2011-ANOTHER YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A LEYTON ORIENT SUPPORTER Go to 2017. Other years: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 A History of Leyton Orient FC 1965-1974 What of Jason Demetriou, how was he getting on? So far his team had played 15 matches. Jason played the whole of the first two matches and 80 minutes of the next one. He might have been injured because his next game was match 12 where he came on as sub for 46 minutes and had not played in the last three. Leyton Orient, Aldershot and Grays (though they did get £150,000) were ruing the day they let Aaron McLean slip through their fingers as he made a £1m move to Hull. 7(38) were his appearances in an Orient shirt until his release in March 2003 when Paul Brush(?) was our manager. Brush is now assistant manager at Lincoln. 2011 did not start well, if fact you could say the team was away at the races. The races being at top of the table Brighton. We lost 5-0 and were 19th following wins by Tranmere and Notts County. Team: Jones, Omozusi, Chorley, Brown, Dawson, Daniels, Spring, Smith, M’Poku, McGleish, Revell. Subs: Butcher, Cestor, Cox (for McGleish 46), Chambers (for Brown 46), Odubajo, Téhoué (for M’Poku 64), Walker. Spring picked up another booking so must be near suspension. You would wonder why Cox, with a point to prove did not start the match. If you had seen our team in their last three matches you would have seen 21 goals after the home match against Colchester. Slade made two changes, Whing for Brown and Cox for M’Poku. A right foot cross from Cox saw Smith rise above the defence to head home the first. A bad back pass let in Revell to slot home the second. Jones was at fault for one of the goals at Brighton punching the ball high into his own net and he was at fault again when Whing booted a clearance high into the sky. I must have collected ice because Jones, instead of collecting the ball and hugging it to his chest seemed to attempt to throw it out but instead it slipped out of his grasp and was promptly fired home. Téhoué replaced Revell on 68 and three minutes later Cox came off for M’Poku. Spring set M’Poku up for the third that crashed high into the net. We let another in by poor challenges before Téhoué hit a hard shot that bounced off the goalie into the net. In my 2010 blog I noted that some websites are woefully out of date. None more so than the Vital Football page for Chesterfield which lists no fewer than eight player no longer with the club. If they are getting their information from the BBC then I am not surprised as they still list Thornton, Scowcroft, Echanomi, Pires and Corden on their O’s website as current players. Slade was hopeful of resigning Whing and M’Poku until the end of the season. Whing went back to Brighton and got his contract cancelled by mutual agreement and then we promptly signed him until the end of the season. We also got Spurs youngster Harry Kane also till the end of the season. Jarvis returned from Northampton after playing four games without scoring. Luke Gutteridge is now playing for Aldershot. Jones; Omozusi, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; Smith, Spring, Dawson, Cox; Téhoué, Revell lined up for the FA Cup third round tie at Norwich with subs:12 Butcher, 3 Whing (for Omozusi 26), 5 Brown, 10 Chambers, 27 M'Poku (for Cox 58), 9 McGleish (for Téhoué 71), 29 Kane. The Cox Smith double act continued as Smith scored an identical goal with his head that he did against Colchester except Cox used his left foot to cross the ball. It was enough to see off the Carrow Road carrot crunchers. Teams from the North East faired badly in the cup as Stuart Nelson helped Notts County dump out Sunderland, Stevenage beat Newcastle and Burton disposed of Middlesborough. Wayne Gray scored at Barrow to help Cambridge United to tenth in the table. Last week striker Iyseden Christie netted twice to hand Kettering a narrow victory over local rivals Rushden & Diamonds. Dean Smith was in temporary charge of Walsall. Walker was not given a contract and left. Harry Beautyman went on loan to Hastings and scored on his debut, Away at Rochdale we managed a draw Chorley equalised from a Cox corner after Forbes headed a cross into his own net. Jones; Whing, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; Smith, Spring, Dawson, Cox; McGleish, Revell subs:12 Butcher, 5 Brown, 14 Jarvis, 17 Patulea, 27 M'Poku (for Spring 46). 26 Odubajo, 29 Kane (for McGleish 73), Rochdale manager Keith Hill told BBC Radio Manchester: "I don't think it was the right decision for the game to go ahead and it should have been called off, probably at half-time, it was a farce."That as a spectator going to a football match wasn't worth watching, I won't watch it again on the DVD, it was awful”. We were two point off relegation and eight away from a play off place. Spring was booked so might be suspended from at least the next match at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Mike Cestor went on loan to Boreham Wood. It was reported that Patulea and Orient had parted company. Let us hope he will be given more opportunities than the three managers he played for in E10. If you look at it another way he played under three managers but none of them rated him. Sheffield Wednesday were ninth in the table when they visited Leyton. If you had seen the last six matches (haven’t I written that somewhere else?) you would have seen 29 goals after this match. Going into half time goalless was a bit of a result as cross after cross rained in from Whing’s side of the pitch. We fielded the same team as the Norwich game Jones; Whing, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; Smith, Spring, Dawson, Cox, Kane, Revell (the exception being Kane for McGleish). The subs were Butcher, Brown, Odubajo, M'Poku, McGleish, Jarvis, Tehoue. The crosses experienced in the first half did not continue as we went into the lead with a handball decision that to say the least was iffy. Chorley converted. Six minutes later Kane added a second followed by a header from Revell. MPoku finished the rout direct from a free kick. MK Dons were in a play-off place when they visited Leyton and it took them seven minutes and a 40 yarder to go ahead. McGleish swivelled on a good ball from Whing to draw us level two minutes later. A shot from Cox hit the post before one of his crosses found Forbes who headed home to put us in front. Dawson went off with a dead leg after 39 minutes to be replaced by Kane which seemed an odd choice for Slade to make, But Slade was not in charge for the match as he was recovering from a minor operation. Nugent’s team was: Jones (gk), Whing, Chorley, Forbes, Cox, Dawson (capt), McGleish, Revell, Daniels, Spring, Smith. Subs: Butcher (gk), Jarvis, Téhoué (McGleish 67), Argent, Odubajo, Mpoku (Cox76), Kane (Dawson 39). The lead lasted until the 56th minute and the game ended in a draw. Young midfielder Tom Carroll was loaned from Spurs. Andros Townsend was on loan at Watford. Dean Smith was given the Wallsall managers job until the end of the season. The ITV coverage of the FA Cup is to say the least disappointing, From the 90 minute coverage of the fourth round they showed 38 minutes of action according to my stopwatch. Adverts and bunny from two unemployed managers plus interviews from every man and his dog. Orient got 3min 35secs of their defeat of Swansea in Wales!. A headed goal from Smith from Daniels free kick put us one up before they equalised. Then, with two minutes to go the Swans captain attempted to clear a low cross from M’Poku with his left foot but it bounced on his shin into the net. Arsenal at home in the next round. Team:Jones (gk), Whing, Chorley, Forbes, Cox, Dawson (Chambers 64), McGleish (Téhoué 46), Revell (M’Poku 79), Daniels, Spring, Smith. Subs: Omozusi, Chambers, Butcher (GK), Téhoué, Carroll, Mpoku, Kane. St Albans City have signed young O’s duo Kaine Sheppard and Billy Lobjoit on `work experience`. In the final throes of the January transfer window Slade got Jason Crowe a 32 year-old defender from Leeds whose contract had been cancelled by mutual consent. Slade knew him from his days at Grimsby. Darren Purse joined Millwall and Cambrige sold their best player to Luton and let Wayne Gray go in a cost cutting measure. Gray joined Chelmsford City and Ling got the sack. Porter returned from his loan at Lewes. John Campbell who the O’s and Swindon had been interested in signing from Newcastle Benfield joined Darlington. After being thrashed in the opening game of the year down in Sussex Brighton who were top of the table came to E10 looking for some points. In a goalless match they took one away and we went 15th in the table, nine away from a play off place. Chambers went off after five minutes to be replaced by Dawson. Team: Jones, Whing, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels, Smith (Crowe 78), Spring, Chambers (Dawson), Cox, Revell, Tehoue (M'Poku 61). Subs: Butcher, Jarvis, Crowe, Carroll, M’Poku, Kane, Dawson. We played second placed Bournemouth on the coast four days later. Fielding Jones; Whing, Omozusi, Forbes, Daniels; Crowe (Carroll 73), Dawson, Smith, Cox; Téhoué (Revell 61), Mpoku (McGleish 73) we drew 1-1 thanks to a late goal from Cox. Chorley and Chambers were injured. Their goal was typical of goals we have let in all season and this time it was Omozusi (again) with a howler and Forbes backing off without a tackle that lead to the Cherries goal. Unused were Butcher, Spring, Jarvis and Kane, We dropped a place in the table following a rare Brentford win after they sacked Andy Scott. Ten points separated us from a play off place. I reckoned that if we beat Swindon we would go four places up the table. We did and went up five on goal difference. Three nil might seem easy but the Robins had 11 shots on target but Jones was equal to all of them. M’Poku was away with the Belgian team so we fielded Jones; Whing, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; Spring, Dawson, Smith, Cox; Revell, McGleish. Subs were Butcher, Omozusi, Crowe (Spring 24), Carroll, Jarvis, Tehoue (Revell 57), Kane (McGleish 75). Spring limped off after 24 minutes but not before Cox had scored from a free kick. Revell headed a second and a minute later Dawson made it three when he cut inside the defence and scored with a low shot to the keepers right. Téhoué came on and done what he does best, running at the defence and hitting the ball as hard as he can but their keeper made a good save. Crowe had a shot rebound off the bar. Swindon