Match Thread: Leyton Orient (h)

[nottingram]

13 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Almost forgot to mention, how bad was the linesman by the East Stand first half?!

Was less annoyed at him falling for their players flop under Wilson’s “challenge” when Hourihane did an even worse one second half he couldn’t wait to give us a free kick for.

There was an absolutely hilarious throw in decision though 

[G STAR RAM]

7 minutes ago, nottingram said:

Was less annoyed at him falling for their players flop under Wilson’s “challenge” when Hourihane did an even worse one second half he couldn’t wait to give us a free kick for.

There was an absolutely hilarious throw in decision though 

The Hourihane free kick was an absolute joke, their player was nowhere near him. How are officials falling for this so easily?!

[jono]

45 minutes ago, Lokidoki said:

It’s not the soccer Gods, it is the fact that we played three in the middle, with good shape and total purpose. It sped the game up, made the passes more incisive and we were a structured team. This,  coupled with the fact that everyone looked like they knew where should be on the pitch made the game flow.

A good midfield should protect the defence and engineer chances for the attack, this we did throughout, perhaps until CH was brought on and for five it looked like we were going to stagnate again but then Corey moved into the middle and we got on the rails again.

it’s just a pity that in the past, a lot of us have seen the hole in midfield , when just two are played their and almost cried out for this to be noted and changed, to no avail.

I do hope that we can just maintain this for the final two and that lessons are learned.

COYR

 

I agree. I think Smith was hugely influential throughout the game. Adams breaks play up, the enforcer, Tommo never lets anyone breath but it was Smith as the fulcrum. Quick to pass, not too many touches, sees the ball that unglues things and sets us going forward. I can’t comment on away games but every time I see him at PP he does it right and makes us look more polished as a unit. 

[Crewton]

14 hours ago, G STAR RAM said:

I like reading most of your posts, but your first paragraph today is really poor.

2 games to go and promotion in our hands and it still feels like so many of our 'supporters' have personal axes to grind.

Very sad times and I'm not sure some of our fans actually deserve the promotion that we may achieve. 

I agree with you. The "boyfriend" slur was particularly unnecessary.

[HorsforthRam]

Glad we scored the set pieces in the first half (we’d have been disappointed to say the least to let those type of goals in at our end). We are much better at counter attacking rather than breaking a team down, and as Warne said, when the game became more open, we did actually create some decent opportunities from open play, helped hugely by Orient’s high defensive line. 
 

Let’s hope for some more set piece magic on Saturday or maybe Cambridge will come at us?👍🏽

[DiggerB]

15 minutes ago, jono said:

I agree. I think Smith was hugely influential throughout the game. Adams breaks play up, the enforcer, Tommo never lets anyone breath but it was Smith as the fulcrum. Quick to pass, not too many touches, sees the ball that unglues things and sets us going forward. I can’t comment on away games but every time I see him at PP he does it right and makes us look more polished as a unit. 

I’d really love to see Smith offered a deal in Summer. Even at 33-34 I think he could do a job in the Champ, even if only off the bench.

[Crewton]

I remember a time, not very long ago, when fans bemoaned that our corners and set-pieces never came to anything. Now we're the most effective team in the division in that regard so, of course, fans have to find something else to criticise the manager for, despite the fact that, when Orient actually had to come out and play, we created enough opportunities to have more than doubled our score. Imagine what Dwight Gayle might have done with those chances...

I hope we keep banging in those corners and crosses in the remaining two games. Any team will struggle to defend the quality of cross we produced consistently yesterday. Of course, if we can also take  chances like the ones we did create yesterday, that would make us all much less stressed.

[S6 boy]

39 minutes ago, nottingram said:

Was less annoyed at him falling for their players flop under Wilson’s “challenge” when Hourihane did an even worse one second half he couldn’t wait to give us a free kick for.

There was an absolutely hilarious throw in decision though 

Wilson megged someone in the first half but the ball went too far away so he threw himself on the floor and won a freekick.  At least the officials were consistent! 

[Rich3478]

41 minutes ago, nottingram said:

Was less annoyed at him falling for their players flop under Wilson’s “challenge” when Hourihane did an even worse one second half he couldn’t wait to give us a free kick for.

There was an absolutely hilarious throw in decision though 

Officials are so weak on those decisions, absolutely desperate to give a foul. Any slight touch and a blatant dive/exaggeration is always given. 

[Ellafella]

1 hour ago, Foreveram said:

Yesterday morning I said it would be a good day if Derby won, I could pick the Grand national winner and then win the lottery.

Predicted a 3 nil win, ✔️

Backed the winner on the national, ✔️

2 numbers on the lottery, free lucky dip, 😂✔️

 

[HeyHudson]

1 hour ago, Crewton said:

I remember a time, not very long ago, when fans bemoaned that our corners and set-pieces never came to anything. Now we're the most effective team in the division in that regard so, of course, fans have to find something else to criticise the manager for, despite the fact that, when Orient actually had to come out and play, we created enough opportunities to have more than doubled our score. Imagine what Dwight Gayle might have done with those chances...

I hope we keep banging in those corners and crosses in the remaining two games. Any team will struggle to defend the quality of cross we produced consistently yesterday. Of course, if we can also take  chances like the ones we did create yesterday, that would make us all much less stressed.

I remember someone behind me in the East stand berating Jamie Ward's corner delivery once, bellowing

"OI, WARDY! IF I WANT TO SEE FLOATING BALLS, I'LL GO AND SIT IN THE BATH!"

