2015 A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A LEYTON ORIENT SUPPORTER Other years: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2016 A History of Leyton Orient FC 1965-1974 2017 2018 2019 We start the year in 19 th place, with 25 points, some eight behind a play off place. Top of the division is Swindon on 48 as is Bristol City followed by Preston, MK Dons, Bradford and Sheff Utd whilst at the other end below us are Gillingham, Crawley, Crewe, Colchester and on 20 points Yeovil. Ex O’s scoring in the FA Cup were Simpson at Cambridge United though he had his penalty rebound into his path to score. Tommy Carroll on loan at Swansea and Campbell-Ryce for Sheff United. More Italians. Head of sports science Lee Southernwood has left the club by mutual consent plus youth team physio Joe Sharp. Coming in are Gianluca Romano has joined as chief scout, a position that has been vacant since Kevin Dearden resigned last month. Joining him is Vito Miceli who has taken up the new role as first team liaison manager to act as a bridge between the admin staff and players and coaching staff. Alessandro Marmorato joins as assistant physio. Read more. Academy duo Sam Roach and Jay Beckford have been called up for an England under-16 training camp next month. Roach and Beckford, who have both been awarded scholarships at Brisbane Road, will head to St George’s Park in the New Year for their latest international experience. The pair have already been involved with the national squad earlier in the season, and they followed in the footsteps of O’s goalkeeper Charlie Grainger, who made his England under-18 début back in March. Talk was of players departing or arriving at the club though no names given. Would we get a keeper on loan and would Wright be offered a contract with us? On the treatment table are(?) Clarke, James, Legzdins, Bartley, Batt, Henderson. Want to know how much our players are worth, which foot they favour, who their agents are and when their contract expires? Try this Transfer Markt site. Interesting is that Henderson has scored a goal every 209 minutes bettered by Dagnall on 169 and Plasmati 203. With Simpson on 214 and Cox on 624. Did you know his middle names were Arthur Edward. The site also shows squads from the 04/05 season. For old results try this ESPN page which shows the Divison Two table in 1910/11 season and this page which shows our results for that year. Josh Wright left Millwall by mutual consent and joined us on a contract until the end of the season. John Lundstram has also been linked with the club after returning to Everton from a loan to Blackpool. Liverani said that no players would leave the club in the January window including Cox unless silly money was offered. The death was announced of long time supporter George Gatward. I got to know George and his family after his eldest daughter married my friend Dave Painter. In the 1970’s I joined his family and that of Dave Randlesome plus Alf and his wife on holiday in the Isle of Wight. George always thanked me for my personal Christmas card which normally had a picture of him on it. “Where did you get THAT picture from” he always asked to which I replied “Never trust a man with a camera”. His Christmas card ended with UP THE O’s. This year it didn’t. Our condolences to Lottie and family. Thanks George, RIP. John Lundstram joined us on loan until February 18 the day after we play Bradford at home in the rearranged match from January 3. January 10. Home to Fleetwood. And the man of the match is............nobody. That is not quite how the sponsor saw it as they gave it to Dossena but to be honest nobody came out of this game with any credit. The first half was awful. Early in the second half Cuthbert defended with a header but Lowry was marking space and we lost to the only goal of the match. Lowry and Cuthbert, Lowry and Clarke, there is a common denominator here, Lowry but the management seem to fancy him in the middle rather than at back. I disagree. About time they tried Baudry, it worked last season. Team: Woods, Cuthbert, Lowry, Omozusi, Dossena, Cox, Dagnall, Wright, Vincelot, Mooney, Pritchard. Subs : Grainger, Baudry, Lisbie(Cox 63), Sawyer, Lundstram(Wright 45), Plasmati(Mooney 82), Liverani talked of a crisis at the club with ten injured, the latest being Cox. With that in mind he signed Ryan Hedges on loan from Swansea, not that he has ever played for them. Or any league club. January 16. Away to Preston. The from the BBC site before the match: ‘ Leyton Orient could hand a début to forward Ryan Hedges after he joined on loan from Swansea (they didn’t). Captain Nathan Clarke (groin) could return (he didi), but winger Dean Cox (hip) has joined a lengthy list of players sidelined by injury. Striker Darius Henderson (foot) has returned to training but may not be risked (he wasn’t), while winger Jobi McAnuff (ankle) is still unfit. Goalkeeper Adam Legzdins, midfielders Marvin Bartley and Lloyd James and forward Jay Simpson are also out. ‘ We went a goal up after five minutes when Mooney wrestled the ball from a defender, ran 20 yards and scored from a right foot shot from outside the box. On 22’ Sawyer hand balled and PNE scored from the free kick. No marking in evidence. On 67’ Cuthbert gave away a penalty which was converted and that is the way the scores stayed for ten minutes when Dagnall equalised via a nod on from Plasmati on for Lisbie. 