The deflating nature of Orient's collapse against a poor Yeovil side obscures the fact that the Os are in a better position than I predicted with two games of the season left. 3 games ago I looked at the fixtures of each of the teams and could easily see Orient in the bottom four after a defeat to Yeovil. Unfortunately my prediction that Orient would only pick up 1 point from the next three games was correct (against Yeovil rather than Exeter as it turned out) but on the plus side Wycombe have done the same despite having winnable games against Oldham and Chesterfield. No doubt right now Wycombe fans feel the same as Orient's- that their team is in a position it deserves to be in.
What appeared to be another negative Orient home team selection turned out to actually be quite positive - in a way. Although lining up with an apparent front pairing of Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Kevin Lisbie, the former either dropped deep or went wide looking for the ball. In effect Lisbie was still leading the line by himself but he was supported with Campbell-Ryce filling the gulf between him and the midfield and Matthew Spring getting forward as much as possible. Campbell-Ryce's role had the added bonus of also bringing Dean Cox into the game in the right positions as Cox overlapped with the Jamaican whenever he was on the ball. Sadly Orient's crossing wasn't all it could have been but when Cox did come up with the sort of delivery we expect it fell plum on Lisbie's head for the first goal.
There was so much more to the Orient performance than formations as they looked to fight their way out of danger. Matthew Spring deserves huge credit for the effort he put in and the team followed suit. Spring was provided cover for the back four when he was needed, played the simple short balls in the centre of the park when we needed a cool head and got up to support Lisbie when we attacked. It was a superb effort from the captain, leading by example when it was needed most. For the first time in months the rest of the team showed the same kind of energy and they deserved their half time lead. Despite Jamie Jones making two world class saves, Orient made most of the running and should have extended their lead before half time. Spirit and determination overcame the deficiencies that have plunged Orient into a relegation fight in a scrappy first half. It was obvious to everyone that we needed to continue playing at the same tempo in the second half if they were to enjoy similar success.
Of course we didn't and Yeovil looked surprised to be back in the game, spurning some early chances. From the start of the second half the signs were there that time wasting and slowing the game down wasn't the way to go. Orient ended up looking like England in an international tournament, abandoning the style of play that worked for them in favour of something that exposes their weaknesses. We started losing possession and making silly mistakes, seemingly losing their focus as soon as they took their foot off the pedal.
Ironically having weathered the early rally what should have been the high point of Orient's dismal season ended up being the worst thing that could have happened. When Lisbie applied the finish to the easiest goal he will ever score the relief around Brisbane Road was palpable. Wycome were losing, Orient were in front by two goals and Yeovil heads went down. What could go wrong now? Orient started enjoying some possession again and anyone who had never watched Orient before would have thought we were coasting. Unfortunately whilst Spring had lead by example early in the game, we still lack the Stephen Dawson character in the team who would have rollicked anyone losing concentration with the victory still to be sealed. When Yeovil scraped one goal back it was inevitable that before the final whistle went there would be a crucial moment that would settle the game one way or another. The rest exists only in snapshots in my mind, like the memories of a nightmare. Russell Slade making a needless substitution to eat up some time. The team losing organisation as a result. Conceding a corner as two defenders got in each others way. Every single Orient player back in the penalty area to defend it, despite Yeovil still having players back. Yeovil having free possession when the corner was cleared because every Orient player was in the penalty area but then every one of them watching as the ball was played back in and turned in for the equaliser.
The performance should give Orient fans more hope than at any time in the last few weeks because the team finally showed some fight and got themselves into a winning position. But they are mentally fragile, too scared of defeat to confidently chase the win we need to confirm League One status. There is no doubt they care, as evidenced by the frenetic Russell Slade in the technical area and the reaction at the final whistle. I think I'd have been more upset with the team aimlessly wandering around clapping fans than by them storming off the field having thrown away their lifeline. I'd rather have a four point gap than be sitting in the bottom four right now but there is a high probability that if we continue to rely on others results, we'll stumble and fall inches short of the finishing line. In the last 9 seasons 2 teams have survived with 48 points, the other 7 all required at least 50. No one has survived with less than 48 points since Oxford United in 2000. Being relegated with 47 points this year may require an unlikely sequence of results but history suggests that stranger things have happened.