were now in a relegation place with Bristol Rover beneath them. They were our next opponents at home. West Ham won the fight to stage football at the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 games being preferred by the Olympic Park Legacy Company to Spurs. Orient were to issue a statement on Wednesday 16th February. This is what the Mail had to say. Sean Thornton was reported to be turning out for a pub team in Doncaster. He plays for Sprotbrough Country Club in the Doncaster Highfield Property Sunday Alliance League Division One. An interesting post from 2008. If you thought we would progress further up the table after beating Rovers you would be wrong, we were still 11th but only five from a play off place but more importantly nine from a relegation spot. The only change to the team was Crowe for Spring and M’Poku replacing Crowe on the bench. Cox crossed for Smith to head towards the goal after five minutes but the ball was cleared but only as far as Cox who crossed to Smith again this time finding the back of the net with a header. Twenty minutes later Cox passed to the far wing for Whing to hit a thunderous goal from outside the area. Apparently his first goal for six years. We let Rovers back into it through a Chorley or was it Crowe own goal before Cox was replaced by M’Poku and Smith by Carroll on 83. Kane replaced McGleish on 70 and scored seven minutes later following good work by Daniels and again five minutes later when Revell fluffed a chance a yard out. We will see how good we are as the next two matches are away against teams above us, MK Dons and Huddersfield. In between is Arsenal in the FA Cup, Colin West is doing some commentating at Watford he played for them 1985/6. He has also been linked with Ling’s old job at Cambridge. James Walker was given a run out for Grimsby reserves and Lovelock was loaned to Welling. On the same night we played at Milton Keyes the teams above us except Peterborough all lost ie Colchester, Oldham, Charlton and the Dons!! It only took us up one place though but now three points away from a play off place and 14 from relegation. Now there is something else to consider, an automatic promotion place. This was ten points away. The other teams above us not mentioned were (from the top, Brighton, Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Southampton and Rochdale. Slade made two changes from the side that beat Bristol Rovers (to put them bottom) and in came M’Poku for McGleish and Omozusi for Forbes. Team Jones (gk), Omozusi, Whing, Chorley, Cox, Dawson (capt), Revell (Téhoué 69m) Daniels, Crowe, Smith, M'Poku (Carroll 89) Subsno used: Forbes, McGleish, Butcher, Jarvis, Kane. We went a goal down after seven minutes but equalised through Smith, tapping in Charlie Daniels' cut-back. Jabo then put them back in the lead only for Smith to equalise 16 minutes later ghosting into the box unmarked to head home Daniels' centre. Téhoué showed class when he slotted home after holding off Tom Flanagan to then slide his shot coolly beneath the on-rushing Dave Martin. M'poku set him up with a cute nutmeg and then a neat through pass. Dons manager Robinson moaned that the O’s were doing just enough to win their matches. If luck has anything to do with it then they were lucky to scored two goals. Jabo’s one came off the underside of the bar and hit Jones on the back before going in and their first a result of a headed clearance from Cox landing at the foot of Lewington whose 25 yarder made the net as opposed to hitting the back of the stand. Patulea was having trials with various clubs the latest being Hereford. 9,136 people packed Brisbane Road to see the FA Cup match against an Arsenal side who had beaten Barcelona earlier in the week. They made 10 changes from that match and had 60% of the play and duly took the lead after 57 minutes. Crowe was replaced by Carroll then McGleish by Téhoué before M’Poku came on for Revell whose shot missed the post by a yard and may have beaten the keeper. In the end it was Téhoué with a minute to go that got the goal to set up the equaliser with an away trip to Manchester United for the winners. Shrugging off two challenges he did what he does best, charging straight towards goal and hammering the ball as hard as possible. The heros: Jones (gk), Whing, Chorley, Forbes, Cox, Dawson (capt), McGleish, Revell, Daniels, Crowe, Smith. Subs: Butcher (gk), Omozusi, Cestor, Carroll, Kane, Mpoku, Téhoué. The Arsenal manager said “We have played the game with the right attitude and could not fault our fighting spirit, but you also have to give credit to Leyton Orient because they never gave up and fought very hard,” Back to reality for the match away to third placed Huddersfield. We were 11th, Colchester jumped above us after beating Walsall and now 11 points away from second placed Bournemouth with two games in hand of them. Téhoué’s Arsenal heroics merited a start Slade thought but it didn’t work out as we went two down before half time. Our ‘luck’ was still out as their goal came as a result of the ball rebounding off the referee. Team:Jones, Whing, Chorley, Forbes, Cox, Dawson (Kane 19 two yellow cards, red card), Daniels yellow card (Omozusi 75), Smith, Carroll, Revell, Tehoue (M'Poku 46), Subs: Butcher, Omozusi, Mike, M'Poku, McGleish, Jarvis, Kane. Cox crossed for Kane and Smith to head us towards a point. Dawson was in hospital for six hours after being carried off. And so to the big one. Smith was out with a hamstring so back came Crowe. The was no damage to Dawson. Team: Jones; Crowe, Chorley, Forbes, Whing; Cox, Dawson, Carroll, Daniels; McGleish, Revell. Subs: Omozusi, Chambers, Butcher (GK), Spring, Téhoué, Cestor, Mpoku. We took 9000 to the Emirates. We lost 5-0 with Jones unable to reach any of their shots. Crowe was weak but Carroll weaker. He needs beefing up as he lost the ball several times without getting a tackle in and looked very slow for someone of 18. Only Cox and Slade knew what Cox was doing. Normally he links well with Daniels but not in this game and if he made two crosses the whole game then I only remember one of them. It went out for a goal kick. Slade got it hopelessly wrong and tried to play the Gunners at their own passing game instead of getting in their face like the first game. Russell you let down 4000 supporter (the other 5000 ‘fans’ got what they deserved). Amongst the other ‘fans’ were many neanderthals making obscene gestures with their hands towards the Arsenal fans. Even more alarming the children of these thugs were doing the same! Birth control and abortion should be mandatory amongst some. Something at Brisbane Road that is better than the Emirates? The gents. Seemed to be only 12 urinals to every 2000 men. 639 short of 60,000 saw the match. Brown was staying at Stockport for another month. Back to 4000 odd supporters I suppose for the visit of Notts County who had two players sent off in their last match. They also got a 5-0 hammering in the FA Cup, away to Man City. Patulea joined Hereford. Two manager lost their jobs (Swindon and Northampton) and the teams struggling were those who sold their top scorers. Swindon sold two and were bottom. Bristol Rovers sold Lambert and were three from bottom. Dagenham were five from bottom and Southend were relegated last season though not for selling Barnard. Scunthorpe were in the relegation zone in the Championship as Hooper was scoring goals for Celtic. Paul Ince’s Notts County were the next to visit Leyton. He proved that he is just as petulant as a manager as he was when a player emptying a cup of tea over Kevin Dearden after the ref had given a dubious penalty to us. He got a good view from the stand of Revell’s shot being saved by former O’s stopper Nelson. The regular penalty taker Chorley was one of three changes from the Arsenal match. Omozusi took his place, Kane McGleish’s and Spring Crowe’s. A good through ball from Carroll found Cox with just the keeper to beat after seven minutes. He steadied himself and fired home a shot to the left of the keeper. After 79 minute a foul on M’Poku lead to a free kick and the cross from Cox was glanced home by Whing. It was Cox 18 assist of the season. Subs were Butcher, Crowe, Chambers, M'Poku for Cox 83, McGleish for Revell 80, Jarvis, Téhoué for Kane 68. 4238 saw the match. We were ninth in the table eight places from a play off place and 14 from a promotion place. Away to Walsall, now managed by Dean Smith we went one up after Kane headed home another Cox cross, Téhoué came on for Revell after 50 and scored five minutes later. The team was unchanged from the Notts game with the only exception being Crowe replaced by Odubajo on the subs bench. Chambers replaced Carroll after 69. McGleish replaced Kane after 82. With Charlton and Colchester both losing we went seventh. Sixth place was eight points above us. Bournemouth lost so it was 11 points from promotion. Next at Brisbane Road are 12th placed Oldham. Beneath us were three clubs on 48 points so if we lose then any of them can go above us. They were not having a good run losing on Tuesday at home to Wednesday. Revell faced a late fitness test after limping off against Wallsall. Chorley had been out for two matches though you may not have thought so if you looked a the club website, Missing two matches that we both won without any goals against means we didn’t miss him that much. Smith still had a troublesome hamstring. Slade signed Crystal Place centre half Adam Barrett. Under terms of the loan, the 31-year-old's move can be extended after the initial 28 days should both clubs agree. Leyton FC whose home we nicked all those years back could not fulfil their fixtures and withdrew from their league. Barrett went straight into the team replacing Forbes and hardly put a foot wrong but then neither did any of his colleagues. Team:Jones; Omozusi, Barrett, Whing, Cox, Dawson, Carroll, Daniels, Spring, Kane, Revell. Subs: Chambers, Butcher (GK), Forbes, Smith, McGleish (Kane 64), Téhoué (Revell 64), Mpoku (Carroll 78). We played well but most of the play was in midfield. M’Poku took a pass from Cox and hit a thunderous winner three minutes from time. That was enough to keep us in seventh but there were three clubs all eight points above us though we had 3/4 games in hand on some of them. Three points below us were Hartlepool and our next opponents in the North East. The good news was we were now only ten points from an automatic promotion place! Tommy Taylor was no longer managing Grenada. He joined FC Torrevieja, in Alicante, Spain, as