19th in the table.Team: Woods, Cuthbert, Sawyer, Lowry, Omozusi, Clarke, Lundstram, Dagnall, Wright, Mooney, Lisbie, Pritchard. Subs : Grainger, Baudry(Mooney 81), Lee, Agyemang, Adeboyejo, Dossena, Plasmati(Lisbie 53). We didn’t stay 19th as Gillingham beat Coventry to go above us. We were not the only club with an injury crisis as Ipswich could only field six substitutes including the newly signed Freddie Sears from Colchester. They are our next opponents in Essex. Ex Orient players on the move in the January window included: Luton signed Bournemouth striker Jayden Stockley on an initial one-month loan. Carlisle United signed former-Doncaster, Orient and Port Vale midfielder Anthony Griffith on an 18- month deal which keeps him at Brunton Park until the summer of 2016. Yeovil Town have signed up striker Jamar Loza on loan from Norwich City. The 20 year old is a Jamaican international who has five caps to his name, and has agreed a one month youth loan with the club. Alex Revell left Rotherham for Cardiff for an undisclosed fee. He scored one and made one on his full début. Adam Barrett joined Southend from Gillingham where two wins against us did not save Peter Taylor's job. Liverani didn’t fancy my solution to play Baudry, Clarke and Cutbert together even though last season it worked for most of the season. Instead he opted to sign Birmingham defender Neal Eardley on a month long loan. A trainee with Oldham he made 108 (5) league apps scoring ten goals for the Latics before moving to Blackpool 94(10) 2 and onto Birmingham in May 2013 but has only played 9 (0) 0 for them after picking up an injury. He has already been sent off this season so should have got that out of his system. Facing us at Colchester will be Matthew Briggs, on loan from Millwall. Briggs played one game for us whilst on loan in 2010. Dean Cox and Elliot Omozusi are struggling with hip injuries, Romain Vincelot has a thigh problem and Jobi McAnuff is out with ankle trouble. Adam Legzdins, Jay Simpson, Marvin Bartley and Lloyd James remain on the sidelines but Darius Henderson is close to returning after a foot injury. Barry Hearn feels the current owners are not contacting him for advice they obviously need. January 24. Away to Colchester. Still cannot beat ten men. Colchester were down to ten men in the 82nd minute but by then we were two nil down. Liverani said "They showed more desire and hunger than us and this is what I said to the players - we have to play with that sort of spirit to go ahead and progress in the league." Not sure that is the right approach as end of contract players can just walk away come June. These would be Sawyer, Cuthbert, Omozusi, Batt, Lisbie, Mooney, Dagnall, Lee, Wright, Plasmati and Dossena. Team: Woods, Sawyer, Lowry, Clarke, Eardley, Lundstram, Vincelot, Dagnall, Mooney, Hedges, Cox. Subs : Grainger, Lee, Omozusi, Dossena(Sawyer 88), Wright, Plasmati(Mooney 84), Pritchard(Hedges 85). No place, unless injured for Batt, Lisbie, Cuthbert, or Baudry? In the relegation zone just two points off the bottom and three points away from safety. Milanese left the club. No reason was given on the Leyton Orient website though Sky reported that “Relations between Milanese and Liverani, who played together at Perugia during the 2000/2001 season, were thought to have become untenable” Rumour had it that Milanese had got Hedges on loan without consulting Liverani and then was about to let Bauldry to on loan to Peterborough but Liverani blocked it. Why? He is not playing Baudry so why not? Jamie Jones joined Coventry on loan. Crawley signed Dean Morgan from Woking.The 31-year-old has scored nine goals in 25 league appearances since joining the Cards from Wycombe last summer. He appeared for us in 2008/9 season scoring five league goals from 18 (14) apps. January 31. Home to fellow strugglers Scunthorpe.Thumped. BBC website had this “ Leyton Orient will assess defender Scott Cuthbert (ankle), winger Dean Cox (hip) and strikers Darius Henderson (foot) and Kevin Lisbie. Adam Legzdins, Marvin Bartley, Lloyd James, Jobi McAnuff and Jay Simpson are still sidelined”. That would mean that Baudry and Batt would be available then? We were two goals down by 28, but it was all over probably by the 13’. Two goals in each half and only a Henderson penalty in reply. According to the BBC website despite having 19 shots on goal we scored none whereas Scunthorpe had nine and scored four. At one stage the Iron had 66% of the play. Woods was a fault for at least one, which is why Liverani got Burnley’s Aussie goalie on loan until March 9 although he has only played 11 league matches in the last two seasons but ten this season on loan. Liverani also extended Hedges loan till the end of the season. Team: Woods, Sawyer, Baudry, Clarke, Omozusi, Lundstram, Vincelot, Dagnall, Pritchard, Cox, Plasmati. Subs : Grainger, Henderson(Plasmati45), Wright, Eardley, Mooney(Lundstram 75), Hedges(Pritchard 68), Lowry. Liverani then went off on one albeit through an interpreter. “ The Italian began by attacking his players for not supporting him and being disruptive since he took on the job in December. Liverani said: "This is the worst game since I've been in charge. We played without guts, heart, courage or anything. "Since I arrived I've heard a lot of players moaning. There's always someone who wants to have a say on everything but then it's not shown on the pitch. "The problem I see is most of the players come and complain and knock at my door asking for explanations on why they don't play but then they don't show their values on the pitch." Liverani continued: "From now on things are changing and there are no more days off during the week and there will de double training. "I would have changed 11 players today if I could. As I said to the players we have reached the bottom. But one thing I've learned in my life is when you're at the bottom you can either stay there or only get better." So the players that nearly took us up are to blame? He needs to ask himself why they played for Slade but won’t for him. On BBC’s Football League Show Steve Claridge said “It’s not worked out has it? We talk about foreign players but sometimes when we get foreign owners come in and they bring in foreign managers at that level you got to question whether or not do they know the levels. Do they know players at that level that can make a difference. Do they know how the game is played at that level. Do they know the mentality of the players at that level You got to question sometimes the methods in which and the policies which are employed so it hasn’t worked