Previous page. Right:: Supporters applauding Prichard’s goal. He could have had a second but his shot grazed the bar. Charlie Hasler in the centre. Dagenham away in the next round. No game Saturday so Vincelot will miss the match at home against Colchester in a weeks time. Also missing will be Lisbie for three months after shoulder surgery, Cox (medial knee ligament), James (thigh), Sawyer with tendonitis and with this in mind Slade got midfielder Michael Petrasso from QPR. The 20 year-old Canadian has only played 20 league and cup games. Last year he was on loan to Oldham and Coventry. Victor Adeboyejo scored his seventh goal in as many league games as Leyton Orient youth team drew 1-1 at Peterborough United. The reserves drew 2-2 at home to AFC Wimbledon where we fielded a combination of scholars and trialists. Harry Lee and Andis Nikolaou were the only members of the first team squad on display and the former duly wore the captain’s armband. Orient: Bridle-Card, Ling, Adams, Lee (C), Nikolaou, Humphrey, Kashket (Adeboyejo 58) + four trialists. (Semedo for trialist A 36) (Agyemang for trialist B 58) Subs: Sargeant, Adeboyejo, Agyemang, Moncur, Clark. Goals: trialist 10, Kashket 30. Read more at September 13 Home to managerless Colchester. Can’t beat ten men. A potential banana skin is how I described this match in the Supporters Club before the match. Colchester were down to tne men for all of the second half and we let in two goals without reply. Bartley was stuffed for pace for their first goal but where were Cuthbert, Clarke and Baudry? Baudry lost possession for the second. I have to say that Slade’s tactics were off by a mile. Mooney played James’ position in midfield just in front of the defence and Dagnall replaced him up from. If Cox was fit enough for the bench then he was fit enough to start. Ditto Batt. My man of the match Henderson toiled away but there were precious few chances made let alone taken. Pretrasso made his debut but his crosses left a lot to be desired as did Cox’s when he came on. Team: Woods, Lowry, Clarke, Cuthbert, Baudry, Pritchard, Bartley. Mooney, Dagnall, Pretrasso, Henderson. Subs : Grainger, Lee, Omozusi, Simpson (Cuthbert 82) McAnuff(Petrasso 69), Batt, Cox( Bartley 65) . On BBC’s Football League Show they announced that it was reported that the Orient director of football said Slade’s job was on the line if we did not win on Tuesday at Notts County. Let me see if I have got this right. We are still in two cup competitions beating a Premiership club in the process but because we have won one, drawn three and lost two and are 20th in the table that is deemed sackable. The trouble with Johnny Foreigner is they are not British. No stiff upper lip, no “Don’t panic Mr Mainwaring” Francesco Becchetti should be made to look at the last ten minutes of Carry On Up The Khyber to see what the British are about. Makes Hearn seem like an all round good egg. I have to say that signing top players and then not playing them seems strange. McAnuff, Henderson and Simpson should all be starting matches. Slade’s record: Played: 240 Won: 102 Drawn: 61 Lost: 77 September 16 Away to Notts County. Down to penalties. One thing Slade did not want was to give away a penalty after 25’. But that was exactly what Clarke did and got himself booked in the bargain. Luckily we also got one on 51’ which Dagnall put away. Back came Omozusi and Vincelot and whilst warming the bench were Bartley and Baudry. Team: Woods, Lowry, Clarke, Cuthbert, Omozusi, Pritchard, McAnuff, Vincelot, Mooney, Dagnall, Pretrasso. Subs : Grainger, Baudry, Simpson (Dagnall 81) Batt, Cox(Pretrasso 69), Bartley, Henderson(Mooney 69). In the event Slade did not get the sack. His teams notoriously start the season slowly, except last year. This years record in all competitions is played nine, won three, drawn four and lost two. Two of the draws were against teams in the top four. What more does Johnny Foreigner want. Maybe he has some Italian mate lined up for the job. Seems to me that the leagues are full of foreign managers and I have to ask why. Not