L. Orient - Post Game Thread

[Nez]

Really pleased with tonight. As everyone's said everyone in blue played well tonight. Was most impressed by Greegs, Pav, Lee and Stephens. Nardiello looked sharp and offered something for Abbott to utilize, so I hope it's not a bad one, and glad to hear he was on his feet afterwards. One thing I was particularly impressed with was the fact we actually played some good football, and kept possession where we'd have lost it in similar situations earlier this season.

All in all a routine win against admittedly sub par opposition, but it's much better than struggling against similar teams like we have been doing.

[beag_teeets]

Not really a surprise we were clinging on to the win, it was the players doing that not the manager. We won by hook or by crook and that is the only important thing that matters, performances can come next season or once we are mathematically safe.

 

I am glad Lee is getting a decent run but don't think he is a full back, him and Colbeck were tied up in knots during the second half and kept leaving an easy out ball to their winger or overlapping fullback by chasing the ball and not using their heads. I'd like to see him more in the middle as I think his range of passing and tackling will work well with Stephens.

 

I thought Smalley had let the ball run too far for his goal, was waiting for the keeper to snaffle it but it hit the net, his best game for a while. Taylor's too, we need both of these lads to hit the ground running on Saturday, enjoy their football and get their heads and tails up. Not many games left so hopefully they can hit form at the right time.

 

Another win on Saturday might get the confidence flowing and carry us on through the next month where we have some good games to win. Mid table beckons.

 

[steveoafc]

Orient were a poor side, but you can only beat what's in front of you. A much better performance with more attacking intent, just a shame we didn't carry it on for the full 90 mins.Probably got disrupted by nardiello's injury.

A very welcome 3pts though....more of the same on saturday please.

[bluearmyof1]

Taylor had more runs with the ball this evening than he has done all season. Hopefully a sign of things to come. Overall we played very well indeed in patches, not brilliant but probably the best I've seen us play this season. Onwards and upwards! Maybe a late surge for the play offs. (Only joking)

 

[De_La_Vega]

What a difference three points makes!

 

Strange performance, because for a while it looked like we were going to have another Tranmere - whereby a desperately poor team turned up and we successfully cosied down to their level. The player who changed it though was Smalley, who was excellent today, by really getting hold of the ball and driving at his man. Is it being too Freudian to suggest that maybe he upped his performance because he has done well against these guys before, and that gave him the little boost of confidence that he needed? Whatever it was I thought he was absolutely superb tonight; drove at his man and caused problems, worked hard going forward and back, always wanted the ball, rarely overran himself and cut inside well to release the ball sensibly and to feet. In short, he was excellent and a few more performances like that would go down very well.

 

He provided the impetus, and the goal was well worked. After that we caused problems whenever we played with width, and referring to Prozac's point about clamping up after the 2nd goal, I agree and I'd say it was because Taylor looked to be drifting inside more and we lost our shape a bit. Both central midfielders showed up well and Stephens could be a very useful player for us long-term, Chrissy T looked more like the player I remember and the defence was solid today - aside from a couple of needless freekicks that the Reubenator could do with eliminating from his game...

 

That said, there were a number of nervous moments from the players (perhaps understandable). As I mentioned above, we lost shape a couple of times and narrowed up when our width seemed to be causing them issues. Also immediately after the injury we slowed a little and Penney's pulling of Abbott and Taylor threatened to hand a bit of momentum their way - although that said I can't say I'd have done differently because both looked leggy and we need them fit.

 

To sum up; a decent performance against a poor side. Great to see wingers playing with width and attacking their full-backs with purpose, and also I liked the control that Stephens and Whits had on the ball. However, we still need to see more examples of midfielders getting beyond the strikers because both of our goals came from these moments and the shots stat is a bit misleading because a number of efforts came from distance. How nice to be saying that there's room for improvement after a good win though!