and hasn’t for an awful long time now has it? So something has to change or they are going to find themselves, big squad with a big budget getting relegated”. Lots of ex O’s scoring this weekend. Harry Kane’s two for Spurs made it 20 for the season. Cureton for Dagenham, Brunt for Plymouth, Simpson for Cambridge, Shaq Coulthirst for Southend, Harry Beautyman for Peterborough. George Porter left Dagenham without a club. Slade not doing too well at Cardiff. One win in nine. The game at Rochdale was postponed due to a frozen pitch. Mangerless Yeovil beat Crawley with means we are bottom, five points from safety. Comment on Liverani’s rant Things said in the dressing room should stay there said Becchetti when Slade was alleged to have told the press he had one match to save his job. Yet Liverani appears to be able to rubbish his players and that is okay? “I would have changed 11 players today if I could” So he didn’t think much of the 11 he picked and that would go for the seven on the bench? That may be fine for Sawyer, Omozusi, Lundstram, Dagnall, Plasmati, Wright, Eardley, Mooney and Hedges as they can walk away from the club by the end of June (or sooner). As can Lisbie, Dossena, Batt, Lee and Bartley. Maybe in Italy you can rubbish people and they knuckle down and do as you ask. Not sure that works here. “The problem I see is most of the players come and complain and knock at my door asking for explanations on why they don't play but then they don't show their values on the pitch”. Surely that shows some guts on the behalf of some players? I know managers have to have coaching badges but maybe some need coaxing badges. Managers need to know which players need an arm round the shoulder and a hug to boost their confidence whilst others need a kick up the aris to galvanise them. It does not help if you don’t speak their language nor they yours. I hated this form of management at work where managers would complain about poor time keeping yet not have the guts to point out the culprits, which did not make them feel guilty and cheesed the rest of us off. Consider this Fabio. Plus four, minus two, you have the same squad as last year which nearly got us promotion. They could perform under Slade but apparently not under you. You need to consider why. The Scottish tones of Dads Army’s Fraser is ringing in my head. “We are DOOMED, we are all DOOMED. Grainer signed a new contract until the summer of 2017. Eardley returned to Birmingham as Liverani had played him in one match, dropped him to the bench for another and would have still been there if the Rochdale match had not been called off. You are a plonker Fabio. Does not have the same ring does it? Apparently Liverani’s version is that Eardley did not turn up for training on Friday as he was sick. But he told nobody and Liverani thought this showed a lack of respect. I’d agree with him. But someone somewhere is telling the pies, porky. February 10. Home to Notts County. Lost. We let in a goal after 20’ and though had 16 shots at goal we failed to score. County had five and scored from one. Cox had been unwell so did not start. Not sure that if he was unwell he should have started and then could have sat out the second half. Makes more sense to me. Henderson picked up another injury and played no part nor did Plasmati, Omozusi or Lunsdstram through reasons unknown. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, Sawyer, Baudry, Lowry, Wright, Vincelot, Dagnall, Mooney, Lisbie, Pritchard, Subs : Woods, Cox(Pritchard 63), Hedges(Mooney 86), Clarke, McAnuff, Bartley, Batt(Dagnall 58). Left is how the table looks. Away to Chesterfield next. According to Jeff Powell once of the local rag now writing for the Daily Mail, someone at the club is earning over £20,000 a week, Jeff asks “And what does that buy the club nearest and dearest to my heart?” Read more. So that would be one of the four that joined during the summer? An interesting article in the Standard which I have decided to print here:

Revealed: Leyton Orient in turmoil

* Italian boss uses translator with squad * Players give own team talk in tunnel * Tensions over transfers and rising wages * Danger of exodus as morale plummets Barely nine months after they were a penalty shoot-out win away from promotion to the Championship, Leyton Orient are a club in crisis with several staff desperate to leave and a manager who struggles to communicate with his players. Standard Sport can reveal that since the takeover by Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti, who bought Barry Hearn’s stake in the club last summer, morale at Orient has sunk rapidly. Becchetti’s commitment is not thought to have wavered despite poor form which has left Orient bottom of League One. Those who know the club well speak of staff members determined to escape. Already this season, goalkeeping coach Kevin Dearden has left for Luton, fitness coach Lee Southernwood followed former boss Russell Slade to Cardiff and physiotherapist Joe Sharp moved to Scunthorpe. It would be no surprise to club employees if there were more departures in the coming weeks. An Orient source told Standard Sport: “So many people on and off the pitch want to leave. The manager, Fabio Liverani, appears to be so far out of his depth. The players often don’t know the team until 1.30pm on match day and they feel not enough work is done on team shape. “The team talks are done in Italian and the goalkeeping coach [Rob Gagliardi] acts as translator. But in the game at Colchester last month, the players ended up doing their own team talk in the tunnel. They decided amongst themselves which opponents they would each mark at set pieces. It’s obvious that’s never going to work and it was no surprise they lost the game 2-0.” It is understood the players requested a meeting with Liverani after the 4-1 home defeat by Scunthorpe two weeks ago. Liverani said after that game that, had he been able to, he would have replaced all 11 players at half-time. Liverani’s argument