all of them do that well, ask any Spurs fan. Away to Scunthorpe next who are just below us in the table. This from Shoot.co.uk Slade treatment disgusting September 18, 2014 By Chris Wood – @Chriswoodlofc, Shoot’s Leyton Orient blogger “He’s got no hair but we don’t care!” is often heard at Leyton Orient matches in a light hearted jab at Russell Slade’s lack of locks. Though it now appears that several important figures at Brisbane Road do seem to care as this can surely be the only reason that glossy-maned owner Francesco Becchetti and sporting director Mauro Milanese, with his long blonde strands, want to remove the 53-year-old of his duties. In all seriousness, the way that the manager has been treated in the past few days has been nothing short of disgusting and almost eradicates any feeling of hope and excitement that was greeted by the takeover of the Italian businessman in June. If the new board’s aim was to bring in their own man it would have made more sense for this to occur in the summer. Sacking a boss who had just taken the east Londoners to within one penalty kick of the Championship would have been mightily harsh and would also have a left a nasty taste in the mouth, but at least would not have resulted in farcical ultimatums that resemble something that happens on Football Manager. The start to this campaign has been poor and the raised expectations that last year’s play-off defeat have brought means that the pressure will be on the coaching and playing staff to turns things around and start climbing the table sooner rather than later. It should be noted however that other clubs have recovered from indifferent starts to win promotion from League 1 in recent years, with Southampton in 2010 and Bournemouth and Yeovil three years later being stand out examples of this. Two of these ironically involved a change of manager, though neither Alan Pardew or Paul Groves were held in the same high regard at St Mary’s and Dean Court respectively that Slade is at the Matchroom Stadium. The roars of approval and support the coach was getting from the travelling faithful at Meadow Lane were nothing short of sensational and you could hear the emotion in his voice when he spoke after the draw at Notts County on Tuesday night. He was summoned to speak to Becchetti after final whistle and was told that his position is safe for now despite heightened speculation and being told by Milanese that it was in effect win-or-bust in Nottingham. “There was a frank and honest exchange and discussion with the president, with a plan to go forward. That still involves me at this moment in time”, said the ex-Yeovil and Brighton boss afterwards. Cynical members of the support will see this as a minor reprieve and it will only be a matter of time before the fourth-longest serving manager in the top four divisions is shown the exit door by a club who used to pride itself on being a big family. Whatever the outcome, the only person to come out of this saga with any credit will be Russell Slade, his handling of a delicate and no doubt very stressful situation has been nothing but first class. During his time in E10 he has shown himself to be a very astute manager at this level, and no doubt deserves a crack at taking charge of a team in the division above. Though this is looking increasing unlikely, it would not surprise this disillusioned fan one bit if Slade reaches the Championship before the O’s do. September 23. Home to Sheffield Utd in the League Cup. Home games still a problem. Lost 0-1. A goal in the second minute saw United into the next round. Team: Woods, Baudry, Clarke, Cuthbert, Omozusi, James, McAnuff, Vincelot, Mooney. Simpson, Pretrasso. Subs : Grainger, Batt, Cox(Pretrasso 62), Bartley, Pritchard(Cuthbert 12), Henderson(Mooney 68), Dagnall. About three years ago Barnsley wanted to approach Slade to offer him the managers job. Barry Hearn refused to let Slade talk to them as Slade was still under contract. Slade for his part stated that although disappointed he was contracted to the club. Now Cardiff wanted the same. The new