[dkenyonqfc2]

isn,t it great to be home from the match feeling upbeat and positive for a change,hope it lasts

[tangerinedreams]

From that Nardiello's injury doesn't sound good- could well be something very nasty like a cruciate. Let's hope its not too serious.

 

 

 

They were my gut instincts especially after I heard it wasn't after a challenge.

[tangerinedreams]

An easy win but after the 2nd goal we reverted to type, conceded territory and went back into our shell, that was disappointing -Orient were there for the taking but our performance for the last 35-40 minutes was more of a team clinging on rather than a team that had won the game easily.

 

Nardiello's injury didn't help, but holding the ball in the corner AGAIN is pretty unbelievable, I and many others were bored :censored:less for the last half an hour, we've won 2-0 but I still feel a bit cheated. If i'm honest Penney's negativity is getting right on my tits.

 

Chuffed we're 4 points clear of deep doggy doo, Stephens again very good - great to finally see a run beyond the strikers from a midfield. Smalley ? Much, much better! Lee impressed me, Nardiello had been doing well - but that's the last we'll see of him. Finally, Taylor - much more involved and i hope there's more to come. Two decent goals but shutting up shop AGAIN pissed me right off!

 

 

 

He did that at Wycombe but so many have been keen to shoot him down.

[Bring Back Ronnie Moore]

I didn't go, but I thought this could have been a tricky game...a test of "are we really relegation fodder?"

 

It sounds like we won fairly comfortably....and I fully expect us to get our selves on 39 points this Saturday, with our game in hand as well. I've said I don't think we're in the worse 4 teams in the division and expect us to put the points on board with these winnable games.

[astottie]

Home happy so that is a positive. Played some decent stuff, rarely looked like conceding and could have scored more. 2 good goals.Spoke to my Bury fan mate last night and said that Stephens was doing well but the problem was that with Furman he had a partner who preferred to stay deep as well therefore there was always a gap between midfield and front 2. Said he needed someone with him to go forward so fair play to DP he plays Whitts to do that but Stephens still gets forward more than he does usually. What is that all about? Shows how difficult it is for the manager, funny chaps these football players, Nardiello walked down Sheepfoot lane past us so wasn't as bad as it looked, hopefully.

As has been mentioned before can't believe some of the stick players got tonight, Brill, Hazell, Colbeck Taylor, Whitts and Worthington(!?), I know we weren't Brazil or even the Latics team of most of last year but it was a massive improvement on the last few weeks

KTF

[Rocky_Latic]

I'm just thankful for Leyton Orient. If there's a few more performances from opposition teams like the one we saw tonight then we'll have no trouble staying up.

 

Not suprised by the attendance. The place was like a morgue.

[rosa]

kind of agree but i thought it seemed to be more nardielo going off than us getting a two goal lead and defending it. when he went off we lost a key outlet and then it was too easy to just sit back

Yeah, it was unfortunate that Nardiello got injured when he did because we were really dominating the game and looking confident going forward. At the risk of sounding totally mental i honestly think that if we'd have been able to keep that momentum going we could have battered them, but the injury and subsequent re-shuffle took the wind out of our sails. Still,best performance for a while (whatever Penney says,it was far better than the Millwall game), hopefully it'll be the confidence boost the team need.

[futchers briefs]

Tics set their standards in the first half hour, with quick tempo, good passing and pressing football. Ok the 2nd half they dropped deeper - only to be expected considering how important the 3 points were. By this time Orient were done and dusted.

Great to see Taylor looking like he might be returning to full fitness, Smalley showing the potential and confidence that would be great to see consistently now, Greegs and Rubes solid as a rock - Brill was bored again - apart from an early 'scarer!!' full backs tried to pass the ball well, Stephens looks more and more comfortable, Whits did OK -though the 'shoot on sight' policy needs tinkering to a 'shoot on target' one. Pav linked everything well, highlighted by his link up with Smalley for 1st goal.

One of the more comfortable victories you'll probably see this season at BP and imo all down to how we started the game and players displaying a bit of confidence.

