2020 A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A LEYTON ORIENT SUPPORTER
Other years: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Leyton Orient Diary part 1 to 1925 Part 2a from 1965 from
1968 from 1968-1972 from 1972 from 2002 2009-2010 here. Next page
We started the year 17th in the table on 26 points having played 24, winning 6, drawing 8, losing 10, scoring 32 and letting
in 41.
No news of any person in the frame to manage us.
Defender Michael Kelly with Bristol Rovers has been linked with a loan deal. He has turned out for them nine occasions this
season but lately from the bench. Kyle Scott at Newcastle has also been linked. He is yet to play for them or any team except
their U21’s Football League Trophy against Macclesfield.
1st January. Away to to Walsall. 1-0. We went with the same team but despite Walsall losing two players by the 38’ through
injury we went a goal down on 43’. A goal kick bounced four times without Ekipeta and Happe getting close as their attacker
rounded Sergeant to score. They then had a player sent off on 66’ but still we failed to score. Team: 24 Seargeant, 14 Judd,
23 Turley, 5 Ekpiteta, 21 Marsh, 44 Wright, 19 Angol, 15 Happe, 8 Clay, 20 Sotiriou, 10 Maguire-Drew. Substitutes: 24
Janata, 26 Kyprianou, 6 Coulson, 18 Harrold(Angol 45), 17 Dennis, 16 Brophy(Wright 45), 11 Dayton. Video highlights. Down to
19th, eight points from a relegation place.
2 January. Speaking to a fellow supporter in Morrison’s he told me he believed we needed a striker,
midfielder, centre half and goalkeeper. A few hours later we signed 6’4” keeper Lawrence Vigouroux on an
18-month contract. He was unattached having been freed from Everton de Viña del Mar in the Chilean
Primera División. Born in Camden he has played for the Chilean U21’s. He is eligible to play for
England through birth along with Chile and Jamaica through parentage. According to this site the 26
year-old has played 183 games all told. Swindon 130, Waterford 19, Hyde FC 12, Tottenham Hotspur U23 12,
Liverpool FC U23 10. He never played for Everton de Viña del Mar. Other stats from the above site: in
the 183 games he played he kept 44 clean sheets, let in 268 goals (1.46 a game), was booked 11 times,
received a straight red and two yellows to get sent off. Embleton knew him from his time at Spurs and
Swindon. Five Swindon supporters say he has an attitude problem. My hope for the manager’s job at the
start of the season was Daryl McMahon and he has just resigned from Macclesfield. Paul Tisdale is the
only other manager with form having recently left MK Dons. Ian Holloway was once interviewed for the the manager’s job by
Hearn who reported that he wanted £250k to do so. He is the new manager at Grimsby our next opponents. The once touted O’s
manager Derek Adams has signed three players on loan for Morecambe as well as a 27-year-old from non-league side Ashton
United. Morecambe are currently 23rd in League Two, one point clear of bottom club Stevenage. Meanwhile ex O Harry Kane has
suffered from a, guess what, a torn hamstring. What a surprise. Newcastle manager Steve Bruce complained of having four
injured players, three of which were hamstrings. This site indicated four reasons for hamstring strain:
Exercising with tight muscles. Athletes who have particularly tight muscles may be more likely to experience injury.
Muscle imbalances, where certain muscles are stronger than others.
Poor conditioning. If the muscles are weak, they’ll be less able to deal with the demands of certain sports or exercises.
Fatigue in the muscles, because tired muscles don’t absorb as much energy.
The last option seems to suggest over training? The other three a lack of, or poor training? One or the two or both are
responsible from the top division to the lowest.
3 January. McMahon became the new manager at Dagenham.
6 January. George Marsh had his loan extended to the end of the season.
7 January. Backward step. Embleton was promoted to head coach on a 12 month rolling contract this despite having won one
match in nine. Having said on two occasions that he did not want the job, not knowing, like Fletcher not this division and
unlike Fletcher having no managerial experience. Martin Ling said “we wouldn’t be giving this job to Ross if we didn’t think
he was up to it or if he didn’t want to do it, so I’m really comfortable that he’s ready to take the club forward where we
want to go.” Probably said the same of Fletcher? From Sky Sports “The 38-year-old has won seven and drawn eight of his 26
matches during his tenure”. We lost 11 so from at possible 78 points we got 29 and that is relegation form. I only hope I am
not being pessimistic and be proved hopelessly wrong.
The club advertised for a Media Manager some weeks back and maybe they haven’t employed one yet as the U18’s match at MK Dons
has not been reported on. They won 1-6.
9 January. Gorman was loaned to Newport for the rest of the season. I doubt if he will return as he is out of contract in the
summer. Sam Ling is expected to be sidelined until early February with a groin problem so said the club website.
11 January. Home to Grimsby 1-1 (Angol p). Better. We played without any recognised full backs and that came to haunt us when
Turley limped off. Brophy had started at left back. Embleton made four changes from the previous game. Judd replaced Turley
on 25 and they went ahead on 74 from débutante Clarke after Brophy loss the ball in their half and like the Walsall game two
defenders (Coulson and Happe) were late to see the danger. Seargent came out too early and the ball was lobbed over his head
into the net. Rumour had it that Vigouroux was unfit but the club website said his international clearance had not come
through. Two minutes into added time Clay was bundled onto the floor by Clarke and Angol hit the ball high into the net from
the penalty. Team: 24 Seargeant, 16 Brophy, 23 Turley, 26 Kyprianou, 21 Marsh, 6 Coulson, 44 Wright, 19 Angol, 15 Happe, 9
Wilkinson, 10 Maguire-Drew. Substitutes: 24 Janata, 20 Sotiriou, 14 Judd(Turley 25), 5 Ekpiteta, 18 Harrold(Marsh 81), 17
Dennis, 8 Clay(Kyprianou 65), 11 Dayton. Video highlights. Still 19th.
14 January. Andy Whing has left his role as Hereford first-team coach. Former Peterborough United defender Gabriel Zakuani
has signed for Dagenham & Redbridge.