management also refused. Slade resigned. Orient consulted their lawyers. I feel sorry for the ten players who signed a contract in the summer. September 27.Home to Rochdale. Still can’t beat ten men. Nugent was put in charge and wanted the job but old habits are hard to break as Dale were down to ten men after 30’. We was a goal down on 4’ and 2-1 up by 42’ thanks to McAnuff and Vincelot. His chances evaporated on 66’ as Rochdale took all the points. Nugent stuck Clarke on the bench and then blamed poor defending! Team: Woods, Baudry, Lowry, Cuthbert, Omozusi, James, McAnuff, Vincelot, Dagnall, Henderson, Cox. Subs : Grainger, Batt(Henderson 67), Bartley, Pritchard(James 26), Clarke, Mooney(McAnuff 70). James broke a leg. Micky Adams was the favourite to take the managers job. He would get my vote after resigning at Port Vale. His record is, with the exception of a stint at Sheffield Utd, impressive. At Vale his record is similar to Slade’s (see above) of Won: 102, Drew: 64, Lost: 81. Rumour has it they have offered the job to Nugent. This would be a backward step as over the years we have given Dave Sexton, Dick Graham, George Petchey, Paul Went, Peter Eustace, John Sitton, Chris Turner, Pat Holland and Paul Brush their first managerial opportunity. None were successful. Only Jimmy Bloomfield, Frank Clark and Martin Ling were. Along the way Ken Knighton, Tommy Taylor and Geraint Williams were also unable to turn poor/mediocre teams into successful ones. Home to Swindon next and they are third then away to Dagenham & Redbridge in the JP Trophy. October 4. Home to Swindon. Rudderless. We went two nil down before Henderson was bought on to score his fourth of the season. Team: Woods, Baudry, Lowry, Cuthbert, Clarke, McAnuff, Vincelot, Bartley, Dagnall, Cox, Simpson. Subs : Grainger, Batt(Simpson 75), Pritchard, Omozusi, Henderson(Dagnall 50), Lee, Kashket. The director of football played down any offer to Nugent thus: “Orient’s Sporting Director Mauro Milanese dismissed Nugent’s revelation as just a rumour, and says the club are in ‘no rush’ to hire their next manager”. Francesco Becchetti feels former boss Russell Slade engineered his move away from Brisbane Road. Becchetti feels the whole situation has been engineered by Slade after he told the media following the defeat to Colchester United that he had one game to save his job. “But you know very well that he decided to use the fact that we said something in the changing room,” said Becchetti. “But in the changing room you can say whatever you want, you are in the family. What is said inside you do not have to use outside. “Absolutely, it’s clear (that it was engineered). I would prefer that he would come to me and say I have a request from Cardiff and I want to go there. Rumour: Leyton Orient are interested in out-of-contract striker Gianvito Plasmati, according to reports in the striker's native Italy. The former Ragusa, Andria BAT and Foggia man left Siena in the summer when the club declared bankruptcy and has been looking for a club ever since. The 31-year-old has had a nomadic career around the lower echelons of Italian football but has now been linked with a move to the League One London side because of Italian owner Francesco Bocchetti. Plasmati has played for over a dozen clubs and was nicknamed 'The Beast' during his brief spell at Vicenza Calcio Read more. Jack Price, a 21 year-old midfielder was signed on emergency loan for 93 days from Wolves just three days after his loan period at Yeovil ended. Of his loan to Yeovil manager Kenny Jackett said “Yeovil have got injuries and need a player like Jack who can sit in front of the back four and make things happen”. Price made 30 apps for Wolves last season and eight for Yeovil this season which makes him cup tied for this evenings visit to Dagenham. October 7. Away at Dagenham JP Cup. Nugent dropped/rested Cox, Dagnall, Lowry and McAnuff. With Batt, Henderson, Omozusi and Pritchard starting. Lowry came on for Baudry on 23’ but Simpson had already put us 0-1 up on 5’. He got a second on 69’ to put us through into the next