A good win - more of the same please over the next few games chaps.

[leezyverpunk]

An easy win but after the 2nd goal we reverted to type, conceded territory and went back into our shell, that was disappointing -Orient were there for the taking but our performance for the last 35-40 minutes was more of a team clinging on rather than a team that had won the game easily.

 

Nardiello's injury didn't help, but holding the ball in the corner AGAIN is pretty unbelievable, I and many others were bored :censored:less for the last half an hour, we've won 2-0 but I still feel a bit cheated. If i'm honest Penney's negativity is getting right on my tits.

 

Chuffed we're 4 points clear of deep doggy doo, Stephens again very good - great to finally see a run beyond the strikers from a midfield. Smalley ? Much, much better! Lee impressed me, Nardiello had been doing well - but that's the last we'll see of him. Finally, Taylor - much more involved and i hope there's more to come. Two decent goals but shutting up shop AGAIN pissed me right off!

Yada yada - for me a great performance - lovely slick passing - they played relaxed good pass/moving football - almost faultless display

[Hometownclub]

A comfortable win against a poor team.

 

Played well in the main and were good value for the two goal margin, could have been 3 or 4, but still a much needed 3 points.

 

Thought Stephens was excellent and MotM, also mentions for Abbott with some good skill and great hold up play and Taylor who had his best game of the season and looks to be getting back to full fitness.

[RoytonBlueLad]

Tics set their standards in the first half hour, with quick tempo, good passing and pressing football.

 

See what we can do when we start like this. I don't care how poor Orient looked, we started well and sealed the game early in the second half.

 

Start well and take it from there. We are at home, go for it.

[danoafc]

See what we can do when we start like this. I don't care how poor Orient looked, we started well and sealed the game early in the second half.

 

Start well and take it from there. We are at home, go for it.

 

Said this to the lads who sit with/around me last night. Look what we are capable of when he have a frigging go!

[RoytonBlueLad]

Said this to the lads who sit with/around me last night. Look what we are capable of when he have a frigging go!

 

Always maintained that, Dan. Players look like they were actually enjoying themselves as well. It's supposed to be fun innit

[Stitch_KTF]

Strange performance, because for a while it looked like we were going to have another Tranmere - whereby a desperately poor team turned up and we successfully cosied down to their level. The player who changed it though was Smalley, who was excellent today, by really getting hold of the ball and driving at his man. Is it being too Freudian to suggest that maybe he upped his performance because he has done well against these guys before, and that gave him the little boost of confidence that he needed? Whatever it was I thought he was absolutely superb tonight; drove at his man and caused problems, worked hard going forward and back, always wanted the ball, rarely overran himself and cut inside well to release the ball sensibly and to feet. In short, he was excellent and a few more performances like that would go down very well.

 

Despite the fact he could and should have had a hatrick, I thought Smalley was average. I'm a fan of his, and there was some good work, but he also gave the ball away countless times, usually via an uncontrolled, panicky first-time pass.

 

He did do well for his goal however. His pace got him to Abbott's over-hit pass and he got the luck he deserved after managing to steer it on target.

[Lags]

With Smalleys pace to burn he should be one of the leagues hot properties. But isn't.

[slystallone]

Despite the fact he could and should have had a hatrick, I thought Smalley was average. I'm a fan of his, and there was some good work, but he also gave the ball away countless times, usually via an uncontrolled, panicky first-time pass.

 

He did do well for his goal however. His pace got him to Abbott's over-hit pass and he got the luck he deserved after managing to steer it on target.

 

 

Better than average for me last night. Alot better.

That was more like it from Deane; a showcase of why he could be one of the shinning lights in this league.

 

As De-La-Vega said; his direct running with an end product caused problems for Orients game plan. I sit right being the away ‘powers’ on the touchline; and early 1st half the assistant was shouting to get the ball out to Daniels; their left back and build from there. Deane’s play in the first half pushed the LB back; and meant he had a potent threat to deal with defensively – they had to then switch the instructions to build through Smith; the CM. As Whitts and Dale were winning the central battle at that point too; it meant we continued to dominate.