Sunday 22 April 2012
Sunday 15 April 2012
Russell Slade : The man under the cap
There is a cycle of emotions around every Orient game at the moment. It starts at the final whistle of each game when a tsunami of vilification pours forth. Before the players have even reached the dressing room they've been torn apart in the stands and on the internet. It lasts for a few days. Any comment on manager Russell Slade tends to finish with "...and he can take his cap with him". Any player who comes out on twitter and offers apologies is quickly back in favour (apart from a few who think they should do their talking on the pitch). CEO Matt Porter typically recieves a whole heap of abuse for not giving up on the team - until he responds to comments, when he is then praised for staying positive and holding things together. This tends to be the turning point of the week and slowly the players are being exhorted to give it their all because the fans are behind them and generally people want Slade to stick his cap on his head again and not anywhere else. There is the rare added bonus of an ex-player sticking his oar in and getting in a tete-a-tete (sans chapeau) with a current player about who cares the most about the club. I didn't see who the winner was but I guess it wasn't anyone who in twenty years time will still be paying to watch the team play, whatever division they are in. Sadly at the moment the cycle is completed when the Os concede three goals again and lose and it starts all over again.
Some of this is entirely understandable and justified. No one at the club is pretending that recent results even come close to being acceptable. Generally during games fans have resisted getting on the players backs but players and management have accepted that, in the aftermath of games at least, it is hard to remain positive in the face of repeated disappointment. People need to get it out of their system before they are ready to look forward to the next game.
What surprises me though is the vitriol that directed at players and management who were loved so recently for bringing us our best finish in nigh on 20 years. There isn't a single fan who isn't considering how they feel about Russell Slade right now. We are in a tailspin and everyone is fighting hard and trying everything to pull us round, when what we need are cool calm heads. At this stage of the season there is no time to step back and take a deep breath, big games are coming once or twice a week. I am not in that place yet but if I felt Slade needed to go to give us a chance to stay up it would be with a heavy heart and extreme reluctance.
For others it seems a lot easier and as the red mist descends all of the good things that Slade has done are obscured. Some people seem to out and out hate him and would kick him without a thought. Others seem to take a perverse pleasure in our forutnes (so long as it doesn't actually get as far as being relegated) because it gives them licence to vent their frustrations. It's often said that football fans enjoy complaining as much as they do celebrating. I stopped going to every away game after the promotion season because at the very end of that season people were still complaining as if we were at the other end of the table. I thought that if you couldn't enjoy the run in at the end of that season then what was the point? Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise. As I write this on a Saturday evening, I'm certain that if I turned on any terrestial TV station right now there will be a talent show on and another group of twnetysomethings (lets call them Christians) are being torn apart by internet Lions. Pardon me a Victor Meldrew moment, but it is what seems to pass for entertainment these days and as the Christians/Lions comment suggests, it is primative. People feel better about themselves when they are tearing someone apart more than they do from anything constructive or good.
If you want you can disregard how much pleasure and pride Slade gave us last season as we beat Arsenal 1-1 and put together an unbeaten run not many amongst the 4,000 faithful had seen in their lifetime. My impression of Russell Slade, who I've only met once after the Arsenal game, is one of a thoroughly decent intelligent man who speaks quietly but with authority. He has made tough decisions but doesn't appear to be the sort of person who would take any sort of pleasure from seeing a family man. In return he is faced with hundreds who would gladly see him put out of his job without a second thought for the longer term future of of him or the club. It is the default position of football fans to call for the managers head at the earliest opportunity and the callousness of it is deeply unpleasant.
When I was younger I was untroubled by such thoughts. Peter Eustace was our manager and we had gone from play off contenders to lower mid-table also rans. A set of barking mad programme notes about wagon trains from the Yorkshireman was followed by his postmatch quote following a defeat at Brighton, that if Eustace was in the trenches he wouldn't want his players standing behind him. I wanted Eustace to be shown the door and as far as I was concerned his cloth cap would come in handy for begging because he wasn't fit for a job in football. A few weeks later I came across Eustace during half time of another game we were on our way to losing. I was seething at another poor performance and here was the clown responsible. He looked up, smiled and said "wrap up lads, it's getting colder out there". Suddenly the cartoon Eustace evaporated and I saw a human being who despite having the troubles of the world on his shoulders had time for a kind and friendly word for a horrible teenager. When he finally left the club I felt relief (for him as much as us) but took no pleasure in his departure.
