On Saturday a Leyton Orient side, who were in poor form, made the 117 mile journey to 15th placed Eastleigh, managed by former O's boss Andy Hessenthaler and also featuring former Striker Paul McCallum. The O's came into the game without a win in 5, the last being a 1-0 victory at Mill Farm away to AFC Fylde exactly 1 month ago to the day.
Eastleigh 0-0 Leyton Orient
Saturday 17th March 2018, Vanarama National League, Silverlink Stadium, Attendance 2,013 (453 Orient)
Another poor performance by Justin Edinburgh's side, since we conceded 3 goals in the final 15 minutes against Gateshead we have seriously declined as a team, I could only see 2 players out there that are consistently performing and turning up for us each week and that is James Brophy and Ebou Adams. They were both phenomenal again yesterday and have really stood out since they both signed/re-signed back in January, the rest of the team however was just shocking, we are making hard work for ourselves in games we should be winning comfortably. Edinburgh's tactics were again all over the place, we've got no style to our play anymore were just pumping the ball up to the two strikers and relying on them to do everything, as we saw today it is something they find hard to do.
I was a bit curious with the starting line-up, I felt it was a bad decision to put Harrold and Holman upfront together in a game as crucial as this, minutes into the first half the decision proved costly as the wind was a disadvantage to Orient's high ball tactic. I know Edinburgh's experimenting putting Harrold and Holman upfront but I feel he should've swapped Mooney or Bonne for Harold instead of Holman, the striker on loan from Cheltenham was having a poor game and has shown that his form has dipped since 2 very strong performances last month against Aldershot Town and Tranmere Rovers. I don't really rate Harold, 3 goals in 23 games is poor for any striker, especially for one who has dropped down a Division, I don't feel he has a positive impact on the team, when we just pump the ball in the air it just is a waste of opportunities, a bit similar to how Kevin Nolan used to play during his brief spell in E10 in 2016.
I like Justin Edinburgh but he has to do all he can in the next two or three games, which are all winnable, to guarantee safety because its been 6 games without a win. If we don't play up now this can easily turn back into the form we had earlier in the season when we went 15 games without a win under Steve Davis, 15 games without a win and potentially another long string of results without a win is Relegation form and we don't want to slide into the Relegation zone late on in the season like York City done last season, just one season after relegation from League Two. It's not Justin's fault, its the team we have, some O's fans keep saying our team is too good for this league, if that was the case we wouldn't be in this situation we would be up there at least in the top half if we would've got some good results in the last month.
The first two/three months of the season proved that the players were finding it difficult to adapt to the Conference, but the last month has proved most of them aren't good enough, minus the likes of Brophy, Adams, Bonne, Elokobi, Coulson and Koroma, we need a massive clear out in the summer from top to bottom so this club can gain promotion back to the Football League next season. At the moment were not good enough to compete with the likes of Wrexham and Tranmere and if we cant get out of this league next season I fear we will never get out of it- for example- Aldershot (relegated 2013), Torquay (relegated 2012), Macclesfield (Relegated 2011), Wrexham (relegated 2006).
In my opinion, in training ahead of the Woking game I would keep in the players that actually do perform and let them play with youngsters that are exceeding in our academy because when we were left with our youngsters last season we occasionally saw moments of brilliance and potential. I'd let them see how they get on together and if it went so well I would start that line-up against Woking next week, it is a gamble but we are running out of ideas, something that can not happen at this stage of the season. I know a lot of people stick up for Brill, but he shouldn't be our first choice keeper he is good at this level because he can get away with certain things, for example when yesterday he dropped crosses and punched a lot of balls out, in this league it might not be costly but in the Football League he wouldn't last a second.
Caprice was rightfully dropped from the squad, he needs to go, Widdowson had an ok game yesterday but isn't reliable and consistent, Happe, Lawless and Clay are inconsistent. Mooney is underrated and wrongfully gets a lot of stick, buying Harold and loaning Holman is in my opinion a way of forcing Mooney out of the club, Harold is poor, Jobi is good but injury prone, Holman needs a bit more time, Boco is out of JE's plans and probably wont play for the club again. Dayton provides a few goals now and then, Ling was poor yesterday he couldn't really reach many balls switched from the other flank and Lee is basically still a new signing he hasn't played since September after getting injured but I'm really excited by having quality like Charlie Lee at the club.We need to recall youngsters like Charles Clayden, Sam Sargent and Michael Clark, start playing Mavilia (from Wingate & Finchley) and Marvin Ekpieketa (from East Thurrock), keep progressing the talents of Soritou and Arthurs Janata.
There was just no point in the game where we looked dangerous upfront, we lacked spark and creativity, we had barley any decent chances, really we were lucky to come away with a draw we were awful, even though Eastleigh weren't outstanding, we just let them into the game and were unlucky on a few occasions. The fans don't deserve this, 4 years of pain, heartbreak and torture and yet we feel the nightmare is still going on, over 400 Orient braved the weather to make the long journey from London, quality support as always definitely one of the best in the league. Big work has to be done over the course of the next few weeks, this is unacceptable.
Player ratings
Brill 4
Widdowson 6
Elokobi 5
Coulson 6
Ling 5
Clay 5
Adams 7
Koroma 5 (McAnuff 6)
Brophy 7
Harrold 4
Holman 5 (Bonne 5)
Unused Subs:
Grainger, Mooney, Ekpietia
National League Table
1 Macclesfield Town 37 21 8 8 51 39 12 71
2 Sutton United 38 20 9 9 57 40 17 69
3 Boreham Wood 38 17 14 7 53 35 18 65
4 Tranmere Rovers 38 18 10 10 62 39 23 64
5 Wrexham 38 16 16 6 45 30 15 64
6 Aldershot Town 38 17 13 8 58 45 13 64
7 Dover 38 17 12 9 52 33 19 63
8 AFC Fylde 38 16 11 11 71 49 22 59
9 Ebbsfleet United 37 14 14 9 48 42 6 56
10 Bromley 35 15 10 10 58 42 16 55
11 Dagenham & Redbridge 37 14 9 14 55 51 4 51
12 Gateshead 36 11 15 10 51 39 12 48
13 Maidenhead United 38 12 12 14 51 57 -6 48
14 Eastleigh 37 10 16 11 53 58 -5 46
15 FC Halifax 38 11 13 14 42 49 -7 46
16 Maidstone Utd 37 11 12 14 44 55 -11 45
17 Leyton Orient 38 11 11 16 43 50 -7 44
18 Woking 38 12 8 18 47 60 -13 44
19 Barrow 35 9 12 14 42 48 -6 39
20 Hartlepool United 37 9 12 16 42 55 -13 39
21 Solihull Moors 37 9 9 19 38 53 -15 36
22 Torquay United 38 7 10 21 34 62 -28 31
23 Chester FC 38 6 13 19 32 61 -29 31
24 Guiseley 37 5 11 21 32 69 -37 26
In Conclusion
Hope you enjoyed this article, thank you for reading, we are at home to Woking next Saturday in the league where tickets are just £5, with kids for just a quid! Comment bellow your thoughts on the article on our twitter page @LOFCEverything did you agree or disagree with what I said? I'd like to know your thoughts. A poor lacklustre performance by Orient again, proving the O's are not safe yet....