Director of Football, in January 2010 but left three months later. Andros Townsend was now on loan to Millwall and scored his first goal for them Andy Barcham scored two for Gillingham. Wayne Gray also scored a couple to keep Chelmsford in a play off place. Eric Lichaj is on loan at Leeds. With Chorley still injured Barrett was expected to continue, Crowe was also injured. A goal from Smith after 28 minutes was enough to secure all three points and a record breaking 14 games undeated to equal the record set in 1954-55, when we won promotion from Division Three South.. Team:Jones; Omozusi, Barrett, Whing, Cox, Dawson (Chambers 49), Smith, Daniels, Spring, Revell (McGleish 82), Mpoku (Kane 70). Subs: Chambers, Butcher (GK), Forbes, McGleish, Kane, Téhoué, Carroll. Two teams above us playing tonight (Peterborough and Huddersfield) both won leaving us ten points from automatic promotion, We were now five points from a play off place where there were three teams on 61 points but we had three games in hand of MK Dons in sixth place and two in hand of Bournemouth in fifth. Brentford at Griffin Park were next. Going two down in 24 minutes was too much of a mountain to climb as we lost the chance to add to our record. Someone, Omozusi I think, failed to mark his man who headed behind him after six minutes. Carroll’s attempts at tackling were poor but so was the marking (twice) to allow Alexander to crash home unmarked. A Daniels corner was headed down by Smith for McGleish to chip over his shoulder into the net on 55. Barrett came close with a header but the Bees could easily made it three. Team: Jones; Omozusi, Barrett, Whing, Cox, Carroll, Smith, Daniels, Spring, Revell, McGleish, Subs: Chambers, Butcher (GK), Forbes, McGleish, Jarvis, Téhoué, Mpoku. Teams ridding themselves of managers were still not doing well. Sheffield’s Wednesday and United, Swindon, Bristol Rovers, Scunthorpe, Coventry and Charlton who had just lost to Dagenham who were the next visitors to E10. MK Dons beat Peterborough last night so Bournemouth were the only team above us on 61 points, five points away with two game in hand. Four points below us were Carlisle. If Slade got the league game against Dagenham wrong earlier in the season then he did it again last night. Brentford was bad so two attendees told me and this was no better. We went a goal down as Green tapped the ball into an empty net. Jones seemed to have been told to pass the ball to Omo who passed the ball to Chambers and then back to Jones. As the game progresses without many chances being made the supporters bayed at Jones to kick the damn thing upfield. Three out of ten was what I would give to those that started the match. These were Jones (gk), Omozusi, Whing, Cox, Dawson (capt), Chambers, Daniels, Spring, Téhoué, Kane, Barrett. My mate Jim before the match said that Téhoué should never start a match. Him and the other ten by this performance. Subs Butcher (gk), Crowe, Smith, Carroll, Mpoku, Revell, McGleish. Daniels got injured and was replaced by Crowe. McGleish replaced Téhoué and Mpoku replaced Chambers who had an awful game as for reason unknown Salde played him as a defender rather than a ball winning midfielder. Kane didn’t win a ball in the air all night but the forwards were badly served. Finally Mpoku got a penalty with the Daggers player red carded though it took him some time to find the touchline. McGleish scored the penalty. Now we had to rely on the teams above us losing rather than winning all ours. Slade said "It was a frustrating night because I thought we played some really good football at times. Some of our decisions weren't the greatest, but that's the way we play, out from the back, and we're not going to resort to hoofing it forward."That's what's got us to seventh place in the table and it would be ridiculous to start changing those tactics now." Trouble was that we didn’t get it out from the back! Yeovil were another team that beat us earlier in the season and they were struggling against relegation. They were also our next opponents. If Slade got it horribly wrong against Brentford and Brentford got their game plan right then so did Yeovil - with knobs on, but they did have help from the referee. We lost the first half 0-3 and the second half 1-2. Daniels was injured so instead of moving in another player he opted to drop Whing, bring in Crowe and Chorley, but Chorley had not even made the bench against Brentford. Team:1. Jamie Jones, 2. Elliot Omozusi 4. Ben Chorley 30. Adam Barrett 17. Jason Crowe, 8. Stephen Dawson 16. Matthew Spring 25. Thomas Carroll 7. Dean Cox, 9. Scott McGleish 18. Jonathan Téhoué. Subs:12. Lee Butcher (GK) 3. Andrew Whing 6. Terrell Forbes 10. Adam Chambers 11. Alex Revell 20. Jimmy Smith 29. Harry Kane. We went a goal down after nine minutes when at 30 yard volley from MacDonald hit the base of one upright and went in off the other. Four minutes later Spring got sent off following a tackle. The referee instead of instantly raising a red card took 30 seconds to decide. Dawson went off after 42 minutes to be replaced by Smith but not before the referee had given a handball penalty and MacDonald his hat trick. Forbes came on at half time, replacing Carroll who for me is a talented passer of the ball but that is all. His tackles are ineffected and marking non existent. Revell came on for Téhoué but did nothing to suggest he should have started the match. McGleish chased and harried all over the pitch. Cox was given a roving roll but most of his free kicks found the stands. His goal took a deflection on its way in. Chorley was hopeless. Every header found an opponent as did most clearances and passes. I would be surprised if Crowe was given a contract for next year. I pointed out to mate Mick that Chorley had been absent when we went four games without any goals against but he pointed out that he was playing in the other dozen or so when we were unbeaten. Ref: Geoff Eltringham may not be welcome back in Leyton. The Ilford Recorder summed it up best. Slade appealed against Spring’s sending off but it failed. Brown was to stay at Stockport a further month. They were bottom of the league. Iyseden Christie joined Nuneaton Town from Kettering. Carroll and Kane played for the England under 19’s but the crashed against the Dutch 3-0. Our next game was at the Valley where new manager Chris Powell was not having any luck than his predecessor had. McGleish put us one up scoring his 17th of the season and his 200th in his career. But it didn’t last long as we threw it away, or at least Jones did literally. Team: Jones; Omuzusi, Forbes, Barrett, Daniels; Cox, Smith, Dawson, Carroll; McGleish, Revell. Subs: Butcher, Whing, Crowe, Chambers, M'Poku, Tehoue, Kane. Chorley was injured and Spring suspended. After 50 minutes Charlton were level as Jones failed to hold on to a cross. The he threw the ball straight to Wright-Phillps whose shot went between Jones’ legs to give them the lead. Finally and unmarked Semedo headed home a third three minutes from time. Plymouth were bottom of the division thanks to administration. They were also £17m in debt. Whing replaced Forbes and Chambers replaced Carroll as we won 2-0 thanks to first half goals from McGleish and Cox, Revell was stretchered off on 40 minutes. We were still eighth from top three points from a play off place with a game in hand of sixth placed Bournemouth. But so had Rochdale one point above us and our next game was at home to Southampton in third spot. At the Orient AGM Slade made it clear he might not cut the grass to slow Southampton down. It didn’t work as we lost 0-2. Neither Rochdale or Bournemouth above won either. Some supporters were concerned that we had no plan B if the likes of Yeovil and Dagenham had sussed us out early. The plan B seemed to be to pump the ball high into the sky. Only works if we have someone who can head the ball. With the exception of McGleish we had no one. Neither Kane or Téhoué could. With nobody on the right side of the field all attacks were aimed to Cox on the left, Cox does not seem to rise to the big match. The Saints coped with ease, Jones (gk), Whing, Omozusi, Cox, Dawson, McGleish, Chambers, Daniels, Téhoué, Smith, Barratt. Subs: Butcher (gk), Forbes, Jarvis, Crowe (Smith 60), Carroll, Mpoku (Chambers 78), Kane (Téhoué 57). At the AGM Slade said nine players would be out of contract at the end of the season including youngsters. These would include McGleish, Jones, Jarvis. Chorley, Argent, Butcher, Omozusi though he has another year option. Whing and Crowe would also be out of contract. Jordan Spence was on loan to Bristol City. For the visit of Carlisle Smith and Chorley were missing through injury and Revell would be out for the rest of the season but Spring was back. Jones, Whing, Omozusi, Barrett, Daniels, Spring, Dawson, Chambers, Cox, McGleish, Kane. Subs: Butcher, Forbes, Jarvis, Crowe, Tehoue, Carroll, M’Poku. 0-0 at half time but Rochdale were beating Southampton 2-0. It stayed 0-0 and Rochdale replaced Bournemouth in a play off spot. Away at Exeter we fielded the same team: ORIENT (4-4-2): Jones; Whing, Omozusi, Barrett, Daniels; Chambers, Spring, Dawson, Cox; McGleish, Kane. Subs: Butcher, Forbes, Jarvis, Crowe, Tehoue, Odubajo. We lost 2-1 with Cox replying to two goals from Cureton. Next were Peterborough who looked liked to have booked a play off place scoring 92 league goals with Mackail-Smith scoring 25 of them. Can we contain them? Smith and Revell were out for the rest of the season and Chorley was still unfit. There were also doubts about Mpoku and Dawson. Cox had an awful afternoon. Crosses from the left, if that is what they were came in too high and two wide to make the far corner of the net or anyone wearing a red shirt. Kane was not at his best but the rest of the team played well. We went a goal up when Dawson’s cross was sliced into the top of the net by Zukani. Then lost the lead to an unmarked header. In the sixth minute of injury time Crowe (on for Daniels) threw the ball to Chambers then crossed for Jarvis who hit the woodwork earlier, to find a perfect header into the bottom of the net. Jones, Omozusi, Forbes, Barrett, Daniels, Kane, Dawson, Chambers, Cox, Spring, McGleish Subs - Butcher, Crowe (Daniels 92), Carroll, Odubajo, Whing, Jarvis (Kane 79), Tehoue (McGleish 31). Both Rochdale and Exeter were on 64 points, they same as us. Bournemouth were still three points away. At Carlisle Butcher, Omozusi, Forbes, Barrett, Daniels, Crowe, Dawson, Chambers, Cox (Jarvis 84), Spring, Tehoue (McGleish 