Leyton Orient (A)

[tomski]

We deserved nothing. Move on. We have a soft underbelly but doesn’t mean we won’t achieve our ambitions. Still ours to lose.

[radcliffe white]

1 minute ago, L/H White said:

the players & manager just had a shocking afternoon 

this has been seen before, when we put a shocker in, it's usually really bad

people over analysing far to much here

just a bad day at the office 

For a club going for automatic promotion we’ve had a few bad days at the office so far this season

 

[L/H White]

Just now, radcliffe white said:

For a club going for automatic promotion we’ve had a few bad days at the office so far this season

 

agree, doesn't seem to be much inbetween, but we always seem to bounce back and have a decent run after a shocker

pompey had a couple to

[gonzo]

3 minutes ago, radcliffe white said:

For a club going for automatic promotion we’ve had a few bad days at the office so far this season

 

Aye mate but theres not many that haven't.

 

[Marc505]

Cpuple of things away from the actual game, nice touch from Pratley before kick off to lay the wreath.

And also a shout out to possibly the most dangerous half time queue I've ever been in. People were being unintentionally crushed by people in front and behind by sheer weight of numbers. Unpleasant experience. 

[tomski]

21 minutes ago, Marc505 said:

Cpuple of things away from the actual game, nice touch from Pratley before kick off to lay the wreath.

And also a shout out to possibly the most dangerous half time queue I've ever been in. People were being unintentionally crushed by people in front and behind by sheer weight of numbers. Unpleasant experience. 

That queue was carnage. I wasn’t a fan.

[bolton va va]

19 minutes ago, Marc505 said:

Cpuple of things away from the actual game, nice touch from Pratley before kick off to lay the wreath.

And also a shout out to possibly the most dangerous half time queue I've ever been in. People were being unintentionally crushed by people in front and behind by sheer weight of numbers. Unpleasant experience. 

Yes, I thought it was getting to dangerous levels of overcrowding at h/t & gave up trying to reach the toilets. Very unpleasant.

There was a calmer but long queue for 3 portaloo things in the corner !!!

[ianofcleveleys]

39 minutes ago, tomski said:

We deserved nothing. Move on. We have a soft underbelly but doesn’t mean we won’t achieve our ambitions. Still ours to lose.

It is, you're right, position still good on reading the table. Teams with soft underbellies don't tend to win titles or promotions though. 

Yesterday was second game in a month (Pompey) Evatt couldn't explain and was caught on the hop by. 

[L/H White]

30 minutes ago, Marc505 said:

Cpuple of things away from the actual game, nice touch from Pratley before kick off to lay the wreath.

And also a shout out to possibly the most dangerous half time queue I've ever been in. People were being unintentionally crushed by people in front and behind by sheer weight of numbers. Unpleasant experience. 

 

8 minutes ago, tomski said:

That queue was carnage. I wasn’t a fan.

glad I wasn't there for obvious reasons

[Biggish Dave]

Dreadful performance all round. The Northcote Arms was decent enough though.

Hope to never have to go back

[noxid]

They closed us down really well and seemed to win most of the 50-50s. The terrible pitch ruined our passing game which is a problem this time of year with some grounds and so we tried the long game which didn't work either. Maybe the team wasn't physically tired but they were definitely mentally tired after giving everything in the Luton game to be stung by a useless dumb linesman. For me the two glaring Charles misses (like in the Portsmouth game) seemed to sap any remaining life out of the team. Think that Bod would have certainly put the first one away. No team will go through the season not losing, so we can't feel sorry for ourselves with so many matches coming up but I'm sure Ian will have them ready for Cheltenham next week. Feel kinda pissed off that Gethin Jones is away for so long getting a suntan in the middle east during our most important time of the season. Think we need three players in during the window.

[bolton va va]

Just seen the highlights & that first miss by Dion was as bad as at Pompey. ( lovely build up by Vic & Thomason though )

The 2nd one, should have scored but was a decent save by the keeper. 

[captainmed]

We rarely win a game when we go behind.

I knew when Peterborough went behind yesterday, they would win.

I knew when we did we wouldn’t.

We have won ONE game all season when going behind.

Win these next two or we can forget top 2.

[L/H White]

2 minutes ago, captainmed said:

We rarely win a game when we go behind.

I knew when Peterborough went behind yesterday, they would win.

I knew when we did we wouldn’t.

We have won ONE game all season when going behind.

Win these next two or we can forget top 2.

out of interest, how many times have we gone behind?

[L/H White]

some chap on one of the FB groups wants santos stripping of the captaincy after yesterday

[captainmed]

2 minutes ago, L/H White said:

out of interest, how many times have we gone behind?

9 I think. 

[Jol_BWFC]

I was surprised at the time when Charles was taken off. I know he missed a couple of clear cut chances, but if you watch both of them it’s his movement that creates the space. JDB and Jerome didn’t fashion anything.