I felt the same with someone much more popular with me if not others, Tommy Taylor. I liked Tommy a lot, as a man and a manager (if not as a man manager!). It wasn't a feeling shared by many fans, who were ready to call for his head after a single defeat let alone the kind of run we are on at the moment. People who complain that managers these days say nothing in interviews used to lambast Tommy for his frank and forthright style rather than welcome the fact he'd talk openly with anyone. Despite liking him a lot as a person I did wonder if it was time for him to step down after the Millennium Stadium play off defeat and my reservations were realised when he was sacked in the middle of a slump the following season. Of course resigning from Leyton Orient isn't the same as being sacked by Manchester City and so of course he didn't resign from employment even if he did feel that his best chance to get us promoted had gone. I do know that Tommy was an Orient man and he'd have loved getting us promoted as much as any fan. I also know that in the last months of his reign it wasn't unusual to see him sitting on the stairs in the club, wracked with back pain - caused I am certain as much by stress as by an actual physical ailment. Unseen by the fans was a man as vulnerable as any other, regardless of his bravado. Throughout his time at the club he was forced to put a brave face on the fact he was so unpopular but I am sure it ate him up inside. Yet it didn't stop him coming back to enjoy the success of two of his former players finally getting us out of League Two. I can't imagine many managers coming back to the club in such circumstances and it said a lot for both him and Martin Ling for inviting him.
Russell Slade the football manager has put together one Orient squad that came close to reaching the play offs, in a division filled with teams with greater financial resources than us. A victim of his own success he lost two of his best players. Without them Dean Cox has been expected to work miracles by himself. On top of that the young goalkeeper who was also linked with move stayed but then has been out injured all season. Some of the players he has brought in haven't worked out, others aren't anywhere near as bad as they have been made out to be. If we can scrape ourselves out of this mess then he has as much chance as anyone else of putting together another squad that can fight its way up the table. He has done it once before after all. It is a much bigger gamble to go out and get yet another manager. Successful people learn from their mistakes and I'd much rather see him do that here than anywhere else, whilst a new manager joins us and starts from square one. Changing our line up game by game has got us into this mess. In the long term changing managers frequently will have the same sort of effect.
If Slade does go it'll be off the back of a set of results that are difficult to argue with because only a spell of good form mid-season has stopped this being a catastrophic season. But whatever happens to Slade the manager, Slade the man has been treated shabbily. Football is more than a sport to many of us and yet we treat the human beings involved in it as if it was just one big game.
Some of this is entirely understandable and justified. No one at the club is pretending that recent results even come close to being acceptable. Generally during games fans have resisted getting on the players backs but players and management have accepted that, in the aftermath of games at least, it is hard to remain positive in the face of repeated disappointment. People need to get it out of their system before they are ready to look forward to the next game.
What surprises me though is the vitriol that directed at players and management who were loved so recently for bringing us our best finish in nigh on 20 years. There isn't a single fan who isn't considering how they feel about Russell Slade right now. We are in a tailspin and everyone is fighting hard and trying everything to pull us round, when what we need are cool calm heads. At this stage of the season there is no time to step back and take a deep breath, big games are coming once or twice a week. I am not in that place yet but if I felt Slade needed to go to give us a chance to stay up it would be with a heavy heart and extreme reluctance.