70). Subs - Lovelock, Carroll, Odubajo and Kane played out a win to a Téhoué goal after 36 minutes. Butcher saved a penalty and Chambers hit the post. Elsewhere Rochdale lost at Charlton and Exeter at Tranmere. They (Tranmere) were to be our last opponents at home for the season. Bournemouth won. Their last games were Hartlepool away and Rochdale at home. Swindon were relegated. We were to play Preston, Chesterfield and Bury next season. Kevin Austin is on loan to Boston (from Darlington). We would gain either Wycombe or Shrewsbury from League Two and Sheffield United and Scunthorpe from the Championship if they maintain their positions. Goals from Wayne Gray and Adam Tann put Chelmsford City into a play off place. John Martin also plays for the Clarets. If you were to pick a team to get to the play offs then this would not be it, 1. Jamie Jones, 2. Elliot Omozusi, 6. Terrell Forbes, 7. Dean Cox, 8. Stephen Dawson (capt), 10. Adam Chambers, 13, Charlie Daniels, 16. Matthew Spring, 18. Jonathan Téhoué, 29. Harry Kane, 30. Adam Barrett. Subs: 3. Andrew Whing, 9. Scott McGleish, 12. Lee Butcher (GK), 14. Ryan Jarvis, 17. Jason Crowe, 25. Tommy Carroll, 27. Paul-Jose Mpoku, but Slade did but it was more his tactics that lost us the match 0-3. Cox played in midfield from what I could make out but he is not good enough for that position. Why pick Jones when Butcher had saved a penalty and kept a clean sheet the previous week. Bournemoth picked up a point at Hartlepool which meant they were in the play offs. Plymouth were relegated and they were our next opponents in the West Country, Jones and Smith were out but Chorley and Revell travel with the team. Bristol Rovers, Dagenham and Walsall were fighting relegation. Perm any two from three. Brown returned from relegated Stockport. 17 year-olds Odubajo and Lovelock have been offered contracts. Moses has a year-long deal, while Lovelock's contract will run for six months. The death of Eddie Lewis was announced and the Orient website had this to say “The club were saddened to learn of the death of former player Eddie Lewis, who passed away on Sunday (May 1st) at the age of 76. Lewis played for the O's between 1958 and 1964, making 164 appearances and scoring nine goals - including 41 League appearances in 1961/62, the season Orient gained promotion to the top flight. One of the Busby Babes of the 1950s, he made his name as a centre forward at Manchester United.He scored nine goals in 20 appearances for the Red Devils, before moving on to Preston North End for £9,000 in December 1955. Eddie came south to join West Ham United in 1956, helping them win promotion from the second division before doing the same at Brisbane Road. After being coverted to a full back by O's boss Alec Stock, he held a position at left back in the Orient side for several seasons, and moved on to Folkestone Town in May 1964. He later managed Clapton and Ford Sports in the Greater London League, and emigrated to South Africa in the 1970s, coaching several teams and also working as an analyst for TV sports station SuperSport. He sadly died in Johannesburg on Sunday after a long battle with cancer.” Fielding : Butcher; Omozusi, Forbes, Barrett, Daniels; Spring (Chorley 67); Dawson, Carroll (Chambers 80), Cox; Mpoku; McGleish (Revell 67) Subs: Whing, Crowe, Téhoué, Kane we trounced the relegated Pilgrims 1-4 with a penalty from McGleish, and goals from Cox and two from Revell. Bournemouth lost to Rochdale which meant we missed a play off place by one point and remained in seventh position. Bristol Rovers and Dagenham were relegated. Two goals from Luke Gutteridge sent Lincoln out of the League whilst Wycombe filled the third promotion place in League Two. So where did it all go right/wrong? No points during September didn’t help. Daniels was injured and we had Liddle on loan for one match before he got injured. Frampton lasted only half a match. Cestor also played two league games before Daniels returned. A four match spell picking up one point did not help in March/April. Some strange tactics decisions did not help, not playing Cox from minute one in the first game in 2011? When was the last time we had four strikers ending the season with their goal tally in double figures? McGleish 18, Revell 16, Cox 12 and Téhoué 11. Cox had 22 assists to his credit. So what of next season? Rumour has it that Jones wants away and we will not see the Spurs trio of Carroll, Kane and MPoku next as Redknapp has a policy of loaning players to teams in higher divisions though the only evidence of that is Townsend. Of the other loanees I would be happy for Barrett to be offered a contract though I do know that some don’t want that. I don’t know of any with a bad word for Whing. Crowe did not do anything for me. I would be happy if Chorley was let go but again some don’t share my view. To me he needs to stay in the middle rather than trying his luck elsewhere on the field. First game of the season proved that. Jones can go if he likes and I’m sure Butcher could easily fill his boots though he is also out of contract. McGleish must surely be given another year. Jarvis and Brown look doomed. Omozusi and Chambers both have a year option on their contracts. Loan players are now part of every team. At Brentford last Saturday in the 4-4 draw with Huddersfield seven of the goals were by loaned players and according to Soccerbase they have had 15 loaned players between them this season. Tuesday 10th May. Orient release McGleish, Brown, Jarvis and Beautyman. Chorley and Butcher both sign two year deals. Smith, Jones and Whing have been offered deals whilst Crowe is also in negotiation. Argent was offered a six month deal having spent most of the season injured. It will be interesting to see who Slade gets in to replace the 18 goal striker. I think he has made a mistake. No news on Barrett. Apparently youngster Josh Millwood has already left the club. One of the players linked to the O’s is 24 year-old ex Daggers striker Wesley Thomas. He scored 19 goals from 40(3) games for Cheltenham who have just released JJ Melligan. Another was 21 year-old Ollie Mann who scored 41 goals for Brantham Town for whom he scored 44 goals last season. Dagenham and Ipswich have also shown interest. Lots of players were being released on mass from Crewe (8), Lincoln (every player bar three), Portsmouth (10), Hartlepool (10 though not Adam Boyd), Hereford (seven including Patulea), Notts county (8) and league newcomers Crawley (8). May 17. Slade urges Jones, Smith and Whing to make up their minds on the contracts offered them. Morris signed another deal with Southend. Brown rejoined Aldershot with a two year deal. At Darlington Terry was offered another year long deal but not Kevin Austin. Andy Scott now manages Rotherham and has just released Luke Ashworth. James Scowcroft was considering continuing his pay-as-you-play deal at Bury. Barcham turned down a deal with Gillingham. Ex keeper Glyn Garner joined Bath City. Whing decided to join Oxford on a longer deal the the year long one we offered. Crowe had been offered terms. Yeovil left back Nathan Smith had, along with PNE and Chesterfield, linked with the O’s. He had been offered new terms with the west country club. Danny Rose of Newport County was also in the frame, again there were other clubs interested, they being MK Dons, Aldershot and Huddersfield. Rose also played for Oxford and was originally with Manchester United. Huddersfield will play Peterborough to decided who leaves our division and Stevenage will take on Torquay to see who joins us. Relegated Plymouth released nine players but Bristol Rovers beat that by eight and they don’t even have a manager. AFC Wimbledon gained league status after nine years in existence by beating Luton in a penalty shoot out. Their manager said that fan power got them there as they started without any money. Barnsley was refused permission to speak to Slade about the vacant managers job there. Alan Sugar reviewed the status of football in a BBC2 programme. His conclusions were there should not be any sugardaddys anymore and someone somewhere must cap the players wages. he reported that when the new owners of West Ham looked at the accounts some 90% was accounted for by players wages! He declined an offer from Karen Brady to invest in the Hammers. I’m not surprised. The employed Avram Grant for the start of last season on a four year contract then sacked him one game from the end of their relegated season. Everyone that Sugar interviewed absolved themselves of responsibility. From players (Alan Shearer) It’s nothing to do with me if they want to play me so much to managers (Harry Redknap) would has no idea how much his players are paid. The same went for directors to officials at the FA. One thing of note. when the Premier League was formed there were 13 foreign players, there are now over 300. Also Michel Platini the former French international, now a vice-president of Fifa was keen to have a wages cap based on turnover. That still means the top clubs attracting the top players. Clubs going into administration on a Tuesday yet are still playing on a Saturday was something else he had to change. You may be aware that when company’s go into administration what usually happens is the creditors agree to accept *p in the pound, but not the players nor the FA!! Peterborough beat Huddersfield 0-3 to gain promotion via the play offs. I would expect them to come straight back down if they lose their top scorer. Stevenage came up after beating Torquay in their final. My predictions for next season excluding the O’s and teams promoted/relegated are Bournemouth, Notts County, Oldham for the drop and Rochdale, Walsall, Brentford and Sheffield Wednesday to go the other way. Though to be honest it is a hard call as both Rochdale and Brentford start with new managers. Three if you count Notts County who only installed Martin Allen in the last couple of games of last season. June 3 Orient sign former Scottish B international Scott Cuthbert from Swindon on a two year deal. This from Vital Swindon. The 23 year-old former Celtic youth player can play at centre half or right back. Westley Thomas, see above, decided to join league newcomers Crawley rather than the O’s so all that nonsense about wanting to see if he could play in our league was just that. In the end big bucks talked. Still no news on Chambers, Smith and Jones signing their contracts. O’s were also interested in striker Elliot Benyon according to Vital Swindon. Tim O’Shea was out of work after leaving