round. Team: Woods, Baudry, Omozusi, Cuthbert, Clarke, Batt, Vincelot, Pritchard, Bartley, Henderson, Simpson. Subs : Grainger, Cox(Batt 68), Lowry(Baudry 23), Lee(Pritchard 79), Kashket. According to the BBC Nugent has been offered a contract for the managers job. Away to Sheffield United next. October 11. Away to Sheffield United. Can’t win with ten men. Simpson continued his goalscoring streak by putting us in the lead seven minutes before half time. Then McAnuff got sent off for a second bookable offence. According to the BBC website there were three goals in the 90’. Following a fumble by Woods the Blades got and equaliser then went into the lead through an unchallenged header. Vincelot got us a point from a header on 97’ on some websites. I can only assume Legzdins and Mooney are injured though there is no information on the website. Not sure that it has anything to do with the departure of Matt Porter who was asked to leave by the directors of the club. They wanted a smaller board. If you believe Hearn neither he nor any director got paid so why ask him to leave, other than he does not speak Italian. Team: Woods, Omozusi, Cuthbert, Clarke, Lowry, Vincelot, Pritchard, Price, Henderson, Simpson, McAnuff. Subs : Grainger, Dagnall(Simpson 69). Ling, Lee, Batt(Pritchard 93), Bartley(Henderson 84), Kashket. Baudry was injured and Cox would be out for a month. Rumour. We have reportedly decided against signing Hogan Ephraim. The winger has been without a club since he was released by Queens Park Rangers at the end of last season. Italian Serse Cosmi is the odds on favourite to become the next Leyton Orient manager although it is understood the club have no plans to bring him in as head coach according to the local Guardian. Reserves, which included two unnamed trialists were beaten at Peterborough 3-0. Team: Card, Oladipo (Alderton), Humphrey, M. Clarke (Judd), Ling, Trialist (Brown), Agyemang, Kashket, Adeboyejo, Lee, Trialist. Read more Nugent was given the managers job until the end of the season. The local Guardian had not been happy with the lack of action on this front. This is a backward step as I have already said. Johnny Foreigner has made the same mistake as Hearn. He next mistake is to buy players (rather than let the manager do so) and then sell players for less than they are worth (McLean, Shorey etc). My choice Micky Adams signed for Tranmere. "In our present position we felt it was important to appoint an experienced manager with good connections and a track record of success in League Two," chairman Mark Palios said. A chairman who acts quickly for the right reason. Orient management take note. October 18. Home to MK Dons. Injury list?: Baudry, James, Lisbie, Mooney, Cox, Sawyer, Legzdins. Suspended: McAnuff. Can’t win with ten men 2. Referee Graham Horwood seemed to have left his yellow card in the dressing room in the first half as Dons 5 (McFadzean) and 15 (Randall) fouled repeatedly. Yet in the second half Baudry was booked for two fouls and sent off. Clarke was also booked which may mean he misses the next match. The match was goalless. Batt went close and the goalie did well on two other occasions. Woods did well to deny a team who have scored 25 times already this season. Team: Woods, Baudry, Cuthbert, Clarke, Lowry, Vincelot, Pritchard, Price, Henderson, Simpson, Batt. Subs : Grainger, Dagnall(Batt 58). Ling, Omozusi, Lee, Bartley, Kashket. We signed Plasmati (see above) until the end of the season. The 6’6” striker will be short of match practice as he has been out of contract since the summer but may turn out at Doncaster on Tuesday. His route here? From Jan 2000: Matera-Locorotondo-SSD Chieti-Brindisi-Ragusa-Andria-Crotone-Catania-Foggia-Catania-Atalanta-Catania-ASG Nocerina- Varese-ASG Nocerina-Vicenza-Lanciano-Siena. October 21. Away to Doncaster. Up five places. With Clarke and Baudry suspended and nobody recovering from their injury back came Omozusi, Bartley and McAnuff with the exclusion of Batt. Simpson put us one up after two minutes and Henderson made it two an hour later to seal the points. A