For others it seems a lot easier and as the red mist descends all of the good things that Slade has done are obscured. Some people seem to out and out hate him and would kick him without a thought. Others seem to take a perverse pleasure in our forutnes (so long as it doesn't actually get as far as being relegated) because it gives them licence to vent their frustrations. It's often said that football fans enjoy complaining as much as they do celebrating. I stopped going to every away game after the promotion season because at the very end of that season people were still complaining as if we were at the other end of the table. I thought that if you couldn't enjoy the run in at the end of that season then what was the point? Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise. As I write this on a Saturday evening, I'm certain that if I turned on any terrestial TV station right now there will be a talent show on and another group of twnetysomethings (lets call them Christians) are being torn apart by internet Lions. Pardon me a Victor Meldrew moment, but it is what seems to pass for entertainment these days and as the Christians/Lions comment suggests, it is primative. People feel better about themselves when they are tearing someone apart more than they do from anything constructive or good.
If you want you can disregard how much pleasure and pride Slade gave us last season as we beat Arsenal 1-1 and put together an unbeaten run not many amongst the 4,000 faithful had seen in their lifetime. My impression of Russell Slade, who I've only met once after the Arsenal game, is one of a thoroughly decent intelligent man who speaks quietly but with authority. He has made tough decisions but doesn't appear to be the sort of person who would take any sort of pleasure from seeing a family man. In return he is faced with hundreds who would gladly see him put out of his job without a second thought for the longer term future of of him or the club. It is the default position of football fans to call for the managers head at the earliest opportunity and the callousness of it is deeply unpleasant.
When I was younger I was untroubled by such thoughts. Peter Eustace was our manager and we had gone from play off contenders to lower mid-table also rans. A set of barking mad programme notes about wagon trains from the Yorkshireman was followed by his postmatch quote following a defeat at Brighton, that if Eustace was in the trenches he wouldn't want his players standing behind him. I wanted Eustace to be shown the door and as far as I was concerned his cloth cap would come in handy for begging because he wasn't fit for a job in football. A few weeks later I came across Eustace during half time of another game we were on our way to losing. I was seething at another poor performance and here was the clown responsible. He looked up, smiled and said "wrap up lads, it's getting colder out there". Suddenly the cartoon Eustace evaporated and I saw a human being who despite having the troubles of the world on his shoulders had time for a kind and friendly word for a horrible teenager. When he finally left the club I felt relief (for him as much as us) but took no pleasure in his departure.
I felt the same with someone much more popular with me if not others, Tommy Taylor. I liked Tommy a lot, as a man and a manager (if not as a man manager!). It wasn't a feeling shared by many fans, who were ready to call for his head after a single defeat let alone the kind of run we are on at the moment. People who complain that managers these days say nothing in interviews used to lambast Tommy for his frank and forthright style rather than welcome the fact he'd talk openly with anyone. Despite liking him a lot as a person I did wonder if it was time for him to step down after the Millennium Stadium play off defeat and my reservations were realised when he was sacked in the middle of a slump the following season. Of course resigning from Leyton Orient isn't the same as being sacked by Manchester City and so of course he didn't resign from employment even if he did feel that his best chance to get us promoted had gone. I do know that Tommy was an Orient man and he'd have loved getting us promoted as much as any fan. I also know that in the last months of his reign it wasn't unusual to see him sitting on the stairs in the club, wracked with back pain - caused I am certain as much by stress as by an actual physical ailment. Unseen by the fans was a man as vulnerable as any other, regardless of his bravado. Throughout his time at the club he was forced to put a brave face on the fact he was so unpopular but I am sure it ate him up inside. Yet it didn't stop him coming back to enjoy the success of two of his former players finally getting us out of League Two. I can't imagine many managers coming back to the club in such circumstances and it said a lot for both him and Martin Ling for inviting him.
Russell Slade the football manager has put together one Orient squad that came close to reaching the play offs, in a division filled with teams with greater financial resources than us. A victim of his own success he lost two of his best players. Without them Dean Cox has been expected to work miracles by himself. On top of that the young goalkeeper who was also linked with move stayed but then has been out injured all season. Some of the players he has brought in haven't worked out, others aren't anywhere near as bad as they have been made out to be. If we can scrape ourselves out of this mess then he has as much chance as anyone else of putting together another squad that can fight its way up the table. He has done it once before after all. It is a much bigger gamble to go out and get yet another manager. Successful people learn from their mistakes and I'd much rather see him do that here than anywhere else, whilst a new manager joins us and starts from square one. Changing our line up game by game has got us into this mess. In the long term changing managers frequently will have the same sort of effect.