relegated Lewes. Justin Miller joined Chelmsford from Rushden. Hakan Hayrettin, is the new manager of Ryman League Division One North side Grays Athletic. Rushden were expelled from the Conference and were expected to go down two divisions. The 72 league clubs agreed adopt Uefa's financial fair play system. The Championship clubs agreed to work towards the new regulations being "developed and approved by the beginning of the 2012/13 season". League One clubs have also agree to introduce the Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) from next season, where teams will only be allowed to spend a fixed proportion of their total turnover on player wages. The SCMP already operates in League Two at the 60% threshold, which will be reduced to 55% from the summer. Read more. And here. The 38 year-old Kevin Austin joined Boston United whilst Steve Castle was let go from his managers position at St Albans City. No surprises who the bookmakers made as favourites to leave the division next season, Huddersfield, Charlton, both Sheffields, Preston and MK Dons are in the top six and best odds for the O’s at 33/1 the worst from William Hill 16/1. Yeovil, Tranmere, Stevenage and Hartlepool were the favourites to leave League One in the other direction. June 13. Jones signs a three year contract to stay with the O’s. Martin Ling is confirmed as the new manager at Torquay. June 16 Leon MacSweeney is signed on a two-year deal from Hartlepool where he had not been offered a new contract. Slade knew him from his days at Scarborough. The 27 year-old can play on the right side of midfield or at right back and had also played for Stockport, Leicester, Cork and several other non-league clubs. McSweeney has a degree in geography with sport and leisure management. Jimmy Smith was still dragging his feet on the new contract. Slade seemed unconcerned. Stockport released 11 players following their relegation from league football to the Blue Square Bet Premier League. What do I think of our prospects? Most clubs losing their top striker have been relegated! So watch out Peterborough if they let theirs go and Watford (Graham 24 goals) and Cheltenham (Thomas 19 goals) who have let theirs go. Seems we have filled three positions with the signing of two players but we have let go a top striker and a new one will need to be bedded in. Let’s not forget Parkin and Scowcroft. Ashley Bayes leaves Stevenage to coach. But signed for Basingstoke. Adam Newton who played ten games on loan from West Ham in 2002 has joined Working from Luton Town where he was released. Most of my information is gained from Non League Daily http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/index.php. There seems to be plenty of non league movement but all inter league. May be league players without clubs are playing a waiting game. 123 have been released from the Premiership alone. A bigger list is here. Alphabetically listed including Andy Barcham, Wayne Carlisle, Iyseden Christie, James Clapham and Luke Summerfield amongst 34 pages and twenty players a page. Even my maths makes that 680 players released and now without a club. Relegated Bristol Rovers have signed eight players so far! June 16. The players jetted off to Las Vegas without Jimmy Smith. Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient fail with attempts to review the decision to name West Ham as future occupants of the Olympic Stadium. The contract of Jason Demetriou was up at the end of June. He only played in 16 matches some 1068 minutes. June 28. If we wanted an experienced striker then we got one though swapping one 19 goals for last season of 37 years for one of 20 goals for last season of 35 years did not make too much sense. Jamie Cureton has scored 20 goal hauls five times and scored two against us last April. He joins on a years deal with another year option. Andy Barcham joined Scunthorpe. Jimmy Smith finally signed a two year deal. One ex player we won’t be fearing next season is McGleish as he joined relegated Bristol Rovers. One we will is Ryan Jarvis as he joined Walsall. Aiden Palmer left Bishops Stortford to join Chelmsford. Brian Saah left Cambridge and rejoined Martin Ling at Torquay. Michael Simpson joined Mickleover Sports in the Evo-Stik Premier Division. Last season he was with Eastwood Town. Tommy Taylor has been managing Belper Town since early May. Ashley Bayes was made a part time coach at Aldershot. Rumour has it Chambers may be considering a move to Dean Smith’s Walsall. From the Daily Star “LEYTON ORIENT will decide this week whether to offer a permanent deal to Kieran Djilali. The midfielder has been training with the League One side after quitting Crystal Palace”. Adam Barrett joined Bournemouth. July 11th Accrington Stanley skipper Andy Procter turned down a move to the Os but we got Millwall midfielder Marc Laird on a two-year contract. The 25 year-old Edinburgh born midfielder started his career at Manchester City and he tasted League One football with loan spells at Northampton Town and Port Vale before joining the Lions of Millwall in January 2008. Sean Thornton signed a three year deal with Ukrainian side Metalist Khairkiv who play in the Ukrainian Premier League (Premyer Liha). Braintree were beaten 1-3 in the first friendly of the season. Smith managed to get sent off for handball and Cox missed a penalty. Four trialists made up the squad, with former Crystal Palace midfielder Kieran Djilali, Leytonstone-born ex-Portsmouth man Tom Kilbey, former Brighton player Agustin Battipiedi and ex-Hamilton defender Dave Buchanan all getting a chance to impress. Djilali scored two and Téhoué the other. Wayne Gray joined Woking after Chelmsford could not compete on what they offered him. He scored 12 goals in 23 appearances for them as well as some for Cambridge. Locik Pires was having a trial with Crewe. He played for Welling last year. A team full of youngsters lost 3-0 at Ebbsfleet where Derek Duncan now plays. In Finland we won the first match 2-3 thanks to a late penalty from Daniels against Ilves. Cox and Revell scored the other two. The second match was easier as we put five past SJK with Porter getting a hat trick. Dawson and Smith got the other two. The final game against FF Jaro was drawn 2-2 again thanks to a late penalty this time from Chorley. We went 2-0 down before McSweeney pulled one back. Rumour had it that 20 year-old Djilali was impressing but Crystal Palace would be entitled to a fee for his development. Loick Pires had a trial with Crewe. He played for Welling last year. Ian Hendon became the Development Officer at West Ham. He was assistant manager at Gillingham. Jason Brown joined Aberdeen from Blackburn. Alan McCormack left Charlton Athletic by mutual consent. Swindon are reported to be interested in his services. Glen Morris was given another contract at Southend but Craig Easton was let go. Before the friendly at Dagenham Slade finally got the striker he wanted in the form of 26 year-old Republic of Ireland U23 striker David Mooney on a free transfer from Reading on a two year deal. He has only made 69 (11) league appearances on loan to Colchester, Charlton, Norwich and Stockport scoring 18 goals. He also played for Reading in the League Cup 3(2) scoring four goals. In the FA Cup last year he scored three goals in three games for Colchester. Dublin-born Mooney's early career was spent in his homeland, where he played for Shamrock Rovers, Longford Town and Cork City before earning his move to Reading in August 2008. The match at Dagenham was goalless, Derek Duncan was not offered a contract at Ebbsfleet as their manager doubted his fitness and commitment. He joined Working. Andros Townsend was hoping for a year long loan to Millwall where he played 11 games last season. Mooney scored in the 0-1 win at Gillingham. At home Spurs beat us 1-4. Dawson scored our goal. Injuries to Jones, Dawson, Mooney, Laird and Forbes forced Slade to get 19 year-old Newcastle midfielder Michael Richardson on a months loan. He had not played any league game for them. Away to Walsall was our first match. Six old O’s scored. McGleish took 17 minutes to open his account and then turned provider for another. Alexander and Lockwood scored penalties. Boyd, Jabbo and yes you’ve guessed it, Chambers scored the only goal against us from all of 30 yards. Team: 12 Butcher, 2 Omozusi, 4 Chorley, 5 Cuthbert, 11 Daniels, 7 Cox, 14 McSweeney (Richardson 69), 16 Spring, 20 Smith, 9 Revell (Tehoue 70), 10 Cureton (Porter 83). Substitutes: 19 Mike, 22 Odubajo. Smith was unlucky with two headers but Vital O’s was scathing of Spring. Our midfielders seem to have a defensive problem closing down the opposition. Too many long range goals were scored last season. Away to Southend in the Carling Cup was our next match. Only five substitutes are allowed in League but seven in the cup. Make sense? No me neither. McSweeney was injured so Richardson got his first start. He scored after 23 minutes but Southend equalised nine minutes later. Cureton was dropped to the subs bench and replaced by Téhoué. Added subs were Lovelock and Forbes. Téhoué got himself sent off after 59 minutes for violent conduct as we held on through extra time for a draw. Butcher was the hero of the day saving two penalties to see us through. Cox got himself booked for the second game in succession. Other bookings were for Omozusi and Butcher for time wasting, Richardson, Chorley and Cuthbert.. It would seem the injury problems that besieged us early last season are back. McSweeney would be out for a month. Téhoué started a three match ban. Another long range goal and the only one of the match saw Tranmere go home from Leyton with all the points. Cureton replaced Téhoué and Dawson replaced Richardson. Subs Forbes, Porter, Laird, Richardson, Mooney. Cox scored our first league goal but not before Wycombe took an eight minure lead. Dawson gave away a penalty to put them back in the lead. Grant gave them a 1-3 win. It looked to me that their last goal came from a cross from a midfield player we failed to pick up? We fielded the same team. Jones would be out of action for up to six months. He needed a shoulder operation. Bottom of the league with no points from three matches. Next match was away at Brentford. August 17. I attend the funeral of Lou Day a stalwalt of the Supporters Club having been on the committee since 1981. More details here. Cestor joins Woking on a months loan. Scowcroft is still playing for Bury Town. Beautyman joined Sutton. Leon Constantine now plays for Braintree. Téhoué, Jones