forward pass from Bartley was not controlled by Henderson but rebounded to Simpson who shrugged off the defender to slot home. Henderson’s goal was more spectacular when McAnff’s corner found him on the far side on the edge of the area. Moving away from the goal he swung in a left foot shot into the net on the far post. That put us five places up the table but only four away from bottom placed Scunthorpe. Even if we beat Port Vale on Saturday we may not travel any further up the table if Crawley and Colchester pick up any points. Team: Woods, Omozusi, Cuthbert, Lowry, Bartley, Pritchard, Price, Henderson, Simpson, McAnuff, Dagnall. Subs : Grainger, Agyemang, Adeboyejo, Batt(Dagnall 87), Ling, Lee(Price 80), Kashket. No idea why Vincelot was not playing. Price picked up an injury and was replaced by Lee. Price returned to Wolves for treatment. This from the BBC site “But interim boss Kevin Nugent's injury woes are piling up, as Romain Vincelot and Jack Price are both doubts. Goalkeeper Adam Legzdins (finger), defender Gary Sawyer (tendonitis), midfielder Lloyd James (broken leg), winger Dean Cox (knee) and strikers Kevin Lisbie (shoulder) and David Mooney (ankle) are all sidelined”. Baudry and Clarke should be back. October 25. Away to Port Vale. Cannot win with ten men 2. Things were going well after 30 minutes as the match was goalless. But a minute later Henderson got a straight red card and we let in three goals in the last 27 minutes. The first was as a result of a non tackle by McAnuff and the last an own goal from Clarke. Back came Baudry and Clarke to the exclusion of the injured Price and Pritchard. Team: Woods, Omozusi, Cuthbert, Lowry, Bartley, Baudry, Clarke, Henderson, Simpson, McAnuff, Dagnall. Subs : Grainger, Cox(Simpson 64), Pritchard(McAnuff 65), Batt(Dagnall 76), Ling, Lee, Kashket. We then appointed Mauro Milanese as manager with Nugent back as coach. Knew that was going to happend didn’t we? Never managed a club before. With Henderson suspended for three matches it will be interesting to see who he plays for the visit of second placed PNE on Tuesday. Oldham away in the FA Cup. Vincelot underwent an operation on his knee which may keep him out for six weeks. We signed Josh Wright on loan from Millwall until January 3rd. He played two games for us on loan last season. October 28. Home to Preston. No place for Clarke and back comes Cox after injury. Plasmati starts despite Nugent saying last week that he was not match fit. Not a great deal of experience on the bench. If Mauro though he was our Messiah then a goal in each half from North End proved him wrong. Team: Woods, Omozusi, Cuthbert, Lowry, Bartley, Baudry, Pritchard, Plasmati, Simpson, McAnuff, Cox. Subs : Grainger, Wright, Batt, Dagnall, Ling, Lee, Kashket. Apparently Clarke was injured. With Henderson the fourth player to see a red card and the fifth to be suspended we were worryingly short of players. Make that six as Lowry would missed the next match after picking up five bookings. We are now told by Milanese that he was asked by the club chairman to take over as manager pending a further decision. Should that be indecision? So the man wanting the job, Nugent, has had it taken away from him and been given to a man who does not want the job! November 1. Home to Coventry. Rollercoaster. With Lowry suspended Wright started. We went a goal down in the first half thanks to some horrendous defending by Clarke. He misjudged a long kick from their goalie and then slipped allowing the cross and easy goal. Cuthbert equalised from a Cox corner and we went into the lead after Cox passed to Baudry to cross for Simpson to power in a close header. We held on for 90 mins but in the sixth minute of added time Woods flapped at a cross and they scored their equaliser. Bartley and McAnuff, who has yet to do enough for me, failed to impress but they bought on Batt and Pritchard for Wright and PlasticMan (Plasmati). Team: Woods, Omozusi, Cuthbert, Clarke, Wright, Bartley, Baudry, Plasmati, Simpson, McAnuff, Cox. Subs : Grainger, Pritchard(Wright 77), Batt(Plasmati 