If Slade does go it'll be off the back of a set of results that are difficult to argue with because only a spell of good form mid-season has stopped this being a catastrophic season. But whatever happens to Slade the manager, Slade the man has been treated shabbily. Football is more than a sport to many of us and yet we treat the human beings involved in it as if it was just one big game.
Sunday 8 April 2012
If....Orient are staying up
If the season was to end tomorrow not many Orient fans would be too sorry. Its the time of the season when teams with something to play for start looking at their opponents' remaining fixtures and current form, trying to work out how many points they are going to need and where they will come from. In the hope of not having to spend the next few weeks fretting about Orient's upcoming games I have done exactly that. And it's GOOD NEWS as I predict that despite a nervous month for Orient, Oldham and Bury fans the final table will look much like it does now. If...
As things currently stand every team from 16th place Preston downwards are currently embroiled in the relegation battle. I am sure that Preston and Oldham would like to think they are safe as they are currently 6 points clear of danger and need 4 points from 5 games in order to be safe. However, Preston have only managed 1 win in their last 12 games and would be sliding down the slippery slope even quicker if not for their ability to regularly hold teams to draws. Similarly Oldham have managed 2 wins and 8 defeats over their last ten games as they've edged closer and closer to the relegation zone. The two teams face each other in a huge game on 21 April, the winner of which will probably be safe before the end of the month. I suspect it'll be Preston, who have struggled so much due to playing teams at the top and they have been able to win against the lower sides. That will throw Oldham into a the fight and they'll be forced to battle right up to the end of the season. I think they will struggle in their next three against Sheffield Wednesday, Wycombe and Preston, before picking up the points they need against Bury and Carlisle.
Obviously the other team completely out of sorts are Orient. I am sure there is a Wycombe fan somewhere sitting looking at our record and thinking that we pick up the odd away win and should be able to do so against either Exeter or Hartlepool. It is a different kettle of fish when you've been following our fortunes week in and out and are now wondering where our next win will come from. We're always pessimistic about our own team but trying to be rational about it I don't expect us to lose every game any more than I expect Charlton and Sheffield United to breeze through and win all of theirs. I still think we'll be stumbling right through to the end though. Despite the improved performance against Notts County it is hard to see us getting anything at home, which makes the away games against Exeter and Hartlepool crucial. I fancy the Exeter game to be a stalemate because both sides have been unable to find the net and the Grecians will put up one last fight even though they are all but relegated. The vital points will come against Hartlepool who have had a rotten time since having little to play for in mid-table obscurity. Anything against Sheffield United would be a bonus and Yeovil are capable of winning away and will capitalise on our home woes. I would expect Orient to reach the last day of the season on 50 points - in theory enough but still too close to comfort. A final home draw against Rochdale (who like Exeter seem beyond help now) should be enough with Wycombe suffering from having the most difficult of run ins.
Wycombe are the team I expect to move the most as they face two games against struggling teams before playing stronger teams in their final three games. On Monday they face Chesterfield, practically relegated already and on a roll of three straight defeats since their Wembley appearance in the JPT Final. A win will enable Wycombe to cruise up to the Os, before going past us with a home win against Oldham. From there I think it gets just a bit too hard from them. They face trips to Charlton and Sheffield Wednesday, the latter winning regularly at home, the former stuttering but managing to beat teams in the bottom half of the table. That leaves a home fixture against Notts County who we have seen get results despite not looking very good away from home. Wycombe may get a point against the Magpies but it won't be enough and their fate will be sealed at Hillsborough on the last day.