and McSweeney were still out. Slade’s answer was to drop Spring and Cureton to the bench and replace them with Richardson and Mooney. Another long range goal from Brentford was followed by another four. Surely replacing an experienced midfielder with a 19 year-old in a losing side is not a good move? Last time we lost 5-0 was at the start of the year against Brighton and that kicked off our season. Repeat please. Slade arranged a practice match against a Spurs 11. Histon signed striker Kaine Sheppard on a work experience deal. Their manager said “Orient hold him in high regard and he is well known to the staff here at the Club. He's a target man type of forward and that gives us different options up front and a bit more depth in the squad. It's a good signing for us and I'm pleased he's joined”. Slade’s solution to the problem was to sign Spurs goalkeeper David Button on loan though he had never played for Tottenham. He had been on loan with six other league teams plus Grays and Luton, He also appeared to be interested in Petr Bolek. Harry Beautyman joined Sutton. Leon Constantine now plays for Braintree. Jamie Clapham who played six games for us on loan from Spurs in 1997 has completed his move to Blue Square Bet Premier side Kettering Town. Birmingham paid Ipswich £1.3m in 2003. Luke Summerfield joined Cheltenham. Dunfermline Athletic have agreed terms with former Dundee United midfielder Craig Easton. Four games and no points became five games with no points as Smith put us in the lead only for us to give it away three minutes from time, Team:Button; Omozusi, Chorley, Cuthbert, Daniels; Smith, Dawson, McSweeney (Laird 78), Cox; Mooney (Tehoue 65), Cureton (Revell 82). Subs: Forbes, Revell, Laird, Téhoué, Richardson. Chorley backing off lead to their first goal whilst a long range free kick saw Button flapping at the ball which then hit the crossbar and the Button pushed it into the path of Miller who planted it into the empty net. Why Forbes is not playing is beyond me. For my money he is a better player and more mobile than Chorley. If Cureton is to score 20 league goals he needs to start getting a move on We were the only league team without any points after Crewe won at Plymouth. Some crazy results. Brentford after beating us 5-0 lost 0-2 at home to Tranmere. Peterborough won 2-7 at Ipswich then lost 2-0 at Brighton though they are the Championship leaders. First managerial casualty of the season. Foolishly they have appointed one team wonder Phil Parkinson who after doing well at Colchester has been found out at Hull and Charlton. Prove me wrong. A break from the league next as we faced Bristol Rovers and Scott McGleish in the league cup. For this game Omozusi was favoured ahead of Forbes and dropped to the bench along with Odubajo, Laird, Téhoué, Richardson, Porter and Butcher. Revel injured? Spring? Mooney put us ahead after 17 minutes from an assist from Cox. After 22 minutes Mooney was fouled in the box and Chorley converted the penalty. Cuthbert was replaced by Laird after 38 minutes. Omozusi came on for McSweeney after 64 minutes. Four minutes later Rovers get a goal back. Téhoué replaces Mooney on 81 minutes. On time Rovers equalise. The assist came from McGleish. Nearly four minutes into extra time Dawson scores from an assist by Cox. Blackburn away in the next round. You might have thought we would be involved in the transfer market on deadline day. You would be right but the sale of Revel on a two year deal for an undisclosed fee (£75,000 was mentioned by one website) to Rotherham would not have featured I imagine. Slade mentioned it was a good long term contract and the club’s website mentioned that half his goals for us came in a two month spell. The website also confirmed that Slade would again be using the loan market. Slade said on teamtalk.com "We've agreed for a player to join us on loan once the loan window opens next week, and we'll also look to bring in further loans at that time too”. The problem that I see is that two players have left the club scoring over 30 goals between them yet the new men have only managed one goal after seven games. Time to kick start the season. The next two league games were away. The first to Chesterfield just above us on one point then Colchester with seven, A Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game at home against Dagenham in between. We got our first point in a goalless draw. The policy of playing from the back nearly went awry when Butcher rolled the ball our to a dozing Daniels who promptly lost possession. Revell took 21 minutes to scored for Rotherham and followed it up with a second but it was not enough to stop the Millers losing to Swindon. Makes you wonder about Slade’s tactics for him after six games and no goals this season. Team:Butcher; Omozusi, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; Laird, J Smith, Dawson, Cox; Mooney, Cureton. Substitutes: McSweeney, Porter, Tehoue, Odubajo, Richardson. Button had a shoulder injury. Fitness doubts of the Dagenham game: Dean Cox and Leon McSweeney Cox has been suffering with a virus since the weekend, while McSweeney has complained of a problem with his back. The duo could be joining Scott Cuthbert (calf), Matthew Spring (groin) and David Button (shoulder) on the sideline. Richardson went back to Newcastle. After about 28 extra time penalties we went out of the JP Trophy after Mooney’s goal in the 88th minute got us a draw. Slade’s answer was to offer Kevis Lisbie a four month contract, loaned Tom Clarke from Huddersfield for four months and Ben Alnwick from Spurs on a months loan as cover for Jones and Button. Team 12. Lee Butcher, 2. Elliot Omozusi (Odubajo 64), 4. Ben Chorley, 6. Terrell Forbes, 7. Dean Cox, 8. Stephen Dawson (capt) (McSweeney 46), 11. Charlie Daniels, 17. Marc Laird, 18. Jonathan Téhoué (Porter 74), 20. Jimmy Smith, 39. David Mooney. Subs: 14. Leon McSweeney, 15. George Porter, 22. Moses Odubajo, 23. Billy Lobjoit, 24. Tom Lovelock (GK). Only 1,420 saw the match despite a £10 entrance fee. We had 62% of the play according to the BBC. Chorley missed the 28th penalty. The three new players started the match at Colchester.Team: Alnwick; Cuthbert, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; Smith, Clarke, Spring, Cox; Mooney, Lisbie. Subs: Butcher, McSweeney, Porter, Laird, Odbajo. Téhoué, Omozusi, Cureton and Dawson all injured We had 61% of the play according to the BBC website. Smith scored 30 seconds into extra time to give us a draw. Laird came on for Spring after 79 and Porter for Lisbie on 74. Porter supplied the pass to Smith for his goal. I have to say having seen Porter’s run before supplying the pass for Smith to score was probably worth the entrance fee. Picking up the ball near the touchline he beat two players before entering the goal area, beating another two before sliding the ball accross the face of the goal leaving the unmarked Smith to tap home. I’m not surprised he has been on the bench ahead of more experienced players, Slade said: "George's impact was the sort of impact that we want, and the sort of impact we had [from the bench] from one or two players last season."He's come on here and been terrific. He did well the other night too, getting us back in the game there and he's done the same today." Bournemouth got hammered 0-3 at home to Chesterfield and they were our Tuesday opponents at Brisbane Road followed by a second home match to Oldham. Ex O’s scoring were Boyd and McLean for Hull against his old club Peterborough whilst those sent off were Jabbo and Barcham. Against Bournemouth we fielded Alnwick; Cuthbert, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; Smith, Clarke, Spring, Cox; Mooney, Lisbie. Subs: Omozusi, Butcher, McSweeney, Porter, Laird. We still lost 1-3 with a own goal from a shot by Cox. Cuthbert got sent off to add to Slade’s woes. His job is safe said Hearn. With Cuthbert starting a three match ban Lisbie was now injured. Porter was bought in for his first start against Oldham. On the bench, second-year scholar Billy Lobjoit was included. Injured were Stephen Dawson, Jamie Cureton and Jonathan Téhoué. Team: Alnwick; Omozusi, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; T Clarke, Spring, Smith, Cox; Mooney, Porter. Subs: Butcher, McSweeney, Laird, Odubajo, Lobjoit. Porter scored after 18 minutes but we still lost 1-3. We went out of the League Cup up at Blackburn 3-2. Omozusi gave away a penalty and though Mooney equalised from a Porter pass we gave away wo more goals before Cox scored off the upright. Yet another injury to a goalkeeper meant Butcher returned. Team:Butcher; Omozusi, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; Clarke, Smith, Spring, Cox; Mooney, Porter. Subs: McSweeney, Laird, Cestor, Odubajo, Lobjoit, Lovelock. In the next four weeks we play the three teams that were relegated last season, Preston, Scunthorpe and Sheffield United but first travel to Huddersfield. Stephen Dawson (ankle) and striker Kevin Lisbie (thigh) resumed training on Thursday and will be handed fitness tests. Defender Scott Cuthbert is still suspended, on-loan midfielder Tom Clarke cannot play against his parent club, Jamie Cureton (groin) remains doubtful and fellow forward Jonathan Tehoue is still missing with a broken wrist. This was the team we put out with Daniels and now Smith out through injury. 