apparently was he preferred not to name individuals but the squad felt his comments were unhelpful to a group of footballers struggling to keep the club in the division. Off the field, matters have also been chaotic, with transfer business often conducted without the knowledge of Liverani. The departure last month of Mauro Milanese, the former manager and sporting director, is thought to have been the result of a power struggle with Liverani. The source added: “When Ryan Hedges joined on loan from Swansea, he travelled for his first game at Preston but was not even on the bench. Liverani appeared not to know who he was. “Mathieu Baudry was due to be sent to Peterborough on loan. Just before it went through, Liverani was at the club asking where he was. Liverani blocked the deal but then didn’t include Baudry in his squad for the following game.” During Milanese’s six-week stint as manager — he resumed his role as sporting director when Liverani took over — it is believed he was asked by members of the hierarchy to play Andrea Dossena, the former Liverpool defender who has been capped 10 times by Italy, as an attacker in a match at Crewe. In that game, Dossena played in his customary role at left-back and Orient won 4-1 but Milanese still felt a sense of disapproval from on high. When Orient reached the play-offs last season under Russell Slade, who is now in charge of Cardiff, the team spirit was said to be excellent, with no player earning more than £2,500 per week. That wage structure was blown out of the water when Becchetti arrived. Darius Henderson, Jay Simpson, Jobi McAnuff, Andrea Dossena and Gianvito Plasmati are all thought to be collecting in excess of £7,500 a week. There have also been doubts within the squad about the ability of forward Plasmati, who has played in Serie A but has spent the majority of his career in Serie B and the leagues below. Now 32, the Italian is under contract until the end of the season. Others at the club have wondered about the levels of dedication shown by Dossena, 33. Plasmati has scored twice in 11 appearances for Orient, with his last game the home defeat by Scunthorpe that led to Liverani’s fierce criticism of the side. Orient declined to comment when contacted by Standard Sport. The club have lost seven of their last 10 games and on Saturday, at play-off chasing Chesterfield, they will again be underdogs. It will be a mighty task to turn around their season. Tom Collomosse Well said and since then Media & Communications Manager Jonny Davies has left for Spurs, they missed that Matt Porter had been asked to resign and that Liverani said Milanese had issues with Becchetti not him. As I have said before, someone is telling the pies, porky and the common denominator is Liverani. Nathan Clarke denies Leyton Orient 'crisis' report said the BBC website though Clarke did not deny it blow by blow. To be honest if it was all true then JK Rowling would be hard pressed to make it up. Two things I had not noticed. Finney signed for Bolton for a fee back in August and Hereford United went out of business just before Christmas. Scott McGleish has scored seven goals for Wealdstone this season. 14 February. Away to Chesterfield. Overtime. Not that much in the movement of players for this match so Liverani must have been satisfied with the performance against Notts. Back came Omozusi and Clarke and out went Cuthbert and Baudry with Cox replacing Lisbie. We went a goal down on 19’ thanks to a penalty from a clumsy challenge by Clarke but Mooney got us back on terms ten minutes before half time following an unselfish pass from Cox. Omozusi scored an own goal before Mooney equalised again on 70’ from a Dagnall pass. There was 15’ of added time which was as well as Cox scored the winner on 90+11 when their keeper flapped at a cross from Bartley. Team:Cisak, Omozusi, Sawyer, Clarke, Lowry, Wright, Vincelot, Dagnall, Mooney, Pritchard, Cox. Subs : Woods, Hedges(Pritchard 67), Baudry, McAnuff, Bartley(Wright 58), Lisbie, Batt(Mooney 84). It took us up one place but more importantly only three from safety. Bradford at home next Wednesday and lets hope their cup match tomorrow tires them out. Lots of teams at the top lost, Bristol. MK Dons. Swindon, Oldham and more importantly, Chesterfield! At the bottom Colchester and Crawley won but Yeovil, Barnsley, Rochdale all lost. Coventry and Notts County did not play. I mentioned to my wife (before Cox scored) that I thought we had not had the rub of the green having twice as many shots on goal in the last three matches than the opposition. Eleven against Chesterfields five. Lundstram’s loan should be up on Wednesday so he may not be involved in the home match against Bradford. 14 February. Home To Bradford. Unlucky. We could have won this 5-2 but lost to two first half goals despite having 15 shots at goal to their ten. Is Clarke becoming a liability? He gave away a penalty in the last game and a free kick in this game which lead to a goal. The player he tackled was on the touchline facing the crowd at the time, going nowhere. In the second half Cox was replaced to boos from the crowd but apparently he had an injury. They had big lumps at the back and we were without a big lump up front yet we continued to pump high balls into their area. Lowry showed his lack of pace. Team:Cisak, Omozusi, Sawyer, Clarke, Lowry, Bartley, Vincelot, Dagnall, Mooney, Pritchard, Cox. Subs : Grainger, Hedges(Cox 59), Baudry, McAnuff(Pritchard 72), Wright(Bartley 64), Lisbie, Batt. Home to Oldham next and they have their share (3) of hamstring injured players. 