16 January. Alabi joined Eastleigh for the rest of the season and that will be the last we see of him. Out of contract in the
summer he failed to start any league matches but made ten from the bench scoring one goal. How comes I knew about this on the
12th?
The death was announce of former manager George Petchey (right) on the 19th December. He was
88 and managed the club from 1971 to 1977. He played 400
league games at West Ham, QPR and Crystal Palace, managed
the Millwall between January 1978 and November 1980.
Petchey later held roles at Brighton, Chelsea and
Newcastle.
17 January. Despite not starting the last match without a
recognised full back we went and signed midfielder
Ousseynou Cissé on loan from Gillingham until the end of
the season. Cissé’s first professional appearance was for
French side Amiens, after coming through the Youth Academy
at PSG. After 36 appearances for Amiens (France) he moved
to Dijon, where he made 93 appearances. Cissé bagged his
first professional goal against AJ Auxerre in a 2-2 draw in
2014. He moved to Rayo Vallecano (Spain) in July 2015
moving to Waasland-Beveren (Belgium) on loan in January
2016 and to Tours (France) in August of that year. He came
to the UK in June 2017 to join MK Dons and in the two
seasons he was there was relegated and promoted. In June
last year he joined the Gills but despite scoring on his
début he has only started two league matches. The 28 year-
old is 6’5” and will wear the 31 shirt. Between 2015 and
2016, Cisse also represented Mali internationally five times, making his début in a
friendly against Libya. We loaned Ogie to Dover until the end of the season. Now we have no cover at left back either? The
transfer window is a little way half way over and according to my reckoning there have been in the region of 140 transfers
and we have got in a goalie and a midfielder yet have only one full back at the club. Morcambe signed four, Stevenage three,
Carlisle four and Oldham five.
January 18. Away to Port Vale (1-0). Judd for Turley was the only change in the line up though Turley’s injury was unreported
by the club but he didn’t travel to the Potteries. Goalless at half time until Judd was replaced by midfielder Clay, really!
Three minutes later we were a goal down. Cisse came on for Kyprianou and later Harrold for Angol though what he was supposed
to do in ten minutes is a mystery to me. Why not start with him? Neither Angol or Wilkinson can win the ball in the air
though some will argue that even if Harrold wins the ball it goes nowhere. More to do with how we play around him than his
fault. Team: 24 Seargeant, 14 Judd, 16 Brophy, 26 Kyprianou, 21 Marsh, 6 Coulson, 44 Wright, 19 Angol, 15 Happe, 9 Wilkinson,
10 Maguire-Drew. Substitutes: 22 Vigouroux, 31 Cissé(Kyprianou 68), 20 Sotiriou, 5 Ekpiteta, 18 Harrold(Angol 79), 8
Clay(Judd 68), 11 Dayton. Video highlights. Down to 20th.
There is a growing band of supporters who don’t rate Martin Ling’s signings. With Gorman and Alabi gone without making an
impact in the last two seasons and the signings of Dennis and Wilkinson who are without success in this league and have
hardly set the supporters alight with their scoring prowess. Needing two full backs he signs a goalie and midfielder. Groin
strains tend to slow down the players that have them and that leaves Sam Ling at a snails pace. His second groin strain this
season so maybe the first one hadn’t healed before he was bought back? Not withstanding this Ling M has been responsible for
bringing three managers to E10 two of which didn’t stay much more than four months.
Any amount of disappointment on lofcforum.com
This from UpminsteO Dear Ross
Can we please have for consideration on today's match :
- the fittest and most technically capable players selected in their most effective positions
- a simple team formation that is the most effective for their skill set
- a settled formation throughout the match
- concentrate on our proven strengths rather than the oppositions perceived strengths
- focus on three points in preference to salvaging a draw after dominating possession
-Show wisdom in your pre and post interviews
-Inspire the team with tactical summaries at team talks that are simple for them to understand.
And from Frogger “What a disaster of a club Ling couldn’t run a bath let alone a club.”
This from Redcard on Ogie’s loan “Great thinking, we have widdowson , ling ,and turley injured and we loan out a genuine full
back so we can continue playing people out of position.”
According to the forum Turley has a groin problem and appears to be in The Princess race Hospital. That would be him done for
the season.
From Four four two “Doesn't matter how much we spend on who we bring in. If we bring in a striker, Ross will play him on the
wing and if we bring in a winger, Ross will play him at full back. Hey - ho, this one up front policy is working well though
so why change it .” Also from Disorientated on M Ling “The guy is incompetent beyond belief. What other club would have still
kept him on after the complete and utter Fletcher shambles? Laughable.”
21 January. Home to Northampton (1-1 Wright p). Shambles for an hour. This was painful to watch from the start. We began
without any recognised full backs and no wingers as Brophy was playing at left back. No sign of Angol or Dennis and no
mention of injuries in the Club briefing. Three 18 year-olds on the bench. Cissé made his début. Nobody played well as early
as the ninth minute when Sargeant’s poor clearance lead to the upright being rattled. It was only a matter of time before we
went a goal down and it happened just before half time. The second half bought no changes and I thought it was only a matter
of time before it was two, three or four nil as players continued to make mistakes. Happe’s passing was awful, Brophy did not
appear to know he needed to be between the goal and the ball on the defence. Wilkinson and Harrold were jumping for the same
ball and Clay was not in the game. Just after the hour Magire-Drew and Sotiriou replaced Harrold and Coulson but it was not
until Dayton replaced Cissé that we started to play though Wilkinson seemed out of it. Five minutes before time we were given
a penalty that Wright converted. Then the fight started. It ended in a 17 player brawl. Their 16 seemed to manhandle Maguire-
Drew but for some reason their 16 and Dayton were sent off with the referee’s decision taking a large slice of the eight
minutes of added time. A better view from a fan. As well as the red card they had four yellows. We had 63% of the play. Team:
24 Seargeant, 16 Brophy, 31 Cissé, 21 Marsh, 6 Coulson, 5 Ekpiteta, 44 Wright, 18 Harrold, 15 Happe, 9 Wilkinson, 8 Clay.