[silverback]

2 hours ago, FlyBritishMidland said:

A confident and comfortable performance yesterday.  The only thing missing was a goal from open play but that doesn’t worry me.  Both yesterday and at Wycombe, particularly 1st half, we created some really good ones.  The defence never looked in trouble and I thought we controlled midfield.  Smith had a really good game, he was comfortable on the ball and always available to receive it.  Collins looked more like himself and put his usual shift in.  Kane’s goal was right in front of me, definitely his.

I might be in a minority but I don’t mind Bradley.  Personally, I think he plays better when he’s captain, he seems to thrive on the responsibility.  Yes, he made some mistakes early on but Warne acted on it.  Pleased he got his goals and hope that gives him a lift for the last 2 games.

Loved the score line yesterday but still have concerns regarding scoring from open play as well. 

I get this is L1 but a quality finisher would have had a couple for sure when is Gayle back?

[Tamworthram]

1 hour ago, G STAR RAM said:

The Hourihane free kick was an absolute joke, their player was nowhere near him. How are officials falling for this so easily?!

I know. It happens all the time. We seemed to "win" and concede even more than the normal number of these ridiculously soft free kicks.

[IslandExile]

4 hours ago, G STAR RAM said:

Wasn't going to do it but was awake early, so I thought I would compile a list of the experts from yesterday...

A big centre half scoring twice from corners and putting in a creditable display against a poor offensive team with nothing to play for does not necessarily make Sonny Bradley a good choice for our team.

I think a bigger factor was that it allowed Warne to play his preferred 3-5-2, so freeing up wing backs who cannot be classed as full backs.

So, your euphoria aside - which we all share - please look objectively at the reasoning behind the discussion. Thanks.

[IlsonDerby]

I don’t mind if we have 2 1-0 wins where both goals bounce in off someone’s chin as long as we go up but it’d have done us a world of good to convert one of those good chances we created from open play yesterday. 
 

Same questionable finishing which cost us v Northampton and Wycombe. Fingers crossed we get enough set pieces to get us there! 

[Curtains]

So Bolton doing their best to muck it up.  
 

On to Cambridge and another difficult away day 

[InstaRam]

4 hours ago, Tamworthram said:

Firstly, the ratings you have provided do not suggest he is significantly weaker or prone to mistakes than the others. For example, most of us think Nelson is a contender for player of the season and yet his rating is only 0.4 above Bradley’s.

Secondly, if you read my original post you’ll see why I’ve excluded his first few games. I said, once he’d got over those early jitters and fought his way back into the team he had been OK and played well most of the time (or words to that effect). Whereas to label him as Calamity Bradley kind of suggests he has an ongoing problem. He may not be an upgrade on Davies and I don’t take exception with you holding that view. What I did take exception to though was the label you have attached to Bradley.

I wasn’t aiming the comment about Keough specifically at you but I think it’s undeniable that some folk continued to use the phrase “there’s always a mistake in Keough” simply because of that Wembley incident whereas, in reality, he probably didn’t make any more mistakes than most.

P.s. Regarding the Reading game, although it is only a tiny sample size, it seems pretty much everyone that rated the players for that game on this forum gave him a 6.5 or thereabouts.

After all, unlike you, I have presented some kind of objective assessment in which the mistakes are included as a part in any case. You are welcome to present evidence for your opinion that Bradley would not be more likely to make mistakes. Besides that, the fact that he can't handle playing in a back four is another indication. He needs Cashin and Nelson on each side of him so they can carry him. I believe that Bradley has committed more gross mistakes than Cashin and Nelson this season, and after all, he has spent a significant amount of time on the bench from which he has not had the chance to make mistakes. When Bradley is put in a man-on-man situation with a striker or forced to do something more advanced with the ball than pass a few yards to Cashin, I feel like anything can happen. Similarly, when he stands and wrestles with someone or can't win a header because, according to the coach, he had a cold the week before. 

And Northampton away was not that long ago either. 

 

[SSD]

I'll take any win at this point. I was amazed at the 1st and 3rd goals. We put them away well but my goodness, the level of defending at corners was absolutely atrocious for professional football. Our lads didn't have to work to challenge for the ball. Funniest moment of the day was Orient fans sarcastically cheering when the keeper finally caught the ball from a cross.

The back three is absolutely solid most weeks. This season has been built by mainly good defensive performances, particularly Cashin and Nelson. Swap Bradley out long term for a younger centre back and we've got a good Championship level defence.

Player of the match definitely Liam Thompson. Gave Adams some help with the legs and energy to shut down their midfield. Underrated player, a shame we can't have him, Adams and bird in a 3 next season. I think that would work well if we go for the wing backs again next season (which I admit I got it wrong, we do play better in this system).

Have to win those next 2 games. It'd be nice if Bolton drew again in the week and we beat Cambridge. That'd basically secure us promotion unless Carlisle scored 5/6 past us without reply. I can't see that happening, I think they'll apply maximum pressure until the final day.

[DavesaRam]

3 hours ago, G STAR RAM said:

Almost forgot to mention, how bad was the linesman by the East Stand first half?!

About as bad as the one by the West Stand?

[Ramarena]

22 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

I don’t mind if we have 2 1-0 wins where both goals bounce in off someone’s chin as long as we go up but it’d have done us a world of good to convert one of those good chances we created from open play yesterday. 
 

Same questionable finishing which cost us v Northampton and Wycombe. Fingers crossed we get enough set pieces to get us there! 

Barks is back, which is a big boost for us in the attacking third for the last two games. 

When he came on yesterday he showed us instantly the threat he offers.

If we can get Gayle back as well, then we can utilise both their quality in the final third when we need it.

As decent as yesterdays performance was, our quality in the final third was lacking at key times for open play.

Gayle and Barks could offer us a huge boost, if we’re struggling to break teams down.