21 February. Home To Oldham. Home win. Omozusi was injured so Liverani bought in Dossena for Clarke and preferred Wright to Bartley. He kept Cox on the bench and bought in McAnuff whilst Pritchard played no part. Hedges and Baudry started. Dossena got on the score sheet after 3’, from a Hedges pass. On 24’ McAnuff drew a penalty and Mooney slotted it home, 2-0. After 90+5 Simpson made it three from a Cox move. Cisak saved a penalty that was given away by Baudry for a tackle on a forward with his back to goal We cannot defend from set pieces. Don’t give them away! Team: Cisak, Dossena, Sawyer, Lowry, Baudry Wright, Vincelot, Dagnall, Hedges, Mooney, McAnuff. Subs : Grainger, Plasmati, Simpson(Hedges 80),Clarke, Lisbie, Bartley(Mooney 70), Batt, Cox(McAnuff 61). We did not travel up the table as Crawley won away at Swindon whilst Colchester beat Bristol City. At the moment it looks like a five horse race and we are three points away from safety. Yeovil, below us and Crawley, Coventry and Colchester above us. Crewe, Barnsley and Notts County are six points above us. Next matches are: away to Walsall, home to Bristol City (top of the table on 64 points), away to managerless Peterborough and home to Yeovil. Arsenal have signed Orient youngster Jay Beckford. Although the Official website does not state it ex O Vic Groves died in January. The reserves lost 2-3 at home to Luton with Plasmatic and Semedo scoring our goals. Bartley gave away a late penalty. Team:Grainger, Ling (Brown 34), Humphrey, Bartley, Nikolaou, Pollock, Semedo (Moncur 53), Lee, Simpson (Kashket 46), Plasmati, Batt. Subs: Adeboyejo, Agyemang. Victor Adeboyejo and Montel Agyemang have joined Royston Town on a work experience loan whilst Sam Ling has also gone on a work experience loan to Ryman Premier outfit Grays Athletic. Adeboyejo got his début off to a fine start and broke the deadlock for the Crows after just eight minutes, before Kaan Fehmi sealed their success. Academy update. Not happy with the defence Fabio got Luke O’Neill on loan until the end of the season from Burnley. The 23 year-old right back started his career with Leicester but started only two matches for them in three years and was loaned to Tranmere and Kettering before being signed by Mansfield were he played 45 matches scoring three goals. Burnley signed him in the summer of 2012 since when he has been loaned to York, Southend and this season, to Scunthorpe where he played against us and for them 15 times without scoring but picking up four yellow cards. But that was way back in November. How long to get him fit? Way to Dean Smith’s mid- table Walsall next. Comment from Manish Bhasin, Mark Warburton (Brentford manager) and Steve Claridge from the BBC’s Football League Show. MB: Leyton Orient three nil winners which is gonna obviously inhance their survival hopes and you look at the scorers. It's insane. Dossena! You know formerly of Napoli, Liverpool, Sunderland. SC: I'm sure that I recognise them from somewhere incredible isn't it? As you say the scorers Jay Simpson, Mooney, Dossena I mean this is a club with far too much quality to be in the situation they are in so you would imagine continuing that vein of form they would get out of it. MB: It's a question of application isn't it? MW:Very much so but they are in a tough position right now need focus and concentration and get the points on the board. February 28. Away to Walsall. Back in the Saddle(rs) again. Signature tune of Gene Autry in case you get it in a pub quiz. Fabio dropped Sawyer in favour of loaned O’Neill as his only change to the starting line up. After 56’ Hedges scored his first senior league goal following a pass from Dagnall and two minutes later Hedges returned the favour for Dagnall to score high into the net. That took us up one place in the table after Colchester lost and Crawley drew. Managerless Coventry beat MK Dons to keep us one point outside a relegation place. Team: Cisak, Dossena, O’Neill, Lowry, Baudry Wright, Vincelot, Dagnall, Hedges, Mooney, McAnuff. Subs : Woods, Simpson(Dagnall 83),Sawyer, Clarke, Cuthbert(Lowry 91), Bartley, Cox(Hedges 75). Someone pointed out there are nine points between seventh placed Chesterfield and Coventry at 20. Home to league leaders Bristol City next then away on Saturday to Peterborough. City have lost Matt Smith after scoring eight goals in 17 games on loan from Fulham. March 3. Home to Bristol City. Moaning. On four minutes we were out of the relegation zone thanks to a through ball from Mooney for Dagnall. Eight minutes later we were back in it. Further goals on 21 and 60 meant we stayed in it though thankfully teams around us also lost. We had 16 shots at goa compared to their eight.Team: Cisak, Dossena, O’Neill, Lowry, Baudry Wright, Vincelot, Dagnall, Hedges, Mooney, McAnuff. Subs : Woods, Simpson(Mooney 71),Plasmati(McAnuff 80), Clarke, Cuthbert, Bartley, Cox(Hedges 67). City manager complained that Liverani did not shake hands with him and was unhappy that only one part of the pitch was watered at half time plus he didn’t like the way we played. Maybe he has never been in a relegation fight? March 6. Away to Peterborough. Can’t beat ten men. A bit harsh as their man was sent off in added time after a foul on O’Neill. A fluke goal gave them the points. We only had six shots on target to the Posh’s seven. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, O’Neill, Sawyer, Baudry Wright, Vincelot, Dagnall, Pritchard, Mooney, McAnuff. Subs : Woods, Simpson, Henderson(Mooney 55), Clarke, Dossena, Bartley(Vincelot 83), Cox(McAnuff 64). Not sure Liverani knows his best team after this but I said that about Slade. Vincelot was stretchered off and will miss the rest of the season. Around us Colchester and Crawley lost but Yeovil won. Above us Coventry and Notts County lost but Crewe won. Home to Yeovil next. Cisak’s loan was extended to the end of the season. Apparently Lowry and Hedges were injured for the Peterborough match not that you would know from the Orient’s website. Once upon a time there was a physios page where the injured appeared, their injury listed and the time it would take to heal. Not now, not even in Italian! Staines Town manager Nicky Forster completed the signing of central defender DARREN PURSE, who joins the club from Welling United. Darren was an England u21 international, and played over 550 Football League and Premier League games, starting at Leyton Orient. Jabo Ibehre left Colchester for a loan period at Barnsley. That's the fourth time he has been loaned out in his career. Conference side Woking Football Club have signed defender Brian Saah on a twenty eight day loan from Dagenham and Redbridge. March 14. Home to bottom placed Yeovil. Can win with ten men. Dagnall got the first after two minutes following a run by McAnuff and five minutes later Hedges made it two after Bartley went on a run up field. On the hour Henderson passed for an unmarked McAnuff to make it three. Having used all subs we were down to ten men when Baudry limped off. Yeovil were not up to much and their caretaker manager apologised to the fans for the poor show. Dagnall was give man of the match but my vote would have been Henderson. McAnuff and Dagnall appeared to agree. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, O’Neill, Dossena Baudry Wright , Bartley, Dagnall, Henderson, McAnuff, Hedges. Subs : Woods, Sawyer, Simpson, Clarke,, Pritchard(Bartley 70), Mooney(Henderson 59), Cox. We didn’t move up the table as Coventry won at Chesterfield, Crewe got thumped at Preston and Notts could only draw with Bradford. Below us Crawley beat Colchester. Home to Barnsley on Tuesday. Lisbie was loaned to Stevenage for a month and played 90’ in the goalless draw at Exeter. Jamie Cureton scored his 251st league goal. March 17. Home to Barnsley. 0-0 but still cannot beat ten men. This was not a bad result seeing Barnsley were place sixth. Their Lalkovic was sent off in the 89th minute. With Baudry and Bartley injured Liverani bought back Clarke and Pritchard. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, O’Neill, Dossena Clarke, Wright , Pritchard, Dagnall, Henderson, McAnuff, Hedges. Subs : Woods, Sawyer, Simpson(Hedges 94), Omozusi, Lowry, Mooney(Henderson 82), Cox(McAnuff 79). Crawley and Coventry both won away which meant we dropped down a place. Next opponents? Crawley away. Week after McAnuff and Hedges are on international duty. Cox and Simpson should replace them? March 21. Away to Crawley. Penalty. We needed to win this one but didn’t. Instead of keeping the same team that played Barnsley Liverani swapped McAnuff for Cox and Bartley for Pritchard. O’Neill gave away a penalty and the points. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, O’Neill, Dossena Clarke, Wright , Bartley, Dagnall, Henderson, Cox, Hedges. Subs : Woods, Sawyer, Simpson(Henderson 70), Omozusi, Lowry, Mooney(Bartleyt 66), Pritchard, McAnuff(Cox 70). Liverani set a 53 point target for survival. Is that useful? Home to Port Vale next. Grainger rejoined Farnborough on loan until the end of the season. Fabio went to Reading to get 23 year-old Jake Taylor on loan for the rest of the season. Taylor has started 16(20) games for Reading scoring three goals from July 2009 the the start of this season and has been loaned to Aldershot, Cheltenham, Exeter and lately Crawley. This season he has played 26 times for the Royals scoring three goals and played for them just two weeks ago so should be fit.. March 28. Home to Port Vale. Can win against ten men. Liverani dropped Dossena, Clarke and Henderson. With Hedges and McAnuff on international duty he replaced them with Sawyer, Taylor, Baudry and Mooney. McAnuff was only sub last week. James was on the bench having played 60’ in a reserve match during the week. We went a goal down on 28’ when Barltey lost the ball in midfield and Sawyer failed to defend. O’Neill, Taylor and Wright were truly awful. After bringing down Daganll their goalie was sent off and Mooney scored from the spot. Making his debut for Vale was Neill Collins on loan from Sheff Utd and he put us in the lead with an own goal. Mooney failed to score another penalty when he was bought down, opting to go to the same corner without the pace. Cox sealed it running on, I think from a Plasmati pass and powering in the ball from outside the area. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, O’Neill, Sawyer, Taylor, Wright , Bartley, Dagnall, Mooney, Cox, Hedges. Subs : Woods, Simpson, Henderson, Omozusi, Clarke(O’Neill 67), James(Taylor 86), Plasmati(Mooney 77). Francesco Becchetti ordered a public announcement at half time criticising Darius Henderson for being late for the start of the game and was named on the bench after being caught up in a traffic accident (a taxi caught fire on the M25 at Waltham Abbey) on his way to Brisbane Road. But Becchetti instructed matchday announcer Phill Othen to deliver a public message criticising Henderson for not arriving in time for the first half. Liverani was not worried as he said it was not Henderson’s fault. Oi Franny, ever heard the saying you don’t employ a dog and bark yourself? Fool. Even the Gills website didn’t think much of it saying: “Bizarrely Darius Henderson was lambasted over the Brisbane Road PA during the Port Vale half-time break last Saturday after arriving late for kick-off. Something that would not be recommended in any motivation manual”. We stayed three from bottom. Above us Crawley lost at home to Gillingham and Notts and Scunthorpe could only draw against each other. Immediately above them Crewe and Coventry won away. Next match is away to Coventry on Wednesday. April 1. Away to Coventry. Nicked. With injuries to Dossena(hamstring), Mooney(rib), Cox(groin) we only fielded six subs. No news on why Pritchard, Batt, Sawyer, O'Neill did not play. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, Baudry, Clarke, Lowry, Taylor, Wright , McAnuff, Bartley, Dagnall, Henderson. Subs : Woods, Simpson, Hedges(Taylor 59), Omozusi(Dagnall 85), James(McAnuff 68), Plasmati. According to the BBC website we only had 40% of the play but Dagnall put Wright through on 78’to seal all the points. Up four places to 18th putting Notts County in trouble. Home to Gillingham on Easter Monday. April 6. Home to Gillingham. One nil up, three one down, draw, shambles. Why shambles? Never change a winning team is another saying the Italians are oblivious to. Out went Henderson, Mooney, Bartley, Clarke and Taylor. Back came Dossena, James, Hedges, McAnuff and Cox. We went a goal up from a James penalty following a trip on Hedges. No marking for their first two goals and Lowry stupidly gave away a penalty to give them a two goal lead. Mooney is no target man but one who scores from one which last year was Lisbie. Finally Liverani twigged it on 55’ and bought on Henderson. It took him 12’ to score after blasting one at ex O’s gloveman Glen Morris. Unfortunately he could only parry it back to Henderson who blasted it equally hard into the back of the net. Wright got us a point after being found unmarked in the area. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, Baudry, Lowry, Dossena, Wright , James, Cox, Dagnall, Mooney, Hedges. Subs : Woods, Simpson, Clarke(Dossena 88), McAnuff(Hedges 60), Henderson(Mooney 55), O’Neill, Taylor. Away to Crewe next. April 11. Away to Crewe. No marking. Out went Dossena, James, Mooney and Cox, back came Clarke, Bartley, Henderson and McAnuff. Crewe went into the lead in ten minutes and Henderson volleyed a cross from Bartley on 30’ and that is how it stayed despite 17 shots on goal. As well as us there are two other clubs(Crewe and Crawley) on 47 points in the last relegation position. Simpson and Cox were injured, so was Woods. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, Clarke, Baudry, Lowry, Wright , McAnuff, Dagnall, Bartley, Henderson, Hedges. Subs : Grainger, James, Dossena(Lowry 74), Plasmati(Hedges 85), Mooney, O’Neill, Taylor. April 14. Home to Doncaster. Back came Dossena to the exclusion of Lowry. A settled team at last? Grainger broke a finger so Sam Sargeant was bought in from the youth team. A goal from a set piece lost us all points. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, Clarke, Baudry, Dossena, Wright , McAnuff, Dagnall, Bartley, Henderson, Hedges. Subs : James, Simpson, Lowry, Mooney, Sargeant, Taylor, O’Neill. Liverani wanted 53 points but I cannot see how we will get any considering the last four teams we play are all in the top seven. April 18. Away to MK Dons. Hammered. We lost this one 6-1. Settled team stratergy went out of the window. From the starting line up out went Dossena, Henderson and Wright back came James, Simpson and Taylor. Team: Cisak, Cuthbert, Clarke, Baudry, Lowry, James, Taylor, McAnuff, Dagnall, Bartley, Simpson. Subs : Omozusi, Mooney, Sargeant, Wright , Hedges, Plasmati, O’Neill. Simpson got our consolation. At one stage there were three clubs on 47 points and three on 50 but Crewe and Colchester dropped points by the final whistle. It is hard to tell what makes him shuffle the team around as this is all that was on the O’s website: Orient have injury doubts over Dean Cox, Bradley Pritchard and Andrea Dossena going into the match while Kevin Lisbie, who has returned from his loan spell with Stevenage, is ruled out after picking up an injury while with the League Two outfit. Gary Woods is likely to miss out once more with a back injury, meaning first-year scholar Sam Sargeant may well take his place on the bench once again. Goalkeeper Adam Legzdins and midfielder Romain Vincelot remaining long-term absentees with respective shoulder and knee injuries. So the reason for the missing Henderson, Batt and Pritchard would be? Supporter Laurie Hann said in the local Guardian: A lot has been said about Liverani and some of his ways of working. The squad rotation policy that he employs for me is quite difficult to understand, particularly the way he rotates the back four. By changing it around each week, it can’t be easy for the defence to settle. Last season was so successful because the side was largely the same week after week and the players knew inside out how each other worked. By changing it around so drastically so often, it can surely only have a detrimental effect on the side. I also can’t understand why it’s taking so long for his English to get up to scratch. I’m no linguistic expert but when I compare it back to when Fabio Capello took over the England helm it seems to be taking an age for him to grasp even the basics. It’s clear that the players struggle to understand his instructions on the pitch. With time this will improve, and I do hope Liverani is given time as I feel we’ve been playing a lot better style of football in the last couple months and if he’s given the time it will be interesting to see where he brings new faces in. I believe we’ve lacked a winger this season, as evidenced by the impact Ryan Hedges has had on the side and I hope we can bring him in permanently in the summer. Dossena was arrested accused of shoplifting from Harrods. April 21. Away to Rochdale. Relegation looms. Back came Omozusi, Hedges, Mooney and Cox and out went Cuthbert, Simpson, McAnuff, Taylor and James. A goal in the 66’ was enough to lose us all the points. Team: Cisak, Omozusi, Clarke, Baudry, Lowry, Dagnall, Wright, Cox, Bartley, Mooney, Hedges. Subs : James (Wright 70'), Simpson (Cox 77') , Sargeant, Pritchard (Hedges 64') , Batt, McAnuff. Only six subs? The Orient website information was that Darius Henderson and Andrea Dossena (both hamstring) were left out. So what is the problem with Taylor, Plasmati, Cuthbert and O’Neill. The Evening Standard said this before the match: At a time when stability is required, Standard Sport understands the players are increasingly puzzled by the team selections of boss Fabio Liverani. The Italian rarely names the same XI for consecutive games and his choices are thought to be governed more by the opposition than the talent he has available. To stay in this division we need two more points and hope Crewe lose their last two matches away to Coventry and home to Bradford. Incidentally I asked a physio at a local hospital why there were so many hamstring injuries. The reply was too much intense training. April 21. Home to Sheffield United. Doomed. The Orient website listed only Dossena, Henderson and Sawyer as doubts. So what is the story