That is if Bury pick up the four points they need to scramble to safety. Bury have had a difficult time on their travels of late and will be grateful that they are the only side in the relegation battle with 3 home games in their last 5. They should get the points they need from their next two home games, against Colchester (who have been drawing a lot of away games but losing to teams who still have something to play for) and against Bournemouth who are in freefall and losing for fun on their travels. They also face Stevenage on the last day of the season, another draw specialist team, who will probably have their eyes on the holiday's more than most after a tumultuous season.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Dean Smith at Walsall this summer, especially if the Orient board take a long hard look at Russell Slade's position, regardless of where we end up. For two seasons now he has shown he can motivate teams at the sharp end of the season to fight their way out of trouble. The WalsallWalsall are on a terrific run, beating the teams they need to (and even taking 4 points from the Sheffield clubs), regularly winning at home and drawing away. On Friday they showed the sort of determination we'd expect from a team managed by our old skipper, coming from behind to beat Chesterfield. On paper they have a difficult run in, that includes Charlton, Huddersfield and MK Dons. However, they've shown enough lately to make you believe that they can pick up a point at the Valley and follow it up with a win against struggling Tranmere next Saturday. Draws away at Exeter and Huddersfield, who have drawn most of their recent away games, will see them effectively safe before the last day. Even if they're not MK Dons have struggled to win at home and I wouldn't put it past the Saddlers to get the result they need to if it comes to it.
Unfortunately (in the circumstances) football isn't as predictable as we'd like i to be but it does show just how little we need to do to secure our safety. The opportunities are there for the Os and if we can't take the points we need from the games we have with the players we have at our disposal then sadly we don't deserve to stay up. Come on you Os!
Projected final table
16. Walsall 55
17. Preston 54
18. Oldham 52
19. Bury 51
20. Leyton Orient 51
--------------------------
21. Wycombe 49
22. Rochdale 41
23. Exeter 39
24. Chesterfield 36
As things currently stand every team from 16th place Preston downwards are currently embroiled in the relegation battle. I am sure that Preston and Oldham would like to think they are safe as they are currently 6 points clear of danger and need 4 points from 5 games in order to be safe. However, Preston have only managed 1 win in their last 12 games and would be sliding down the slippery slope even quicker if not for their ability to regularly hold teams to draws. Similarly Oldham have managed 2 wins and 8 defeats over their last ten games as they've edged closer and closer to the relegation zone. The two teams face each other in a huge game on 21 April, the winner of which will probably be safe before the end of the month. I suspect it'll be Preston, who have struggled so much due to playing teams at the top and they have been able to win against the lower sides. That will throw Oldham into a the fight and they'll be forced to battle right up to the end of the season. I think they will struggle in their next three against Sheffield Wednesday, Wycombe and Preston, before picking up the points they need against Bury and Carlisle.
Obviously the other team completely out of sorts are Orient. I am sure there is a Wycombe fan somewhere sitting looking at our record and thinking that we pick up the odd away win and should be able to do so against either Exeter or Hartlepool. It is a different kettle of fish when you've been following our fortunes week in and out and are now wondering where our next win will come from. We're always pessimistic about our own team but trying to be rational about it I don't expect us to lose every game any more than I expect Charlton and Sheffield United to breeze through and win all of theirs. I still think we'll be stumbling right through to the end though. Despite the improved performance against Notts County it is hard to see us getting anything at home, which makes the away games against Exeter and Hartlepool crucial. I fancy the Exeter game to be a stalemate because both sides have been unable to find the net and the Grecians will put up one last fight even though they are all but relegated. The vital points will come against Hartlepool who have had a rotten time since having little to play for in mid-table obscurity. Anything against Sheffield United would be a bonus and Yeovil are capable of winning away and will capitalise on our home woes. I would expect Orient to reach the last day of the season on 50 points - in theory enough but still too close to comfort. A final home draw against Rochdale (who like Exeter seem beyond help now) should be enough with Wycombe suffering from having the most difficult of run ins.
Wycombe are the team I expect to move the most as they face two games against struggling teams before playing stronger teams in their final three games. On Monday they face Chesterfield, practically relegated already and on a roll of three straight defeats since their Wembley appearance in the JPT Final. A win will enable Wycombe to cruise up to the Os, before going past us with a home win against Oldham. From there I think it gets just a bit too hard from them. They face trips to Charlton and Sheffield Wednesday, the latter winning regularly at home, the former stuttering but managing to beat teams in the bottom half of the table. That leaves a home fixture against Notts County who we have seen get results despite not looking very good away from home. Wycombe may get a point against the Magpies but it won't be enough and their fate will be sealed at Hillsborough on the last day.