Strikers are confidence players and I can’t help but think he should have had 15 mins more to try and find another opportunity. Instead he’s now going be dwelling on those chances until Tuesday.

[L/H White]

Just now, captainmed said:

9 I think. 

hmmm, lack of fight?

didn't realise it was so many

[Tonge moor green jacket]

3 minutes ago, L/H White said:

out of interest, how many times have we gone behind?

That's the obvious thing to look at first isn't it!

We were ahead in at least two that we have lost. Not that that is necessarily indicative of anything specific though.

[radcliffe white]

1 hour ago, gonzo said:

Aye mate but theres not many that haven't.

 

Highlights for me the poorer standard this time around imo 

[Johnnyrotten]

9 hours ago, Lostock Whites said:

A bit more time to reflect upon it, yet all it brings back is how friggin painful watching that game was, we really had no composure and it felt like all the players were playing with wooden legs.

Optimistically, that performance was beyond horrendous yet because so, without tempting fate, I really doubt we will play so poorly again this season. The loss to Pompey and Bristol were bad, but at least Pompey we played well 1st half and Bristol was a red card incident. This felt more along the lines of the Carlisle game. 

This game was just a shambles, starting from the back. None of the defenders/midfielders were willing to take a risk or able to play through Leyton Orients press and just did the same thing for 97 minutes. I was yelling at frustration on particularly the back 3s reluctance to just take a extra touch or even try and play it simple. Orient pressed well yes, but the key is to be brave and play through the press and unlock the space. We didn't do any of that, just aimless balls easy to defend.

We're still in a great position in the table, but it definitely feels that there is a serious mentality issue in the squad. When we win, we look excellent and dominant, when we lose, it's really poor and usually when we go a goal behind, we never have the belief to come back and win the game. We hardly ever win a game from a losing position, unlike Peterborough and Pompey. 

When we concede an early yellow and then Charles misses a sitter you just know what's to come.

I've already made my opinions about some the members of the squad for a while now and although our starting XI is strong, we really need to bolster the squad.

My question is, when we do need to make changes, are we bringing on any players that are either improving or capable of bettering our game?

When I see players such as Morley, Williams and Jerome coming on, I personally don't have any confidence that these players can help us win a game, nor do I see anything from any of them consistently enough to help us win a game.

I know fatigue and fresh legs is a huge component. But I firmly believe that there has to be better players for us in this league that can help us change a game when needed. 

Reinforcements needed, but still in a great position for promotion.

Tuesday and Carlisle away next weekend are massive and must wins.

Very good post, can't disagree with any of it.

On not coming back from losing positions, it feels like we don't have that unpredictable spark that we've maybe had in the past, with Bradley or bringing on a Dapo or a Sadlier to doing something unusual.  Once a team is ahead, they've got us where they want us, they know we generally aren't going to do something they can't deal if they are organised and defensive - dribbling past 2 men, a great shot from distance, unless its a  Toal or Iredale header from a corner (if Morley doesn't beat the first man that's not happening). 

Away we've scored first an amazing 8 times, and won 7 of them.  A brilliant record, just the blip at Reading.  The other incredible stat away is that we haven't conceded before the 45th minute away yet (surely no team in the Prem/EFL can match that).  But as you say there is little evidence that we can come back from a losing position, with just the draw at Burton and now 2 limp defeats.  First goal away from home appears to be decisive with our current squad.  Not as obvious to call in home games as of the 4 times we've conceded first, a sending off has spoiled the game Iin 3 of them and in the other one it was all over before H-T.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

1 minute ago, L/H White said:

hmmm, lack of fight?

didn't realise it was so many

Reading turned it around quite late, and we didn't have time to do much about it.

Carlisle caught us out pushing for an equaliser. Similar at Pompey iirc.

Could be argued that we've perhaps taken our foot off the gas occasionally, but in general our approach works.

Although it is improving, we still show that touch of softness occasionally. 

A quick press against us, should potentially yield opportunities to go longer, earlier and whatever Evatt chooses to do to combat such things, it's up to him and his staff to get it into the players, and supplement the squad accordingly, if those he has don't quite offer the alternative approach he requires.

[Ani]

We were shit yesterday but if Charles puts away either gilt edged chance we have totally different game  

the similarity to Portsmouth is plain in that sense. Next 2 games are massive now. We know exactly how they will both play so no excuses. 

[radcliffe white]

We will struggle to come back when our top scorer is pulled after 60mins

There’s nobody who can turn a game like yes a Dapo for example maybe this Carlos fella can do 

[Leyther_Matt]

Largely irrelevant (and proven correct in the end), but when we went 1-0 down we were 12/1 to come back and win. They’re mental odds for a promotion chaser with more than half an hour of the game left.

For those unfamiliar with betting, it meant I wagered a fiver and lost a fiver 😅