changes when Brentford visit them in a few weeks!

Tweet of the week.... Our good friends in claret and blue up the road and their salad-dodging manager. They are the gift that won’t stop giving. After losing 5-0 at the weekend to Forest and getting annihilated 6-0 by Man City, Big Sam now has his own board game according to Tim Bolton.

Leyton Orient 3 Shrewsbury 0, 10/8/13

A game which... demonstrated that at the moment Orient are finding League One as simple as a general knowledge quiz set by Jimmy Smith. Indeed, apart from a brief stagnant period towards the end of the first half the home side were totally in control of this game and crucially - and I can't actually believe I'm writing this about an Orient side - it always feels like goals are coming. 

Seriously, this is a team in rich vein of form and if it continues (with that 'if' written in enormous sky-high letters on the side of Kevin Dearden's fridge) we'll be in with a fighting chance of promotion. 

Moment of magic... Moses Odubajo's last-minute goal, in which the opposition defence appeared to be so traumatised I can only presume they were having some sort of flashback to that terrible day in '98 when an aggrieved Morris dancer ran amok at the Shrewsbury Village Fete and destroyed most of the entries in the 'Most Amusingly-Shaped Vegetable' competition.  

David Mooney

Moment of madness... When Orient were finding the game so easy that Dean Cox decided to mix things up by slide-tackling his team mate David Mooney, an action reminiscent of a determined gerbil attacking a bewildered giraffe. 

Top Gun... Nathan Clarke, Mathieu Baudry and Jamie Jones had flawless games, and David Mooney's two goals puts him on top of the League One goalscorers table - an event that until yesterday scientists believed to be inconsistent with the known laws of the universe. However, man of the match has to go to Elliot Omozusi who - playing in an unfamiliar left back position - offered both defensive and attacking impetus throughout. 

Little donkey... No bad performances from anyone in an Orient shirt and even the referee and officials had good games. In fact the only blight on the day was the less-than-expected (given the 2,000 free season tickets dished out) gate of just over 4,000. Hopefully that's an August phenomenon, and once we get into September we'll see the crowds flocking in to see the league leaders. 

Coxy: Ladies' man

In the dug out... Dean Cox was milling around pre-game in the technical area today, primarily to try and chat up the Cheery Os, as captured in this photograph.

View from the opposition... "Inevitable spanking now complete for #salop," wrote Shrews fan Stephen Finch. "When will the Turner apologists wake up? Action or exit Graham, you said a play-off push."

Tweet of the week... According to Dean Cox's Twitter feed, he and his girlfriend are currently kitting out their pad. So what does a discerning lower league footballer go for when it comes to art? The post-impressionism of Cezanne? Something from the pre-Raphaelites? Or perhaps a surrealist piece by Magritte?* Actually no - Tiny went for this stirring portrait of his favourite player, tweeting "Great canvas to put up in the house." 

Orient by numbers... 20. The number of years since Orient last topped the table after their first two games. "I remember it well," recalled manager Peter Eustace. "The club secretary Old Bertie Smythe - who was 112 at the time - accidentally arranged our first fixtures during June. I wouldn't have minded, but he also inadvertently signed Colin West while attempting to pay the gas bill."

* Thanks Wikipedia

Leyton Orient 2 Shrewsbury Town 1, 10/11/12

A game which... was the footballing proof of the theorem that states if a monkey randomly hits the keys of a typewriter for an infinite amount of time, eventually it will produce the complete works of Shakespeare. Yes, this season Orient have spent what feels like an eternity propelling the ball in the vague direction of the opposition goal and today thanks to the law of probability it actually went in. Twice.

At times they played some nice football too. At times they played some shit football, mind, and while we should celebrate a much-needed victory, it's still only tissue-papering over some Grand Canyon-sized cracks.

Moment of magic... David Mooney's through ball to Moses Odubajo that led to Orient's penalty and first goal at Brisbane Road since 1963. The Irishman seems to divide opinion among fans - some think he's abysmal while others believe he's merely hopeless - but he does have an ability to be both sublime and ridiculous. Today he showed great skill and jaw-dropping ineptitude - usually within the same move. It's like watching Placido Domingo try to sing Olly Murs songs.

Russell Slade selecting today's team

Moment of madness... The point when - thanks to a mistake by the fourth official - it appeared that Russell Slade was going to bring Ryan Brunt on to play at right back in place of Moses Odubajo. Admittedly the manager's selection policy of late (which presumably sees him writing the players' names onto a square peg then manically trying to sledgehammer it through a round hole before giving up and declaring, "Fuck it - Lloyd James in centre midfield") is borderline insane, but even he wouldn't be mad enough to play a striker in defence. He did once play right back Syam Ben Youssef up front, mind.

Knight in shining armour... Kevin Lisbie. If by some miracle we actually avoid relegation this season then our star striker is probably going to be the reason behind it. He's not going to find it easy, though - with the likes of Lloyd James and Jimmy Smith providing the ammunition it's a bit like sending a solider into battle armed with only a Michael Buble CD and a packet of blancmange.

Pantomime horse... Lee Cook's cringeworthy dive in the penalty area makes him a good candidate, though he's excused thanks to the quality of some of his crosses. Why don't we instead ponder on what Jimmy Smith actually brings to the team? Ok, so that's a millisecond of your life you're never going to get back. I guess to be charitable you could say he 'fills a hole'. But then again so does a lump of concrete, and you wouldn't play that in midfield. Unless the only other option is Marc Laird.

In the dug out... Russell Slade turned his back, unable to watch, as Kevin Lisbie strode up to take Orient's penalty today, perhaps suggesting that the team actually play better when the manager isn't paying any attention. If he didn't turn up at all perhaps we could be top of the league?

View from the opposition... "Poor performance from both sides," says Shrewsbury fan Liam Hoofe. "Inability to defend is clearly costing both teams. Rodgers and Taylor were lively for us, Lisbie was impressive for Orient. Both teams will struggle this season. It could have gone either way."

Meanwhile on Twitter... This week saw a truly mindblowing stream of consciousness from everyone's favourite bringer of dinner and former Os' boss John Sitton. His rant careered from X Factor to the Middle East to Paul Burrell to mopeds to planning permission for reservoirs and trying to make sense of it was like figuring out what sort of gameplan one of Sitton's Orient teams were actually playing to. The main target for his wrath, however, turned out to be students: "Burger Pizza Booze.STD'S Marijuana & books" he tweeted, not inaccurately, before leaving all of his followers with this philosophical humdinger: "Marmalade. Why didn't they call it orange jam?"

Statto corner... Despite Russell Slade's midweek claim that Orient were just "inches away" from not being dire, if you total up the distance by which all of this season's failed attempts at goal missed their target, the line actually stretches from Leyton to just north of the planet Jupiter.