with Pritchard, O’Neill. Out went Lowry, Mooney, Hedges and Wright and back came Cuthbert, James and Simpson. We went a goal up through Baudry but a bad deflection meant we shared the points. Team: Cisak, Omozusi, Clarke, Baudry, Cuthbert, James, Dagnall, Cox, Bartley, Simpson, Batt. Subs: Lowry, Woods, Taylor, Mooney(Bartley 86'), Wright(James 62') , Hedges, McAnuff (Batt 52' ) . The results elsewhere went against us as Crewe beat Coventry, Colchester beat Fleetwood and Notts County beat Doncaster. That left us and Colchester on 48 points but they have a game in hand against Swindon on Tuesday. Above us were Crawley (last game at home to Coventry) and Notts County (last game away to Gillingham) on 50. The police took no further action against Dossena. Tuesday April 28. Colchester v Swindon. Things looked good for the U’s but bad for us as they went into the lead in the first minute. A goal in the second half meant they only got one point but that put us second from bottom. We need to win away at Swindon to have any hope of staying in this league. But Colchester at home to Preston, Crawley at home to Coventry and Notts County away to Gillingham all need to lose and that is not going to happen. I was going to write an article for Orientear on what went wrong but I could sum it up as too many managers and too many injuries. Supporter Andy Brown did it for me in an article for the local Guardian. “ Fabio Liverani. Where to start? The recruitment of an ex-Italian international as manager with barely any football management experience and none whatsoever in England, where the English language was also a problem (he still conducts all post match interviews in Italian) was always going to end in tears, even if it raised Orient’s profile on Francesco Becchetti’s Agon Channel. It is abundantly clear that he has been woefully out of his depth. Bizarre squad rotation, not knowing his best team, poor tactics (e.g. zonal marking from set pieces that has directly resulted in conceding a number of goals), inability to motivate the players and poor organisation have all been critical factors in the team’s demise. Putting good players on a pitch and hoping the team will succeed simply doesn’t work. Players While injuries at critical times have hampered the season, none more so than losing Romain Vincelot, Dean Cox, Darius Henderson and others for much of the run in, it is also clear that the attitude of players hasn’t helped. It is evident from body language and communication on the pitch that there is no team spirit, players taking responsibility for their performances or togetherness, whatsoever. Operating like this in a tactical and organisational vacuum and it is a recipe for relegation. I could not agree more. Read the full article. My take on the position we are in is that last year we had 46 games to prove we were one of the top three teams in the league and failed to do so. This season we have the same number of games to prove there are four other teams in the league worse than us and we have failed to do so. My fear is that we will emulate Tranmere Rovers who in 2012/2013 were top of the league for most of the season until they played and lost at home to Carlisle on Feb 2, then lost to us, Shrewsbury, Swindon, beat Colchester, drew against Notts then picked up only seven points from their last 11 matches including a run of five consecutive defeats and finished in 11th place. Last year they were relegated (on 47 points) and next year they will be playing in the Conference. My preference for the O’s manager was Mickey Adams and he took over Tranmere and failed to save them. In 2005 they were in a play off place. May 3 Away to Swindon. Down. Can’t beat 10 men, can’t score penalties. We drew 2-2 but Colchester beat Preston to stay up. Notts County, Crawley and Yeovil joined us in League Two. Out went Cuthbert and Batt back Came O’Neill and Wright. Team: Cisak, O’Neill, Clarke, Baudry, Omozusi, James, Dagnall, Cox, Bartley, Simpson, Wright, Subs: Lowry(Omozusi 55), Woods, Batt, Mooney, Cuthbert(Cox 81), Hedges, McAnuff (Simpson 74 ). We went a goal up on 40’ via Cox and seven minutes later Dagnall made it two. But James missed a penalty on 18 and their goalie got sent off. They got one back on 61 and four minutes from time O’Neill gave away a penalty to allow Swindon to draw. I have mentioned before that some 11 or so players can walk away from the club now as they are out of contract. But do the remaining players: goalies x 2, Clarke, Lowry, Baudry, James, Cox, Simpson, Pritchard, McAnuff and Henderson have clauses in their contracts to allow them to walk away from the club now we are relegated? I suspect Yeovil had this problem this season as in 2013/4 of the 31 players who turned out for them only 11 played for them this season. Having said that, Martin at Ciderspace is not aware that is what happened. He said “When we were relegated from the Championship we had six very key players out of contract who all got snapped up by other Championship or bigger L1 sides because of that. It's a big factor in why we've dropped two divisions - we tried to rebuild that side and it didn't work as the replacements weren't good enough in truth”. Sky Sports and the Evening Standard carried a report that Becchetti is to put the club up for sale. The club website said nothing other than the date the fixture list is out is Wednesday, June 17. I wonder if all those people that hated Hearn and wanted a millionaire owner are now happy? The players weren’t happy as they have been ordered to train four times a week until May 24. Wednesday 13. Liverani left the club by mutual consent. He took assistants Maurizio Cantarelli and Marcello Donatelli with him. Read more. Steve Lomas and Peterborough’s Darren Ferguson were installed as favourites for the managers job. Plenty of clubs releasing lots of players: 18 at Millwall, 17 at Blackpool, 11 at Sheff Wed and Yeovil, 7 at Bournemouth and Portsmouth who let Chorley and Storey go. Next page Email Keith