Substitutes: 22 Vigouroux, 26 Kyprianou, 14 Judd, 20 Sotiriou(Haold 57), 10 Maguire-Drew(Coulson 58),29 Sweeney, Dayton(Cissé
63. Video highlights. Up to 19th. Home to Newport next.
According to Football League World we are interested in West Ham’s Dan Kemp though the 21 year-old is yet to experience
senior football on a regular basis,The youngster is described as being able to play as an attacking midfielder or as a
winger. Only one back in the club and we are going for a midfielder. I hope not. Russell Slade was left Hereford by mutual
consent. He joined them at the end of August. Slade departed with a record of four wins, six draws and nine defeats, his
Bulls scoring 19 goals and conceded 31. Whoever gets the job on a permanent basis will be the third Bulls boss since Peter
Beadle left 16 months ago.
23 January. We were linked with Lincoln forward John Akinde but he opted to join
Gillingham. The west stand will be renamed the Justin Edinburgh stand. In the
hopeless Club Preview they list only three injured players in Brill, McAnuff and
Turley despite Ling is reported to be out of action until at least February and
Brill has retired from playing and joined the coaching staff. No mention of
Widdowson. Wycombe striker Scott Kashket has been banned from all football-related
activity for six months, with four months suspended, for betting breaches. Kashket
admitted placing 183 bets on football matches, between the period of September 2014
and August 2016, when he played for us. The FA's written reasons to the sanctions
detailed the player had placed a total of £14,086.85 on the bets, with a total
return of £13,639.10 which resulted in an overall loss of £1,167.75. With seven days
left in the transfer will we be left with all those players nobody wants?
25 January. Home to Newport (2-1 own goal, Sotiriou). Better. With 64% of the play
it still took us until the 81st minute to score and though originally given to
Ekipeta it was finally given as an own goal. Sotiriou and Maguire-Drew returned to
the starting lineup with Harrold warming the bench and Coulson not involved. Brophy
and Marsh continued as makeshift full backs. Three times in the first half their
goalie made saves to keep them in the game. A minute before time Angol found Wright
and his cross was put away off a defenders shoulder by Sotiriou. In the fifth minute
of added time they got one back thanks to away day marking from Happe and Harrold
whilst Sergeant stayed on his line. Team: 24 Seargeant, 16 Brophy, 31 Cissé, 21
Marsh, 5 Ekpiteta, 20 Sotiriou, 10 Maguire-Drew, 44 Wright, 15 Happe, 9 Wilkinson, 8
Clay. Substitutes: 22 Vigouroux, 26 Kyprianou( 90+3), 3 Widdowson, 14 Judd, 19
Angol(Maguire-Drew78), 29 Sweeney, 18 Harrold(Sotiriou 90+3). Video highlights. Up
to 19th. Away to 4th placed Crewe on Tuesday.
27 January. We signed striker Danny Johnson from Scottish Championship side Dundee on an 18 month contract. From the club
website with my comments in brackets: The 26-year-old forward had spells at Middlesbrough and Hartlepool United during his
youth days before a short spell in Spain with Real Murica.
A return to England saw Johnson score nine in 21 appearances for Billingham Synthonia. In the 2013/14 season 51 goals in 48
games for non-league Guisborough Town, secured a move to the Championship side Cardiff never played for them) who immediately
sent the forward out on loan to Tranmere Rovers (20 Oct 2014 4 apps no goals). A second short loan with Stevenage (2 Feb 2015
1(3) no goals) followed before the forward sealed a deal with Gateshead (6 Aug 2015). Johnson enjoyed his football at the
National League side, hitting double figures in three consecutive seasons (80(31) 45 goals). Scotland would be his next
location, firstly with Motherwell (14 Jun 2018) 14(14) 8 goals) in the SPL and next for Dundee FC (26 Jul 2019 13(9) 7
goals).
28 January. Away to Crewe (2-0). Whatever the game plan was it came unstuck as early as the second minute which the BBC
described thus “They [Crewe] were presented with a second-minute gift from Sam Sargeant with the O's keeper slipping fielding
a routine backpass allowing Kirk to nip and finish.” Embelton’s plan B seems to consist of taking off a defender and sending
on a forward. When did this ever work? This happened in the 75th minute when Harrold replaced standin full back Marsh. They
scored again 13’ later when their Powell broke down his right, no tackle from Brophy, no tackle from Happe, no tackle again
from Brophy who seemed to be ball watching as Powell went unchallenged to put the ball between the post and Sargeant. Despite
59% of the play we failed once again to turn possession into goals .
Team: 24 Seargeant, 16 Brophy, 31 Cissé, 21 Marsh, 5 Ekpiteta, 20 Sotiriou, 10 Maguire-Drew, 44 Wright, 15 Happe, 9
Wilkinson, 8 Clay. Substitutes: 22 Vigouroux, 26 Kyprianou, 3 Widdowson, 14 Judd, 19 Angol(Cissé 71), 29 Sweeney, 18
Harrold(Marsh 75). Video highlights. Down to 20th after Carlisle thumped Forest Green 1-4 and Grimsby did the same to
Mansfield 3-1.
Rumour on lofcforum.com is that Ex O’s loanee Adam Chicksen will be our next signing. The other rumour from last Saturday is
that Danny Webb has been sacked by the club. As one supporter put it “there is a deafening silence from the club. Also this
little bit about Joe: I disagree about Widdowson. He's a good LB and I think we've really missed him. A reply was: Would respectfully suggest
that you are easily pleased. Widdowson is spectacularly limited and occasionally a liability due to his tendency to allow
opposition players to run off his inside shoulder. He’s one of a number of last year’s title winners who should be plying his
trade in non-league again come the end of his contract (cf. Clay, Coulson, Ling, Judd,
Harrold, Gorman, Alabi, Dayton and Brill [before he retired]). This after the match: I just dont
understand how Clay plays every week, can't pass, Can't control the ball in fact no quality at all. We badly need some
creativity in there Cisse looks a good signing and I believe our strikers are OK but we create sweet FA. Time to get a proper
left back in for Saturday and Brophy wide left in a 4-4-2. And this: Cisse has sorted us defensively. He’s class. We need
to do everything to make sure he stays. We just need someone as good as him in one of the more forward roles.