 

Smalley has pace to burn; we know that. But far too often he just runs straight into defenders or down blind alleys. Last night was one the occasions where he made the correct decisions and his direct running caused a threat as he committed defenders and then switched play quickly; usually inside. This was how he got his goal – driving at the defensive line; switching inside to Pav and then getting on the end of the give & go.

He posed an aerial threat; as we know he can do, and was unlucky not to see his header from a Dale corner go in.

 

Far from a finished article is Deane; but last night was so much better from him; and IMO far; far from an average performance.

 

 

[Stitch_KTF]

Like I said I like Smalley so I'm pleased he's getting some credit for the first time in what seems a long while. Maybe I'm being harsh given his contribution and influence but I do vividly recall a number of mistakes, including some really quite poor ones, and so my average assessment was based on the inconsistancy in his performance. He certainly wasn't excellent - I expect better from him in spite of disappointing recent reports from games which I haven't

 

Anyway, if you were sat behind the away bench maybe you could enlighten us as to why Greegs approached it as if looking for a brawl immediately after his yellow card? He did seem pretty wound up as he lost it with the lino at one point too.

[slystallone]

Like I said I like Smalley so I'm pleased he's getting some credit for the first time in what seems a long while. Maybe I'm being harsh given his contribution and influence but I do vividly recall a number of mistakes, including some really quite poor ones, and so my average assessment was based on the inconsistancy in his performance. He certainly wasn't excellent - I expect better from him in spite of disappointing recent reports from games which I haven't

 

Anyway, if you were sat behind the away bench maybe you could enlighten us as to why Greegs approached it as if looking for a brawl immediately after his yellow card? He did seem pretty wound up as he lost it with the lino at one point too.

 

 

Ah, thought you were Smalley-bashing – really must skim-read better!!!!

 

On the spat at the end; Greegs took umbrage with the LO assistant manager - who; as he had done all game; was mouthing off to the linesman & ref that Greegs should be sent off.

 

Greegs thought their lad had made a meal of it (which he had; contact was minimal – though if he had caught him he’d have cut him in 2!!! ) and told the ref that with a few expletives thrown in (diving little twerp; with a few letters changed).

 

Handbags ensued where Greegs said he’d see the LO assistant ‘after the game’……I’m presuming to swap shirts?

 

[De_La_Vega]

Harsh on Smalley! I thought he played really well, precisely because there was more commonsense end product to his running. When he cut inside he released it to his own team rather than falling over it for a start, but also I just thought he looked like he wanted the ball and to get at them. My biggest gripe with him when he runs at people is that too often he gets to the crunch and runs out of ideas - then he loses it and falls over! Yesterday he looked up for it, and his directness opened up the game.

 

That said though, I do want to see more of our midfielders getting up beyond the forwards. Taylor isn't doing it as much, certainly...

 

On the Taylor situation, is he supposed to be fully fit? I just thought that when he didn't have the ball he looked knackered all the time, and his movement off the ball was average - albeit when he had ball at feet he looked better and better as the game went on.

[futchers briefs]

Harsh on Smalley! I thought he played really well, precisely because there was more commonsense end product to his running. When he cut inside he released it to his own team rather than falling over it for a start, but also I just thought he looked like he wanted the ball and to get at them. My biggest gripe with him when he runs at people is that too often he gets to the crunch and runs out of ideas - then he loses it and falls over! Yesterday he looked up for it, and his directness opened up the game.

 

That said though, I do want to see more of our midfielders getting up beyond the forwards. Taylor isn't doing it as much, certainly...

 

On the Taylor situation, is he supposed to be fully fit? I just thought that when he didn't have the ball he looked knackered all the time, and his movement off the ball was average - albeit when he had ball at feet he looked better and better as the game went on.

Looks like he's getting nearer to full fitness to me!