12. Lee Butcher, 2. Elliot Omozusi, 4. Ben Chorley, 6. Terrell Forbes, 7. Dean Cox, 8. Stephen Dawson (capt), 14. Leon McSweeney, 15. George Porter, 16. Matthew Spring, 17. Marc Laird, 39. David Mooney (Lisbie 70). The lack of players meant only four substitues were named 9. Kevin Lisbie, 19. Mike Cestor, 22. Moses Odubajo, 24. Tom Lovelock (GK). We went two down before their player McCombe was sent off for an off-the-ball incident with Porter. A minute later Lisbie headed a goal and three minutes into injury time Chorley smashed home the equaliser from outside the box. Their first goal came from a cross despite the attentions of Omozusi and Cox. Ball watching again let the team down as another midfield player crashed home a 25 yarder. Dawson blamed the players and one newspaper pointed out that there were a lot of players out of contract at the end of the season. By my reckoning these were Omozusi, Tehoue, Daniels, Dawson, Forbes, Spring, Cox, Porter. Jamie Cureton, Scott Cuthbert and Tom Clarke all come back into contention after injury, suspension and ineligibility for the visit of Preston.Clarke came in for Omozusi and Lisbie replaced Mooney who was named as substitute along with Lovelock, Laird, Cestor and Cureton. Preston had their best start to the season since 1959 and things looked good when they went a goal up in two minutes. Spring lost the ball in the Preston half and McSweeney failed in his attempt at a tackle which allowed the cross for the goal. God knows who should have marking the scorer but neither Chorley or Forbes were within five yards of him. Good work by Lisbie saw his pass take a deflection and sit up nicely for Cox to head home the equaliser. A minute into added time saw Cox take a pass from Dawson and shoot home from 25 yards. In the second half Cuthbert gave away a penalty which my man of the match Butcher saved and followed it up with a brave piece of keeping at the feet of a North End player. Relief and the biggest cheer of the season greeted the signal for time. We did not get off the bottom of the table but on six points we had three clubs above us on eight points. McSweeney and Clarke did not do enough for me to warrant their inclusion but I’d suggest neither were playing in their best position. For my money we need a left and right back. Omo and Daniels are wasted where they are. How were the ex O’s strikers doing? Not very well. McGleish, Revell and Jarvis did not appear on the score sheets. Of the injured only Cureton would be fit for the visit to Scunthorpe. Tehoue would be out till Christmas. That’s what some websites said but both Daniels and Omo were fit but now Chorley and Porter were injured. Team: 12. Lee Butcher, 5. Scott Cuthbert, 6. Terrell Forbes, 7. Dean Cox, 8. Stephen Dawson (capt), 9. Kevin Lisbie, 11. Charlie Daniels, 14. Leon McSweeney, 16. Matthew Spring, 25. Tom Clarke, 39. David Mooney. Subs: 2. Elliot Omozusi, 10. Jamie Cureton, 17. Marc Laird, 19. Mike Cestor, 24. Tom Lovelock (GK). We went into half time one done thanks to old loanee Barcham. More bad marking, this time from Forbes allowed his strike. A minute from the restart Lisbie put us level then followed it up five minutes later heading home a cross from Dawson. Cubert made it 1-3 only for Barcham to score his second two minutes later. Back to back wins took us off the bottom as most of the teams above us could only draw. Also on nine points were Wycombe and Yeovil followed by three teams on 11 points. Alnwick was loaned for a further two months. West Ham’s bid to occupy the Olympic Stadium stalled because ot the legal challenges of Spurs and Orient and an anonymous complaint to the European Commission, claiming that the £40m being provided by Newham Council to West Ham represented "state aid". The Metro had this to say “So how did the Olympic Stadium plans end up in this mess? When the plans for the stadium were first drawn up no one grasped the nettle and admitted there would be problems covering the cost of running the stadium after the Games unless a football club was involved. A proper solution would have been retractable seating to cover the running track when needed – but, strangely, that was never seriously considered. Read more. Bury had the same form as us, two wins and a draw in their last three matches. We fielded the same team and the only change was on the substitutes bench where Porter replaced Cestor. Mooney was playing in Revel’s position - on the wing. Collecting a pass there he sent it in low where Cox slotted home after a minute of added time in the first half. That is the way it remained with Porter replacing Mooney after 78 minutes,. Twelve points from13 matches was just one point less as the same stage was where we were last season. There were three clubs on 12 points and two each on 13 and 14. Next match was home to Sheffield United and they were fifth. I don’t often comment on referees but in this instant it is warranted. Even Slade refused to comment but said there were some 20 decisions they were not happy about. We were unchanged and goalless at half time and ref Oliver Langford seemed to want to book no one. That changed in the second half when the booked five players and sent off Danels for a double footed tackle in the 76th minute though the TV showed that he lead with one foot. The inevitable happened eight minutes later when McSweeney failed to cut out a cross into the box and Dawson failed to clear the resulting shot on goal. Laird had replaced Clarke at half time and Slade chose to remove Mooney for Omo to take Daniels position. Porter replaced Spring ten minutes later. With six minutes estra time played their goalie punched out the ball to Lisbie and his shot found the far corner of the net. Cue ref to book Lisbie!! Tuesday night we travel to Yeovil who are bottom of the table. We are on 13 with Rochdale and two clubs on 14 points. We would be without Clarke and Daniels was out for the next three matches (Yeovil and Rochdale away and home to Hartlepool). Though he was on the pitch for 20 minutes it was obvious why Omozusi was not playing regularly. Elliot Omozusi or Mike Cestor could step in at left back. Ben Chorley is still suffering with a thigh problem, while Ben Alnwick (groin), Jonathan Téhoué (wrist), Jamie Jones and David Button (both shoulder) are all out. Sven-Goran Eriksson became the second ex England manager to leave his job this season. He left Leicester and Steve McClaren left Notts Forest as couple of weeks back. The team: 12 Butcher, 05 Cuthbert, 06 Forbes, 19 Mike, 07 Cox, 08 Dawson, 14 McSweeney, 16 Spring, 17 Laird, 09 Lisbie, 39 Mooney, Substitutes: 24 Lovelock, 15 Porter, 20 Smith, 22 Odubajo, 10 Cureton. No place for Omo then? Just before the half hour Mooney headed his first league goal from a Cox cross. Two goals in four minutes meant we went into the break 2-1 down. Cuthbert gave away a penalty that was missed. Laird was replaced by Porter in the 63rd minute and a minute later Smith replaced Cestor. On 70 minutes Cureton replaced Lisbie. Mooney scored his second goal from the penalty spot after Porter was fouled. We were still 19th and there were three other teams on 14 points. For the visit to Rochdale Slade bought in Smith for Cestor and Porter for Laird. Team: 12 Butcher, 05 Cuthbert, 06 Forbes, 07 Cox, 08 Dawson, 14 McSweeney, 16 Spring, 20 Smith, 15 Porter, 09 Lisbie, 39 Mooney, Substitutes: 24 Lovelock, 19 Cestor, 17 Laird, 22 Odubajo, 10 Cureton. It worked. Smith headed home Cox’s corner after 12 minutes. Cureton then relaced Lisbie on 24 following a heavy challenge. Twenty minutes into the second half and Mooney made it 0-2 following a fine run and pass by porter to Cureton whose pull back found the oncoming Mooney who chose his spot for his sixth of the season. Laird replaced Spring three minutes later and Odubajo came on for Porter on 90. A rare match where only one player in an Orient shirt got booked. Just as well as the team have 30 bookings between them with Omo and McSweeney near a suspension on four bookings each. That took us up to 17th on 17 points behind two teams on 18 both of which we have beaten (Bury and Scunthorpe). There is a four point gap between places 14 and 15 where there are three teams on 22, Oldham, Colchester and our next hone opponents Hartlepool who lost at home 0-4 to league leaders Charlton. Can we beat the Pools and make it eight games unbeaten against five goal Adam Boyd. I omitted this bit from July. I saw the obituary for Ruth Gimson on the the 1st July. Ruth and husband Stan ran the supporters club when it was under the East Stand. It later became the players bar as we moved to the Coronation Gardens corner. My scrapbook for 1972 reveals that Ruth and Stan resigned from the supporters club committee along with George Taylor and Dave Randlesome following a disagreement with the Orient board who wanted to hand the running of the bar into the hands of caterers Pat Doran & Sons who already ran the other bars at the ground. The article which I dated at 14th July ended with a quote from Mr Briggs (a then director) as saying that "there was no truth in the rumour that Orient Supporters Club was to have a new clubhouse" which is not what he said four years earlier when the plan was to knock down the south terrace to provide one! Stan died some years back but not before he earned an MBE. I thought we would start the Hartlepool game with the same team that finished the match at Rochdale and for the third game in succession would play against an ex player, Purse and Adams being the other two. but despite nothing on the internet to the contrary both Butcher and Spring were non starters and Boyd was an unused sub. Alnwick and Clarke replaced them, Team: 26 Alnwick, 05 Cuthbert, 06 Forbes, 07 Cox, 08 Dawson, 14 McSweeney, 25 Clarke, 20 Smith, 15 Porter, 10 Cureton, 39 Mooney, Substitutes: 24 Lovelock, 19 Cestor, 17 Laird, 22 Odubajo, 02 Omozusi. Could this be the reason for Omozusi’s recent absence? It was based on this article in the Evening Standard. We went a goal up on 23 minutes as Cox scored his sixth of the season but the problems of defenders not knowing what their job was reared its ugly head again as neither Forbes or Clarke (playing at right back) seemed to know who was marking who and the the indecision lead to Forbes tripping up a defender to give Pools a point from the penalty spot. Neither goalie had much to do but after 20 minutes it was easy to see Alnwick was well short of match practice. With Bury and Bournemouth winning we were down to 18th on 18 points with Scunthorpe. FA Cup was the next home match against Bromley who had sold over 1000 tickets.. For the fourth match in a row we had the potential to face a former player, this time Joe Dolan. The team against Bromley 26. Ben Alnwick, 5. Scott Cuthbert, 6. Terrell Forbes, 7. Dean Cox, 8. Stephen Dawson (capt), 11. Charlie Daniels, 14. Leon McSweeney, 15. George Porter, 16. Matthew Spring, 20. Jimmy Smith, 39. David Mooney. Subs: 2. Elliot Omozusi, 10. Jamie Cureton (Cox 35), 12. Lee Butcher (GK), 17. Marc Laird (Spring 81), 19. Mike Cestor, 22. Moses Odubajo (Porter 76), 23. Billy Lobjoit. Clarke was not allow to play as Huddersfield did not want him cup tied. Spring scored a 25 yarder in the seventh minute. Leon McSweeney freed George Porter down the right and the winger sprinted 60 yards before chipping over Forecast (their keeper) 12 minutes into the second half. Smith added a third 11 minutes from time when a Moses Odubajo shot bounced back from the crossbar into his path. For the third time this season the opponents lost a player following clashes with Porter though this time Porter was booked for the part he played. Cox was expected to be out four to six weeks. McSweeney was