31 January. One of the things the forum wanted was an experienced full back who can hit the
floor running, not an injured player like Gorman. What we got was a 21 year-old striker from
Spurs that last played in September and would stay at Spurs until he was fit. This from the forum
members. “What. He is suffering from an injury he got on September , and will remain at Spurs till it heals. You couldn't make
it up.” “Time for Ling to pack his bags. He is beyond parody now.” “Is annoying. He hasn’t played since September .Even if he
gets fit overnight, how long will it take him to get match fit . We will hardly see him play this season . Somebody at the club is
seriously losing the plot.” “I think this deal proves things have to change upstairs . Ridiculous decision.” “Nobody is doubting
this lad talent , it’s just the fact that he’s injured . We needed players in now who can help us get away from relegation.” We
got Kazaiah Sterling, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, until the end of the season but is
struggling with a quad injury that he picked up back in September. The 21-year-old forward was Orient’s first club as having
crossed paths with Embleton at both Spurs and Orient signing him here as an 8-year-old. Then he sold him to Tottenham and
worked with him during Embleton’s time at Spurs. According to Soccerbase he has started three matches for Spurs U21’s with
one from the bench scoring one goal. He has made an appearance for them but not in the Premiership. He joined Sunderland on
loan and made eight appearances from the bench scoring one goal. On loan to Doncaster he made one start and three from the
bench without scoring. Embleton said “we know we have signed a player with incredible potential; he has a real good CV for a
lad of his age.” Good CV? not from the Soccerbase stats. He is not thought to be fit until the end of February. Koroma
joined top of the table Rotherham on loan. An FA statement: "Leyton Orient FC and Northampton Town FC have been fined £3,000
each following their EFL League Two fixture on Tuesday 21 January 2020.
1 February. Away to Stevenage 0-3 (Sotiriou 2, Cissé). Three points from bottom placed Stevenage. Sargeant lost his place in
goal whilst Johnson was on the bench. Sotiriou put us ahead on 19’ from a pass from Wright which found the far post. On 59’ a
Wright free kick found Cissé who tapped the ball home at the far post. Sotiriou got his second three minutes later from
Wilkinson’s pass halfway in the opponents half which he took to the penalty area before his shot clipped the goalie’s left
post on it’s way in. Later a pass from Wright found Angol who ghosted past the defender but his shot across the goal failed
to find the net. Team: 22 Vigouroux, 16 Brophy, 31 Cissé, 21 Marsh, 5 Ekpiteta, 20 Sotiriou, 10 Maguire-Drew, 44 Wright, 15
Happe, 9 Wilkinson, 8 Clay. Substitutes: 24 Seargeant,26 Kyprianou(Clay 82), 3 Widdowson, 39 Johnson(Maguire-Drew 72), 19
Angol(Sotiriou 79), 6 Coulson, 18 Harrold. Video highlights. Up to 18th twelve points from bottom placed Stevenage. Home to
Macclesfield next. They are 22nd. Then home to Mansfield at 21st.
Ex O’s elsewhere: Jamie Sendles-White has appeared 11 times for Crawley this season. After leaving us he joined St Albans and
Torquay. Gary Sawyer was sent off for Plymouth. Ollie Palmer scored for Crawley.
4 February. In the Central League Cup an Orient XI beat AFC Wimbledon 2-1 thanks to goals from Widdowson and Harrold. Team:
Janata, Marfo, Coulson, Widdowson, Sweeney, Shabani, Kyprianou, Dayton, Harrold, Ifeanyi, Dunbar-Bonnie. Subs: Campbell,
Francois-Vernal 83”, Solomon 61”, Papadopoulos 61”, Lovatt, Trialist A 68”.
Kevin Nolan joined the West Ham coaching staff. Contributors to the latest editions of Pandamonium and Orientear seem to
agree to a wait and see approach to Embleton’s appointment whilst opinion on extended contracts is they were handed out as a
thank you for getting promoted. In particular Brill, Coulson and Dayton and not so sure on Ling. Consensus is that Alabi and
Gorman won’t return and Dayton will not be offered another contract nor will McAnuff. No one seems fussed if Dennis leaves
while we wait to find if Angol has a best playing position. Harrold can hold up the ball and win it in the air which is not
something Angol is good at. Ekipiteta has time on his hands to improve, Brophy is no good at left back and needs a right foot
for something other than standing on. In a mid term style school report Pandamonium gave these marks: A, nobody, B Turley, B-
Harrold, Wilkinson, Wight, Sergeant and Ling. C Judd, Happe, Dayton, Marsh. C- Brill, Ekiteta, Widdowson, Gorman, Clay,
Brophy, Maguire-Drew. D Angol and Dennis. D- Coulson.
8 February. Home to Macclesfield (1-1 Brophy). Cost of negativity = two points. A rubbish first half fielding an unchanged
team. Dayton was on the bench following his three match ban. The game burst into life after a through ball to the onrushing
Brophy and his shot found the net. In the dieing minutes the team decided to play the ball into the corner flag and turned a
throw on into a goal kick. Players: you are in League two and the bottom of it, you are not that clever or skilful. Minutes
later a pass from inside their area was played beyond Coulson (where Brpophy should have been) and they equalised. With
Marsh and Brophy as makeshift full full backs we were made to suffer the sight of Maguire-Drew, a left footed winger playing
on the right wing. Happe went of ill at half time. We failed to turn 61% advantage into goals again. Team: 22 Vigouroux, 16
Brophy, 31 Cissé, 21 Marsh, 5 Ekpiteta, 20 Sotiriou, 10 Maguire-Drew, 44 Wright, 15 Happe, 9 Wilkinson, 8 Clay.
Substitutes: 24 Seargeant, 26 Kyprianou, 3 Widdowson, 39 Johnson(Maguire-Drew 59), 19 Angol(Wilkinson 68), 6 Coulson(Happe
45), 11 Dayton. Video highlights. Down to 19th after Scunthorpe and managerless Cambridge won their matches. Home to
Mansfield next.