77), Dagnall, Ling, Lee, Kashket. Only two points from bottom place but thankfully four clubs are beneath us. Away to Oldham in the FA Cup next. Italian too. Mauro Milanese has bolstered the Leyton Orient defence by bringing in former Liverpool full-back Andrea Dossena on a deal until the end of the season. Dossena, 33, has also previously played for Napoli and spent last season on loan at Sunderland in the Premier League. The deal comes as a surprise to many but will bolster a squad that has been plagued by injuries and suspensions so far this campaign. Dossena can also play left wing but is expected to play at left back for the O's November 8. FA Cup away to Oldham. Exit. Oldham scored after 38’ to progress to the next round. Plasticman had a knee injury so Dagnall started and Lowry returned from suspension. Team: Woods, Lowry, Cuthbert, Clarke, Wright, Baudry, Batt, Simpson, Dagnall, Pritchard, Cox. Subs : Legzdins, Omozusi, Sawyer(Baudry 82), Adeboyejo, Bartley(Batt 57), Lee, Kashket. McAnuff away on international duty with Jamacia. Home to Northampton in the JP Trophy on Tuesday. November 11. Home to Northampton Quarter final JP Trophy. Hoodoo put to bed. Henderson is also injured (foot). Price to to return from Wolves on Thursday. Dossena a week away from fitness. Team: Legzdins, Lowry, Omozusi, Clarke, Wright, Sawyer, Bartley, Simpson, Dagnall, Pritchard, Cox. Subs : Woods, Baudry, Batt, Plasmati, Kashket. Simpson put us a goal up on 28’ but was replaced by Kashket on 51’. A minute before full time Bartley scored to put us into the semi finals. Both goals were assisted by Dagnall. Gilligham, our next opponents away in the league are also through along with Bristol City and Tranmere Rovers. Two other games tomorrow and one next Tuesday and we may know who we are up against. Goalkeeper Charlie Grainger is set to rejoin Conference South Farnborough Town on loan until January. The England U18s 'keeper had spent time with the club earlier in the season but was recalled following the injury to Adam Legzdins. Following the return of Legzdins, Grainger will return to Farnborough as they attempt to pull away from the relegation zone. November 15. Away to Gillingham. Can’t beat ten men III. Plasmati put us a goal up via a penalty on 48 but 25’ later we were losing 2-1. Dagnall put us level on 90’ but sub MacDonald scored the winner within a minute. Into the relegation zone as the Gills went above us. Team: Legzdins, Cuthbert, Lowry, Clarke, Dossena, Wright, Vincelot, Simpson, Pritchard, Plasmati, Cox. Subs : Woods, Baudry(Lowry 69), Batt, Sawyer, Dagnall (Plasmati 61), Mooney(Simpson 39), Omozusi. Crewe at home next and they are one of only two below us in the division. Away to the Gills in the JP Trophy set for December 6th. November 22. Home to Crewe. Crewsing. Goal one via the Italian job. Dossena crossed from the left to the far post for Plasmati to rise like a (large) salmon to head the ball back across the goal and into the net on 23’. On 35 Wright crossed from the right for Dagnall to volley the ball into the bottom right hand side of the net. In the second half Dagnall’s shot was parried into the path of Cox to score the third. Crewe’s Grant spent most of the game on the deck via a series of tackles. But he was their best man on the pitch and scored a 30 yarder to give the Railwaymen some hope. Four minutes from time, Mooney, on for Plasmati, received a pass from Dagnall who had raced away from Crewe’s defence to make it four. Team: Legzdins, Cuthbert, Omozusi, Clarke, Dossena, Wright, Vincelot, Dagnall, Pritchard, Plasmati, Cox. Subs : Woods, Baudry, Batt, McAnuff, Price(Wright 80), Sawyer, (Dossena), Mooney(Plasmati 56). Vincelot was the sponsered Man of the Match but my vote would have been for Dagnall having scored one and made two. Up to 19th and Bradford away next. Harry Beautyman has joined Peterborough on loan which will be made permanent in the January window. He has scored 11 goals for Welling in 21 apps. November 29. Away to Bradford. Can’t win with ten men IV. The BBC site thought the two Italians were doubtful