That is if Bury pick up the four points they need to scramble to safety. Bury have had a difficult time on their travels of late and will be grateful that they are the only side in the relegation battle with 3 home games in their last 5. They should get the points they need from their next two home games, against Colchester (who have been drawing a lot of away games but losing to teams who still have something to play for) and against Bournemouth who are in freefall and losing for fun on their travels. They also face Stevenage on the last day of the season, another draw specialist team, who will probably have their eyes on the holiday's more than most after a tumultuous season.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Dean Smith at Walsall this summer, especially if the Orient board take a long hard look at Russell Slade's position, regardless of where we end up. For two seasons now he has shown he can motivate teams at the sharp end of the season to fight their way out of trouble. The WalsallWalsall are on a terrific run, beating the teams they need to (and even taking 4 points from the Sheffield clubs), regularly winning at home and drawing away. On Friday they showed the sort of determination we'd expect from a team managed by our old skipper, coming from behind to beat Chesterfield. On paper they have a difficult run in, that includes Charlton, Huddersfield and MK Dons. However, they've shown enough lately to make you believe that they can pick up a point at the Valley and follow it up with a win against struggling Tranmere next Saturday. Draws away at Exeter and Huddersfield, who have drawn most of their recent away games, will see them effectively safe before the last day. Even if they're not MK Dons have struggled to win at home and I wouldn't put it past the Saddlers to get the result they need to if it comes to it.
Unfortunately (in the circumstances) football isn't as predictable as we'd like i to be but it does show just how little we need to do to secure our safety. The opportunities are there for the Os and if we can't take the points we need from the games we have with the players we have at our disposal then sadly we don't deserve to stay up. Come on you Os!
Projected final table
16. Walsall 55
17. Preston 54
18. Oldham 52
19. Bury 51
20. Leyton Orient 51
--------------------------
21. Wycombe 49
22. Rochdale 41
23. Exeter 39
24. Chesterfield 36
Sunday 1 April 2012
Why Russell Slade's got no hair
The past week has shown why football managers all end up grey, bald, crazy or bitter (or a combination of all of the above). If there is one particular rod that has been used to beat Russell Slade with this season it is George Porter. Fans want to see exciting players and there is nothing more exciting than someone who can run and beat players at pace. When it results in chances being created and goals being scored it is enough for fans and they want to see their name on the teamsheet each week. After a decent run in the team at the start of the season many have been dismayed that since November Porter's appearances became as rare as Jonathan Tehoue visiting the salad bar (welcome back Jon, we love you really) .
That was until Tuesday night at Oldham, when the latest new Orient line up featured Porter from the start. By all accounts he had an excellent game, culminating in being the provider of the winning goal and a precious three points in the battle to stay out of the relegation fight. Of course this was all the evidence that was required to prove that Russell has been wrong to leave him out all season. This is the way fans always think, they'd never countenance the idea that players having to bide their time, be patient and prove they are a team player contributes to the way they perform when they do get in the team.
In handling young, precocious talents managers face an almost impossible task, safe in the knowledge that 99% of the time they'll be proved wrong in hindsight. If the player does well the manager was too cautious, if he fails to develop it is because he was held back. I prefer to think that the young players who never really made it at Orient but have gone on to do well at a higher level have done so because of the road they travelled. They might never have become the players they have without being spurred on by disappointments early in their career. Maybe if we indulge Porter and act like he is already the bees knees he'll be a Jabo Ibehre and bounce around the benches of League One teams. If things are a bit harder for him and he has the maturity to learn some hard lessons early on he might go on to a higher standard, without having to rebuild his career at a lower level. Slade's handling of him could mean that Orient is the springboard for that career, rather than a Conference team.
Yesterday was a tough afternoon for the kid and despite working hard he didn't see enough of the ball. Unfortunately he showed one flash on inexperience when a quickly taken free kick caught Porter napping and even with his electric pace he was unable to chase back and Charlton almost literally walked the ball into the back of the net. To his credit he didn't seek to blame anyone else, he just turned and walked head up ready for the re-start, simply hoping to make up for his mistake rather than deflect blame. Another lesson learned and an error I'd bet he won't repeat for a while. It did remind me of a couple of things told to me by Paul Clark, Tommy Taylor's assistant, that showed how being an armchair manager is easy but the real thing is just a series of headaches.