Comment. I have now seen three goals where the ball has been punted into our half without a full back in sight. That is not
the fault of Marsh or Brophy who cannot be supplying the forwards with crosses and expected to defend at the same time. The
thinking is flawed. Woking have extended the loan of forward Jamar Loza from Chelmsford City until the end of the season.
Barnet have signed forward Paul McCallum on loan from National League rivals Solihull Moors until the end of the season.
The post match interview with Embleton reported on the fitness of Dennis who had a knee injury and now has a hip injury,
McAnuff was training hard. Ling would not be rushed back.
11 February. Home to Mansfield (2-1 Dayton, own goal). Abysmal. Every player was guilty or poor passing and even when the
subs came on they caught the problem. Not only did we have two players at fullback playing out of position we now had two
strikers playing on the wings. Ekipeta and Sotiriou did not play but again the club preview did not report this. It could be
that Embleton does not want to release this information as it may give our opponents an advantage? That being the case I
might as well write it. After a really shocking 45’ Angol found Dayton on the edge of the area and made his way toward goal
before finding a gap at the near post. Earlier Angol blazed a shot high and wide whilst Happe hit the post. Brophy gave away
a corner on 60’ and the Stags levelled the scores. A Maguire-Drew cross was headed into the net for an own goal after
pressure from Angol. Johnson spent most of the time with his back to goal 30 yards ou. We had 66% of possession but most of
that was due to passes back into and across the middle of the pitch and back again. Committed fouls totaled 34 but there
should have been a lot more if the referee had a clue. The BBC had this to say: “ an opening half that lacked much in the way
of quality” and “The home side had dominated possession without causing many problems for their opponents”. Team: 22
Vigouroux, 16 Brophy, 31 Cissé, 21 Marsh, 6 Coulson, 10 Maguire-Drew, 19 Angol, 15 Happe, 9 Wilkinson, 11 Dayton, 39 Johnson,
8 Clay. Substitutes: 24 Seargeant, 26 Kyprianou, 3 Widdowson, 39 Maguire-Drew(Johnson 70), 44 Wright(Dayton 66), 14 Judd,
29 Sweeney. Video highlights. Up to 17th. Three points away from 11th place. Away to seventh placed Cheltenham next Saturday.
Then home to Oldham at 19th who had been playing well until tonight when they lost 5-1 at third placed Exeter though they
were down to ten men from the 42nd minute.
This from Thor on the lofcforum.com “I liked the possession football we played, we controlled the tempo (I’ll come back to
this point) we moved it around quite well and I read that we had something like 70% possession in the first half. Could well
be true and if it was correct that’s impressive. So to me there was a big improvement in keeping the ball, keeping it on the
floor and moving it from right to left and vice a versa. However, the tempo was way to slow for what we were trying to do. If
we are to play that style then we need to move the ball quicker, it needs to ping in quickly to the players and by that quick
movement will allow us to stretch the play, create space and then allow us to play through the gaps we create. By moving the
ball in the slow manner we did allowed them to get back behind he ball and nullify what we were trying to do. If we had moved
with pace we could have been five up with that sort of possession stat.
A lot of negative things have been said about our play recently and I’ll say that I’ve said that myself however, I’m starting
to see a pattern to our play and an identity, whilst it’s still early days you can see the progression Ross the boss is
trying to formulate. He still needs to work on it and speed of movement of the ball and the players should be the next thing
he works on. Playing a better team than last night would be an issue if we are that slow against such a team as they will be
able to nullify us even easier than what we saw last night.
A reply from Chief Crazy Horse I too am always pleased when we have more possession. But the most important thing we can't
do is create chances. Just like Saturday, we again had less shots on target than the opposition last night. At home as well.
This is the big worry at the moment. And a further reply from Thor “Now we've had the possession part. It just all needs to
link up through the team. The centre midfield area doesn't have a playmaker as such which would help to create the chances
required to score.” Not sure a playmaker is much use if the rest of the team are not running into positions to receive the
ball. From Apple Wumble “Obviously you need to win games but personally I haven’t been put off going by our losses
necessarily, more the style or lack of that makes it painful viewing week in week out.
As others have stated, chance creation is our problem and that’s Ross’ biggest challenge. A creative midfielder or two might
not harm that, instead of an injured striker, for example.”
The club finally admitted they had parted company with Webb though would not comment on why. Apparently Ekipeta was and has,
been carrying a shin injury whilst Sotiriou had a hamstring problem. Alabi scored from the spot for Eastleigh to get them a
draw after being two down. Former loan player Ade Azeez signed for Torquay United on loan from Newport County until the end
of the season. He made one app for us in 2013 whist on a moth’s loan from Charlton. From us he went to → Torquay United
(loan)
9
(2), 2014
→ Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)
15
(3), 2014–2016
AFC Wimbledon
85
(12), 2016–2017
Partick
Thistle
38
(2), 2017–2019
Cambridge United
39
(2), 2018
→ Dover Athletic (loan)
12
(1), 2019–
Newport County
12
(1). Goals in brackets. Article on Dennis. Jamie Cureton joined Mark Stison’s Hornchurch. The 44-year-old ex-Norwich
City frontman had been player-manager at Bishops Stortford alongside chairman Steve Smith and has scored 16 goals. But when
the club said they couldn’t guarantee his future in either role next season, Cureton took up an offer from Hornchurch. Ex O
loanee Tommy Carroll is a free agent after being released by Swansea.
15 February. Away to Cheltenham (2-1 Wilkinson). The team and subs were unchanged. Injury List according to @leytonorientfc:
Sotiriou, Ekpiteta, Harrold, Dennis, Ling, Turley, McAnuff. Wilkinson put us a goal up on 17’ when a clearance from the
goalie hit him but they equalised a minute later when a cross hit Coulson and found their forward who was between Happe and
Brophy. Vigouroux kept us in it after a poor backpass from Happe. They scored the winner two minutes from time when Happe
was dragged out of central defence to cover the winger (Brophy nowhere near him) and Widdowson did not prevent Reid from
scoring. 51% possession. Team: 22 Vigouroux, 16 Brophy, 31 Cissé, 21 Marsh, 6 Coulson, 10 Maguire-Drew, 19 Angol, 15 Happe,
9 Wilkinson, 11 Dayton, 39 Johnson, 8 Clay. Substitutes: 24 Sergeant, 26 Kyprianou, 3 Widdowson(Dayton 60), 39 Maguire-
Drew(Angol 60), 44 Wright(Wilkinson 81), 14 Judd, 29 Sweeney. Video highlights. BBC report. Still 17th but three points will
only take us up two places.