for this game and Lowry, Lisbie and Simpson with Vincelot suspended. In the event the two Italians played but not the others. We went a goal down just before half time but for the second week on the bounce Mooney came off the bench to put us level. Then it all went to pot. Within 90 seconds Dagnall got sent off and within seven minutes the Bantams scored two. Poor defending from both sides of the pitch gave them two goals and Legzdins threw the ball straight at a striker. Maybe he was hoping for an assist. Team: Legzdins, Cuthbert, Omozusi, Clarke, Dossena, Wright, Price, Dagnall, Pritchard, Plasmati, Cox. Subs : Grainger, Baudry, Batt, McAnuff(Pritchard 45), Sawyer, Mooney(Plasmati 65), Lee. Woods injured? With Wolves losing four straight games they recalled Price. Yeovil Town have signed former Fulham and Swindon Alex Smith on a month-long deal. Smith was released by Swindon after playing only ten games last season for them. Son of John, Jordan Chiedozie signed for Cambridge from Concord Rangers after scoring seven goals from 11 games this after being released last season from AFC Bournemouth. Ryan Brunt joined Stevenage on loan from Bristol Rovers. Aaron McLean joined Peterborough on loan from Bradford. December 6. Away to Gillingham JP Trophy. End of season? We held out until 11 minutes from time before exiting the JP Trophy. Back came Lowry and Sawyer, out went Clarke, Dossena and Cox. Team:Legzdins, Sawyer, Cuthbert, Omozusi, Lowry, Wright, Vincelot, Pritchard, Mooney, Plasmati, McAnuff. Subs : Grainger, Baudry, Cox(McAnuff 79), Kashket, Batt(Plasmati 72). Millanese was duly sacked and replaced by Fabio Liverani as our new manager, with Mauro Milanese reverting back to his role as sporting director. Milanese was in charge for eight matches, presiding over only two wins. Liverani who had a seven-match spell in charge of Genoa last year, winning one match before the sack, has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract. Liverani, who earned three Italy caps as a central midfielder, brings with him new members of the backroom staff with Marcello Donatelli and Maurizio Cantarelli also joining the club as assistant manager and fitness coach respectively. Home to ninth placed Peterborough next. Injury/suspension list looks like this according to totalorient.co.uk: Kevin Lisbie, shoulder injury, Lloyd James, broken leg, Darius Henderson, foot injury, Jay Simpson, hamstring injury, Marvin Bartley, unknown, Gary Woods unknown, Chris Dagnall, three-match suspension. We have twelve players whose contracts are up next year according to that website. That includes the two Italians on short contracts and the on loan Wright. Kevin Dearden the goalkeeping coach and chief scout resigned for personal reasons. December 13. Home to Peterborough. Cannot beat 10 men again. Albeit for only two minutes. Posh went ahead after a cross from Cuthbert’s side of the pitch was met by McLean. Neither Clarke or Lowry seemed to know who should be marking him and left it to each other. Batt’s persistence gave us the equaliser. In the second half Clarke gave away a free kick and the smallest player on the pitch put it away. Poorest player on the pitch was Legzdins who flapped at two in the first half. Team:Legzdins, Sawyer, Cuthbert, Lowry, Clarke, Wright, Vincelot, Cox, Batt, Pritchard, McAnuff. Subs : Simpson(Batt 63), Adeboyejo(McAnuff 84), Woods , Lee, Baudry, Kashket, Omozusi. I thought I detected some booing as McAnuff was substituted which helps no one. Having said that the BBC’s Football League show touched on Henderson and McAnuff as under performing. Away to Barnsley next and let’s hope they are shagged out from their mid week match. On the subject of the Football League Show it appears its days are numbered as Channel 5 has successfully bid for the rights to screen the highlights of the matches from the Championship and leagues One and Two. Rumour has it they will screen them at 9pm to attract a wider audience. That makes sense as the Football League Show tends to be shown after match of the day near midnight. Last Saturday it