The first was the simple stat that in one season Orient had conceded nine goals from set pieces as a result of Jabo losing his man. You can bet your life that everyone will remember a run that he made or spectacular goal he scored in that season but will be oblivious to the fact that his net value to the team was negative. The other was a story about Iyseden Christie, a player I loved for his unpredictability at one end because defences didn't know how to handle him. It was less of an asset at the other. In one game as he prepared to come on as substitute Clark sat with him and went through who he was to mark at set pieces. As he stood on the touchline they did it again and as he ran on they stood and pointed where he was to go as the Os prepared to defend a corner. The corner was taken and the opposition scored as a result of Iyseden not picking up his marker!
Only the manager and coaches would even be aware of that because they see the whole picture and try to balance their teams as a result. Slade still doesn't seem to be able to get that balance right with the players currently at his disposal and we look ineffective going forward. That doesn't mean that there is a simple answer in the shape of George Porter. We've been hammered enough times this year to see that getting it wrong defensively can have disastrous consequences but somehow Slade has to find a way to set a time up that isn't vulnerable at the back but is capable of threatening at the other end.
That was until Tuesday night at Oldham, when the latest new Orient line up featured Porter from the start. By all accounts he had an excellent game, culminating in being the provider of the winning goal and a precious three points in the battle to stay out of the relegation fight. Of course this was all the evidence that was required to prove that Russell has been wrong to leave him out all season. This is the way fans always think, they'd never countenance the idea that players having to bide their time, be patient and prove they are a team player contributes to the way they perform when they do get in the team.
In handling young, precocious talents managers face an almost impossible task, safe in the knowledge that 99% of the time they'll be proved wrong in hindsight. If the player does well the manager was too cautious, if he fails to develop it is because he was held back. I prefer to think that the young players who never really made it at Orient but have gone on to do well at a higher level have done so because of the road they travelled. They might never have become the players they have without being spurred on by disappointments early in their career. Maybe if we indulge Porter and act like he is already the bees knees he'll be a Jabo Ibehre and bounce around the benches of League One teams. If things are a bit harder for him and he has the maturity to learn some hard lessons early on he might go on to a higher standard, without having to rebuild his career at a lower level. Slade's handling of him could mean that Orient is the springboard for that career, rather than a Conference team.
Yesterday was a tough afternoon for the kid and despite working hard he didn't see enough of the ball. Unfortunately he showed one flash on inexperience when a quickly taken free kick caught Porter napping and even with his electric pace he was unable to chase back and Charlton almost literally walked the ball into the back of the net. To his credit he didn't seek to blame anyone else, he just turned and walked head up ready for the re-start, simply hoping to make up for his mistake rather than deflect blame. Another lesson learned and an error I'd bet he won't repeat for a while. It did remind me of a couple of things told to me by Paul Clark, Tommy Taylor's assistant, that showed how being an armchair manager is easy but the real thing is just a series of headaches.
The first was the simple stat that in one season Orient had conceded nine goals from set pieces as a result of Jabo losing his man. You can bet your life that everyone will remember a run that he made or spectacular goal he scored in that season but will be oblivious to the fact that his net value to the team was negative. The other was a story about Iyseden Christie, a player I loved for his unpredictability at one end because defences didn't know how to handle him. It was less of an asset at the other. In one game as he prepared to come on as substitute Clark sat with him and went through who he was to mark at set pieces. As he stood on the touchline they did it again and as he ran on they stood and pointed where he was to go as the Os prepared to defend a corner. The corner was taken and the opposition scored as a result of Iyseden not picking up his marker!
Only the manager and coaches would even be aware of that because they see the whole picture and try to balance their teams as a result. Slade still doesn't seem to be able to get that balance right with the players currently at his disposal and we look ineffective going forward. That doesn't mean that there is a simple answer in the shape of George Porter. We've been hammered enough times this year to see that getting it wrong defensively can have disastrous consequences but somehow Slade has to find a way to set a time up that isn't vulnerable at the back but is capable of threatening at the other end.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)