Comment: Again we failed, as Apple Wumble said on lofcforum.com, to make chances. Cheltenham had 21 shots of which six were
on target whilst we had four with only two on target according to the BBC. Unlike Thor from the same site I do not “see a
pattern to our play and an identity.”
Stephen Dawson left Hereford for Radcliff. Graham Westley got the tin tack at Stevenage and Alex Revell took charge. His
first signing was Russell Slade as managerial consultant. You have to wonder at the merit of some websites. Football League
World being one of them. Citing three mistakes we should not make they came up with: Out of their 14 losses in the league
this season, seven of those have been by one goal and Embleton should be instructing his side to not switch off at the back
for one moment if they want to move on up the table. Fair enough but at 2 Not playing Sotiriou. He is injured. At 3 Not using
Sterling. He has been injured since September and is not expected to be fit until at least the end of the month.
29 February. Home to Oldham (2-2 Own goal, Johnson). All four goals were from close range and we were first out of the blocks
on 13’ when a Maguire-Drew corner found Cissé on the far post and his header found the thigh of defender harmer and then into
the net. All to no avail though as five minutes later we were 1-2 down. Dearnley scored both their goals and on each
occasion Marsh was his marker but instead of being between the ball and the player he was behind both. Both came from
corners. We drew level on 54 when a Wright free kick found Cissé again on the far post and his header eventually found
Johnson on the goal line to tap home. Maguire-Drew and Wright returned to the starting lineup with Dayton and Angol returning
to the bench. Vigouroux kept us in it from another corner. Sotiriou replaced Wilkinson on the right wing! Team: 22
Vigouroux, 16 Brophy, 31 Cissé, 21 Marsh, 6 Coulson, 10 Maguire-Drew, 44 Wright, 15 Happe, 9 Wilkinson, 39 Johnson, 8 Clay.
Substitutes: 24 Sergeant, 26 Kyprianou, 19 Angol, 3 Widdowson, 20 Sotiriou (Wilkison 55), 11 Dayton, 29 Sweeney. Video
highlights. BBC report. Down to 18th.
Kevin Lisbie joined the staff as striker coach. Sterling was thought to be fit at the end of the month so they said on his
signing. That would be Saturday at Forest Green Rovers then? Or the game v Cambridge United on Tuesday afternoon in the
Central League Cup.
29 February. The match at Forest Green Rovers was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch thanks to heavy rain all week. Dennis
scored a goal at Cambridge but we lost 2-1. Team: Sargeant, Judd, Widdowson, Francois-Vernal, Sweeney, Kyprianou, Shabani,
Trialist A, Dennis, Ifeanyi, Dunbar-Bonnie. Goal: Dennis 56″ Subs Used: Lovatt (Dennis) 67”, Papadopoulos (Shabani) 73”,
Young (Trialist) 73”. Subs unused: Solomon, Marfo. Carl Fletcher returned to his old job at Bournemouth. The article read
[in] less than a month and no wins in five games later, he was sacked. Fletcher said “I had about six or seven training
sessions, no transfer window, none of my own staff. My best players were injured while I was there. “One of the biggest
disappointments for me was that I read it wrong, in terms of certain individuals, in terms of putting faith in people.
"That faith doesn’t always get repaid, which I think I was maybe a bit naive about. I’ve always accepted people for who they
are. And that backfired.” What he didn’t say was he took over a team that hat just won 0-4 away at Grimsby albeit that they
were below us. Then lost 4-0 at Plymouth and lost an FA Cup game to a team five(?) divisions below us. We picked up just one
point and lost at bottom of the table Morecambe. Not sure who he thought his best players that were injured were as at
Morecambe he put Wilkinson, Maguire-Drew, Dennis and Turley on the bench.
Against Maldon it was Ekpiteta, Dayton and Marsh on the bench. In his first
home match Maguire-Drew, Dennis and Turley. In his first match at Plymouth
Maguire-Drew, Dennis, Marsh, and Turley did not start. We were 12th in the
table when he joined us and 16th when he left. Lloyd James joined Bath City
after a month’s loan at Torquay. Strikes me their manager Cooper is not a
nice man. Notwithstanding the remarks he made to Embleton about Edinburgh
(why would he make that up?) he was not man enough to own up and apologise.
James has not trained with Forest Green this season despite still being under
contract until today as he was not part of Mark Cooper’s plans. Sam Sergeant
signed a two-year contract. Brendon Shabani joined Bishops Stortford on a one
month loan.
Total Orient is totally out of date with everything and from their Contract
Expiry Dates I have gleaned the following to be out of contract in the
summer: EKPITETA, SOTIRIOU, HARROLD, McANUFF and OGIE with DAYTON having a
one year extension option. I have ignored Alabi and Gorman as I don’t see
them returning.
The Forest Green match was arranged for Tuesday 31st March.
The club announced (22 Feb) the death of Brian Harvill Jackson at the age of
86. They said “Jackson joined Second Division Leyton Orient from the then
Arsenal junior club Chase of Chertsey during October 1950, making his league
debut for the O’s against Southend United on 30 December 1950 aged just
seventeen and
played down
the right
wing for the
rest of that
1950-51
season.
At the start
of the 1951-
52 season, he was constantly watched by Liverpool scouts and
in November 1951 they offered £7500 plus winger Don Woan.
For Liverpool, Jackson made 133 appearances over the next
six-and-a-half years and scored 11 goals.” Born Saturday, 1
April 1933 in Walton-on-Thames he went on to play 38 league
games for us scoring two goals and on leaving Liverpool
joined Port Vale playing 159 games and scoring 29 games. He then joined Peterborough in 1962 playing 47 league games with 4
goals before ending his league career with Lincoln in 1964 were he played ten games scoring a single goal before joining
Boston. ENFA also shows him playing for Burton Albion. He died aged 86 on February 14, Valentine’s Day, surrounded by his
friends and family - and Liverpool, who have paid tribute, will hold a minute's silence at their next game at home to West
Ham. From the Standard. And Lincolnshire Live. LFC History.