was at five minutes to midnight. Though the BBC show it again on Sunday at 9am Channel 5 has another channel that shows all its programmes an hour after the schedule and another channel at 24 hours later. I supposed that will see the end of the BBC’s Late Show. Strange that it starts in the new year and not at the start of the season. If you think you are going to see more highlights of your club’s match then think again. All talk and not much more action than you can see ofn the Football League Show. Good edition of the Orientear this month. Articles from meetings with Milanese when he was manager. Seems to think the team needs to reduce the average age of the team as it lacks pace. We also have too many strikers. Not many of them are fit though mate. No sign of anyone returning to fitness if the reserve team match against Portsmouth is anything to go by. December 20. Away to Barnsley. Still cannot win against ten men. This was all over by half time due to two pices of horrendous defending. Clarke did not feature due to a hamstring nor did Simpson presumable for the same reason and Plastmati went off after 17 also through a hamstring problem. Plenty of work for the new fitness coach then? You would not thought that it is reasonable to assume how hamstring problems come about and how to fix them. So, stop doing whatever causes them and start strengthening them. Maybe we could do with a new Italian physio? Team:Legzdins, Sawyer, Cuthbert, Lowry, Omozusi, Wright, Vincelot, Batt, Pritchard, Plasmati, McAnuff. Subs : Cox(Wright 53), Woods , Lee, Baudry(Omozusi 45), Mooney(Plastmati 17), Agyemang, Dossena. In the Football League Show They mentioned Slade being undermined. The players were booed off the field at half time as we slumped to joint bottom on 19 points. Three points would take us out of the relegation zone onto 22 points which is what Crawley have and they are our next opponents at home then away to Yeovil who are in the battle with us. Apparently Henderson has a new injury problem. Dagnall should be back after suspension. The ten men? Their goalie got sent off 15 minutes from time. There might be some time to get the injury list down as there is no match between December 30 and January 10 due to Bradford being in the FA Cup. December 26. Home to Crawley. Dagnall returns, Crawley crushed. I have never been one for statistics when it come to football so the fact we have never done well, no points in four matches, against Crawley meant nothing to me. A cracking free kick from Cox on the edge of the area saw us take the lead on 6’. Four minutes later Crawley were level after a free kick hit the post. Four players seemed to be marking space. On 19 a cross from Cox found the head of Dagnall to put us back into the lead. Mooney put away a cross from Dagnall to make it three and on 90 Dagnall’s cross rebound back to him for his second of the match. Team:Legzdins, Cuthbert, Lowry, Omozusi, Dossena, Cox, Dagnall, Wright, Vincelot, Batt, McAnuff. Subs : Woods(Legzdins 71), Lee, Baudry, Mooney(Batt 26), Sawyer, Lisbie, Pritchard(Cox 65). Legzdins dislocated his shoulder. December 29. Away to Yeovil. Lisbie returns. Dagnall put us into the lead from McAnuff’s cross on 34’. Lisbie hit in a rebound from a Cox shot to make it two and Cox completed the rout after their defence gave the ball away. Team:Woods, Cuthbert, Lowry, Omozusi, Sawyer, Cox, Dagnall, Wright, Vincelot, Lisbie, Pritchard, McAnuff. Subs : Grainger, Lee(Wright 87), Baudry, Mooney(Lisbie 64), Dossena, Adeboyejo, Agyemang(Vincelot 91). Wright’s last game before returning to Millwall. Puts us 19 th in the table eight away from a play off place. So what went wrong? Hearn sold the club to someone who knew nothing about football let alone English football and he made rash or no decisions. Opening your mouth and talking tosh let alone poor English tosh whether in public or private is not a a good idea. Whether the new manager is up to snuff is in doubt though we have won the last two matches albeit against opposition in the same position as our selves. Previous page. To 2015.