due a suspension following his booking and Omozusi and Cuthbert were on four bookings each. We were to play the winners of Bournemouth v Gillingham in the next round but we have to play Stevenage at home then away at Sheffield Wednesday before then. Bournemouth bid £60,000 for Daniels but Orient were reported not to be interested. But there has been a rumour he wants away in the January window and will stick in a transfer request, Bournemouth a step in the right direction? What I expected Slade to do was push Smith into the right back position and bring Clarke back which is what he did plus Lisbie replaced Cox. Omozusi? He was doing two and a half years for witness intimidation. He is the third player to be in trouble on Hearn’s watch. Palmer and Stanislaus being the others. There is a common denominator for these three but you may need a photo to see it. No news from the club on this sorry affair. Another ex player Jason Demetriou played for Cyprus against Scotland, was booked after nine minutes and substituted at half time. Seems he has been converted to right back which may explain his eight bookings and no goals? If you think we have troubled players then spare a thought for East Stirlingshire who has had a player suspended for 14 games. We extended our unbeaten run to nine league games after a goalless draw against Stevenage. Team: 26. Ben Alnwick, 5. Scott Cuthbert, 6. Terrell Forbes, 8. Stephen Dawson (capt), 11. Charlie Daniels, 25 Clarke, 15. George Porter, 16. Matthew Spring, 20. Jimmy Smith, 9 Lisbie, 39. David Mooney. Substitutes 12 Butcher, 19 Mike, 17 Laird, 22 Odubajo, 10 Cureton (Mooney 73). Could we make it ten? Away to Sheffield Wednesday who were third in the table may be a game too far? I’m not particularly enamoured with Alnwick or Clarke but a condition of their loan may be that they have to play? Joe Keith has decided to leave East Thurrock United to join Ryman League Premier Division rivals Aveley. Tommy Taylor resigned as manager of Belper Town in Sepetmber We were reported to have signed winger Lee Cook from QPR on a months loan whilst George Porter was being chased by Millwall, Notts Forest and Ipswich. Porter is out of contract in the summer and £500,000 was the sum being bandied about according to the Evening Standard. Daniels signed for Bournemouth for a six figure fee but I’m still not sure that is a move in the right direction if you want to play in the championship, The BBC seemed to believe the deal was worth £200,000. We wouldn’t be playing Bournemouth in the cup though as Gillingham had beaten them. Slade loaned Tony Craig a 26 year-old left back from Millwall. Craig has agreed an initial loan until December 31 and will go straight into the Os' squad for Saturday's trip to Sheffield Wednesday. Meanwhile, Orient have confirmed they have terminated the contract of defender Elliot Omozusi. Slade put both loanees into the team replacing Daniels and Cox with them. McSweeney came back into the side following his suspension. Porter reverted to the subs bench along with Chorley, Laird, Butcher and Cureton. Team: 26. Ben Alnwick, 3. Craig 5. Scott Cuthbert, 6. Terrell Forbes, 25 Clarke, 14. McSweeney 16. Matthew Spring, 20. Jimmy Smith, 21 Cook 9 Lisbie, 39. David Mooney. We were a goal down on 19 minutes. Laird replaced Mooney at half time with Porter replacing Cook 20 minutes later. Cureton replaced Smith seven minutes from time but it was not enough to carry on our unbeaten run. With Exeter winning it put us down to 18th in the table. FA Cup action next week. Slade signed a contract to keep him in E10 until the end of the 2013/14 season. Lisbie signed one for 18 months. I thought Craig, Cook and Clarke would not appear in an FA Cup game but Huddersfield were no longer in it so he and Cook played. I thought Slade would just put Smith to full back and bring back fit again Dawson but no, he made a complete mess of it and put out Alnwick, Chorley (Forbes 46), Cuthbert, Clarke, McSweeney, Matthew Spring, Cook, Lisbie, Dawson, Porter (Mooney 79), Laird (Cureton 46) with subs Forbes, Butcher, Cestor, Smith, Cureton, Lobjoit and Mooney. Just on half time we went a goal down. There were at least five off side decisions against us in the first half and Cureton did get the ball into the net but again it was ruled offside. I’m not happy with any performance from the men on loan. Cook looked unfit and never a Championship player, Clarke’s passing no better than any other player we have. In goal Alnwick had one particular nightmare and was lucky to get away with it. Home to Exeter next and I home Slade plays Cureton from minute one as he looked very sharp. Forbes for Chorley would be another selection I would make. Why he does not play Cestor is beyond me. He plays for the French Under 19s so must be of some use. If he is not good enough then get rid of him if not play him. The Exeter game would be the last for Clarke and Alnwick and I thought they would play, Slade thought otherwise and fielded Butcher, Forbes, Cuthbert, Craig, McSweeney, Spring, Cook, Lisbie, Dawson, Cureton, Smith with subs Porter, Laird, Clarke, Téhoué and Mooney. Exeter were a big bruising side and came fro a draw and for 65 minutes it looked like they would get it. The ref D’Urso seemed to let Exeter get away with just about everything from throw ins nowhere near where the all went off to letting their big lump of a number five Archibald-Henville clatter Dawson into the hoarding. The O’s forwards were jumping like gazelles out of the way of sliding tackles the likes of which Daniels got sent off for. A dubious hand ball which was not even clear on the TV saw Lisbie fire home a penalty. On 73 minutes Téhoué and Porter came on for Cook and Cureton and in two minutes Téhoué made it two nil as Lisbie crossed for him the head into an empty net. That was his second goal in five days having scored for the reserves in the week in a game against QPR which saw Porter dust himself down to score a penalty. It happened again as the big lump grabbed him around the waist to give away another penalty. Lisbie converted to make it 3-0 and put us up to 17th in the table. A place and four points above us was Oldham. They were one of five lubs on 26 points with another two on 27. Ex O’s on the score sheet were Revell, Church (2 against West Ham), Barcham, Alexander and Jabbo. We fielded the same team against Notts County whilst subs were Porter, Laird, Lobjoit, Téhoué and Mooney. A minute before half time Dawson seized onto a failure to control the ball by a County player to take the ball on a couple of paces and fire home from outside the box. In the second half Cook came off for Porter on 77, Lisbie for Tehoue on 83 and Cureton Mooney 66. Two minutes af4er coming on Téhoué scored. Another County defender failed to clear the ball and in nipped Mooney who cleverly reverse passed the ball for Téhoué to out muscle another defender to make it tow nil. There was only one player we needed to mark and that was Hughes L but two minutes after Téhoué’s goal he pulled one back for County. Three minutes into extra time McSweeney was judged to have tripped Hughes J and a penalty was awarded. Butcher saved the spot kick by Hughes J and the header that followed it. The win did not send us any further up the table and came at a cost as Dawson, Mooney, McSweeney, Spring and Butcher were booked as well as McSweeney being sent off. So the big Exeter Archibald-Henville kicked Dawson into the hoarding, gave away one penalty after the ball struck his arm then hauled Porter down to give away the second penalty but escapes with no caution at all. If referees want respect they need to be more consistent. By the way he was also at fault for the second goal, not a good afternoon for him. Next two matches were at home and would be tough as MK Dons were fifth in the table and Charlton top. Cook extended his loan for a further month and talks were in progress to do the same for Craig. I invited the Leyton Orient Supporters Club chairman Dave Dodd to take a look at this web page and he said he thought the text was too small so I will rectify that for 2012 but in the meantime if you find it small then press down your Ctrl button and tap the + button on your keyboard to enlarge it. Tap - to reduce it back. Neil Aspin, manager of Blue Square Bet North side FC Halifax Town, has boosted his squad with the signature of former Rotherham United and Leyton Orient defender Luke Ashworth on a non contract basis. Former Leyton Orient striker Efe Echanomi has signed for Waltham Forest. Echanomi scored eight goals in his three-and-a-half years with the Brisbane Road side but saw much of his time at the club blighted by a freak leg break while warming up as a substitute. The 25-year-old joins up with Forest after spells with Tiptree United and Grays Athletic. Some poor marking, sure sign Chorley was back in the team and the inevitable 30 yard goal meant we lost 0-3. McSweeney was replaced by Chorley following his one match suspension and this was the only change to the starting line up. Subs were Button, Porter (Spring 60), Laird, Téhoué (Cureton 60) and Mooney (Lisbie 78). Harry Kane was loaned to Millwall but it did not help them as they lost by a goal to Palace. Cox was reported to be a fortnight off of fitness but he was named a sub for the visit of top of the table Charlton Athletic. The table appears to be split in three with the top eight clubs with points ranging from 51 to 35 (Carlisle). The bottom eight 15 to 28 (us) with only seven points between us and Carlisle. Butcher, Forbes, Cuthbert, Chorley, McSweeney, Spring, Cook, Lisbie, Dawson, Smith, Mooney with subs Cox (Cook 81), Cureton, Porter, Laird, Téhoué (Mooney 72). Craig had been recalled by Millwall.The Addicks had over double the 25 points we had. It did not start well for them as their goalie was sent off after 5 minutes for hand ball. Then Spring got on the score sheet against his former club with a shot that took a deflection. And that is how it stayed. Away to Stevenage and Carlisle were the next two matches and they were 6th and 8th in the table. So that was the end of the action for 2011. Button returned a week early to Spurs who promptly loaned him to Doncaster. Spurs also loaned Andros Townsend to Leeds. We in the meantime signed left back Adam Chicksen from MK Dons on a months loan. He has already played 15 time for them this season so he does not come as a rookie. Previous page. Next page.

Lisbie’s first from a Mooney pass.

Lisbie’s second from a Dawson cross.

Cuthbert makes it three.