7 March. Home to Cambridge (2-1 Maguire-Drew, Johnson). Return of talisman McAnuff. The Club Preview made no mention of any
injury to Wilkinson or Wright but they played no part in the match. We had no goalkeeper on the bench. They also had this to
say “Louis Dennis and Sam Ling are both pushing to make full recoveries and get back out on the pitch, though this game may
come too early.” They were on the bench. And “Matt Harrold and Marvin Ekpiteta have been carrying light knocks in recent
weeks and remain doubts for tomorrow’s game. Jobi McAnuff and Jamie Turley will be unavailable for selection.” Harrold and
McAnuff were also on the bench. On 17’ Clay set of on a run towards goal giving a opponent a karate chop in the process but
the ref gave nothing as he went down like a sack of spuds. Clay’s pass found Maguire-Drew who rifled his shot home despite
the close attention of three defenders. Into added time Brophy’s short pass found Dayton and his shot saw their goalie
throwing himself to his right. He could only parry the ball as far as Johnson and the Fox In The Box tapped home the second.
They got one back on 63’ and I thought Vigouroux was too far out of his area but there was a lack of marking from Marsh.
Minutes later Sotiriou’s pin point cross found McAnuff on the far post and his volley was saved by their goalie though a foot
either side of him would have resulted in a goal. Vigouroux kept us in it with a fine save minutes from time. With no front
man to aim at the ball was played at chest level making it difficult for any defender. Team: 22 Vigouroux, 16 Brophy, 31
Cissé, 21 Marsh, 6 Coulson, 10 Maguire-Drew, 15 Happe, 20 Sotiriou, 39 Johnson, 11 Dayton, 8 Clay. Substitutes: 26
Kyprianou, 19 Angol, 3 Widdowson(Maguire-Drew 75), 7 McAnuff(Dayton 67), 2 Ling, 17 Dennis, 18 Harrold. Video highlights. BBC
report. Up to 17th. Away to 9th placed Bradford next Saturday. No mention of Sterling who we signed on the last day of
January some 37 days ago? Though this was a sell-out only 5,813 were in attendance. As much to do with the coronavirus as the
recent performances considering 1,300 came from Cambridge.
Due to the coronavirus all football was suspended for the rest of March at the earliest.
19 March. The football leagues were postponed until 30 April earliest. The cricket season is on hold until the end of May.
PGA Championship in San Francisco in May postponed. Tennis suspended until June.
Cancelled: The Grand National, Eurovision Song Contest, the Great British Beer Festival. Tokyo 2020 Olympics will now take
place in 2021. All people advised not to go to work but to stay in doors and only shop for essentials like food and
medicines. All retail stores closed. The FA announced that this season’s league competition for Steps 3-6 will be null and
void, with no promotion or relegation. A decision from the National League regarding the continuation or not of the current
season is expected in the near future. 28th March: Deaths reached over 1000 here in the UK. Deaths are expected to reach
6,000 - 20,000 depending on which expert you believe. Two unnamed Orient players have contracted the virus.
3 April: Coventry City, Doncaster Rovers and Leyton Orient have put their players on temporary leave as a result of the
financial effects of coronavirus. It means they will be paid 80% of their wages - up to £2,500 a month - via the government's
job retention scheme.
The clubs are also putting a proportion of their non-playing staff on furlough.
On Friday, the English Football League confirmed its competitions would be postponed indefinitely until it was safe for
football to resume.
A 13 year-old with no underlying health problems has been the youngest to die whilst a 5 year-old with health problems has
died. Over 4,000 have died in the UK with 708 overnight. Italy's deaths go above 15,000.
8 April. Barry Hearn was taken to hospital on Sunday after a minor heart attack and will return home today after an operation
yesterday. 9 April. The English Football League has laid out tentative plans to complete the 2019-20 season over a period of
approximately 56 days over the summer, including the play-offs.
A letter from EFL chairman Rick Parry to its member clubs advises them to prepare for a return to training activity no
earlier than May 16 as the country remains on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. 17 April. Legend Norman Hunter of
Leeds and England dies of the virus. He was 76.
“I’ve grown disenchanted with the game. Twenty years of supporting the Orient does that to a man.” Ronnie Barker in the film
Porridge.
The EFL Chair Rick Parry has penned an open letter to supporters. Amongst it was: Unfortunately, I cannot tell you today when football will resume, though whenever we
do return, matches are likely to be played without crowds. Plans are continuing to be worked up for all games to be broadcast either via our broadcast partners, iFollow or
equivalent Club streaming services. We will update you on this once we know when matches will recommence. The contribution to football’s finances made by match-
going supporters should not be underestimated. It is critical to the business model of league football. Perhaps the biggest challenge right now is not knowing when we will
be able to reintroduce football in front of crowds. We can only hope that the situation develops in such a way that we will be able to do with the shortest possible break.
Chief executive Danny Macklin thinks cancelling the remainder of the League Two season
would be a “knee-jerk reaction”. “It is not something we as a club would support at
the moment.” “I don’t think a decision on calling the season off needs to be made at
this moment.
“For us, we’re not going to go up, we’re not going to go down this season, for other
clubs it could have a bigger impact and no doubt they will have a louder voice one
way or the other.” “It’s a concern as it is for every club, but we would rather be
playing games that we can use our streaming platform for rather than play no football
at all,” he added.
Death of an Orient great. This from Terry McDonald’s son Tony on Facebook: Sad to
hear that the legendary Sid Bishop died yesterday (Apr 22) at Princess Alexandra
Hospital, Harlow. He had been in a local care home suffering from Alzheimer's for the
past 2 years. Sid, who had his
86th birthday 15 days ago, was
another victim of the deadly
Coronavirus.
He was arguably the finest
centre-back in Os' history, a
cornerstone of the 1961-62 side
that gained promotion to the
first division.
RIP, Sid.
From the Club website “Sid was
one of Orient’s all time
legendary players, and clocked
up 323 senior appearances for
The O’s – joining as groundstaff
in June 1952, before turning
professional six months later.
He was a skilful centre back who
played in the Division 3 South
Championship side of
1955/56 and was an ever present in the O’s greatest ever team
that won promotion to the First Division in 1961/62 – playing
in all 49 games.
Sid spent thirteen years with the O’s until he took up the
role of player-manager at Southern League Hastings United in
1965
The Supporters Club maintained close contact with Sid over
the years presenting him with an inscribed decanter for his
70th birthday and gifts of his favourite whisky on subsequent
birthdays.
Sid will be deeply missed by all of The O’s family, and we’d
like to extend our sympathies to Sid’s loved ones at this
difficult time.
Sid played 296 league games for us scoring 4 goals and is
pictured left, top row far right.
Frazer Shaw has been released by Chelmsford City. The left-
back made 37 appearances for the Clarets this season in all
competitions, having signed from fellow National League South
outfit Concord Rangers in May 2019.
The French abandoned their football season but the Germans
will go ahead in May.
14 May. From the Clubs website: It is with great pleasure to
announce that Harry Kane has taken our front of shirt
sponsorship for the 2020/21 season.
With approval given from the Premier League, FA and EFL, a
first of its kind deal has been agreed which the club are
extremely proud of.
During these troubling times Harry wanted to support the club
that gave him his first professional start and not only has he
been so generous to the club, but he has also donated the shirt
sponsorship to the following three causes.
Home Shirt – A thank you message to the frontline heroes
Away Shirt – Haven House Children’s Hospice
Third Shirt – Mind, the mental health charity.
10% of all sales will go to the charities.
Harry added: “I was born and brought up only at a couple of
miles from the stadium and I am really happy to have the
opportunity to give back to the club that gave me my first
professional start,” said Harry Kane on the sponsorship.
“This also gives me a platform to be able to say a big thank you to the many frontline heroes and charities out there who
provide care and support during these challenging times.”
Andy Whing joined Banbury as manager. Jabo was released by Cambridge.
16 May. From the BBC website “League Two's season has been brought to an early conclusion following discussions between clubs
and the English Football League on Friday.
The EFL said clubs "unanimously indicated" they wished to end the season via a "framework" that included tables being decided
on points per game and the play-offs remaining as planned.
Any move still needs to be ratified by the EFL and Football Association.
But League One sides face further talks after failing to come to an agreement.
Although it is understood some League Two sides wanted to use a weighted points-per-game system to finalise the table, the
EFL has confirmed an unweighted points-per-game system was agreed upon.
Both of those methods would have seen Stevenage stay bottom - yet clubs have also requested that relegation from the fourth
tier is removed this season.
"Clubs asked for consideration to be given to suspending relegation to the National League for 2019-20 as a result of
circumstances created where fixtures cannot be completed," said the EFL in a statement.
The University of Reading predicted there was a 12.7% chance we would have finished in 19th place.
20 May. League One and League Two clubs would have to operate under squad salary caps, according to proposals put forward by
the English Football League.
Third-tier sides would be given a £2.5m ceiling for salaries, while the sum would be £1.25m for the fourth tier.
The plan, as reported in the Telegraph newspaper, would also see clubs given automatic points deductions if players are not
paid on time.
The EFL hopes to have the cap in place for the 2020-21 season.
Meanwhile, clubs would be given a vote on the introduction of maximum 20-man squads.
If approved, it would mean only 20 senior professionals at each club, with eight homegrown players - those produced from the
club's academy system - within that group.
The Telegraph reported:
Statistics show that, on average, and as of September 1 2019, League One clubs have 28 senior players per squad with the
average in League Two being 26 players. The restrictions will not apply to players aged under 21 in a drive to encourage
youth development....
As someone pointed out, why would any player come to London when he can get paid to same in Grimsby where the houses are
cheaper as is the cost of living.
Injuries. I spoke to a physio and asked if over training would cause these injuries and the reply was yes.
The reason League Two want the season terminated is monetary. The government will pay 80% of employees pay on furlong until
October so if they were to start playing again the clubs would have to find the cash to pay staff without any income due to
playing to empty stands, some estimates as much as £400,000. The cost of testing for the virus runs at about £140,000-
£200,000.
Sammy Moore lost his job as manager of Hemel Hempstead Town. Crawley let Jimmy Smith go.
2 June. There were no surprises in the Club’s retained list. Arthur Janata, Dale Gorman, James Alabi and Matt Harrold were
released. Retained (Contract Negotiations Ongoing) Marvin Ekpiteta, Jobi McAnuff, Ruel Sotiriou and Shadrach Ogie. All the
other players were in contract but loanees Marsh, Cisse and Sterling returned to their clubs. Sterling joined at the end of
January and was expected to be fit by the end of February but when the virus ended football on the 19 March he had failed to
play one game.
We also parted company with goalkeeping Coach Reece Ottley and Sports Scientist Emma Baughurst. Of Reece Martin Ling said “He
has done a great job, but the fact Dean Brill joined the coaching team meant we had to make a decision, and Dean’s experience
won the day here.” And Emma “She’s done a great job in this period, but in the current economic climate I’ve had to reduce
numbers of staff, and unfortunately Emma was one of these casualties.”
9 June. From the local Guardian: Leyton Orient's season was finally brought to a close on Tuesday evening with League Two
clubs voting by an overwhelming majority to formally end the campaign, meaning promotion for Swindon, Crewe and Plymouth.
The teams voted in favour of concluding on a points-per-game basis earlier in the day.
Swindon have been confirmed as champions with Crewe and Plymouth also promoted from the second and third places.
Cheltenham, Exeter, Colchester and Northampton will contest the play-offs with the first games on June 18.
The bottom team is still to be decided with Stevenage currently on the foot of the table but second-bottom Macclesfield
facing a potential points deduction, while relegation will only be ratified if the National League can give assurances that
its competition will go ahead.
Next page.
STERLING
