Thetownend.com

Given Dave was unlucky with starting the last one (I told you so, Dave) I'll have a bash at this one.

I think we'll see an improved performance tonight and Dossevi's first goal for Town. I'll go 3-1 and a below par crowd of 6,453.

Anyone heading down The Merlin?

6453 is optimistic, reckon we could be looking at 3-4000 tonight.  I'm going for a 4-1 Town win tonight, I also think Dossevi's first goal.

2-1 Swindon

Austin 4/1 first goal is not bad value either.

2-0, Dossevi + a midfielder.

I am going to go for a 3-1 Town win this evening and my Starting XI would be...

Smith, Caddis, Jean-Francois, Cuthbert, Rose, McGovern, Ferry, Douglas, O'Brien, Dossevi & Austin.

I will have a punt at a 5,846 attendance.

1-0 Town Austin goal

5,000 attendance

4.0 town.


i'd play morrison instead of LJF

We're shit and were going to lose

Hard one to predict given we don't really know what team Wilson is going to put out, but hopefully we will see a decent performance and progression into round 2, it would be nice for us to have a cup run this season.

Sounds like Danny is putting out a strong team and I'd hope the team would be itching to set the record straight and get our season underway.

but I'm going tonight so we'll lose.

2-1 Town - Attn 4800

2-0 Town. Its my lads 6th Birthday today, and he's a mascot for the game (he doesn't know yet). Orient better not try and spoil it!

Need a good performance tonight.

Will it be on the radio or are they not allowed to do cup games?

I was a mascot back in the day, was a birthday present for me too. And it was a cup game. Beat Watford 3-2. Super Dave Mitchell!

Anyway, I think we'll win tonight. 2-1 perhaps. Be nice for Dossevi to get a couple.

Orient have that Terrell Forbes, whose a bit of a hatchet man. I don't suppose it will have gone unnoticed that Brighton got a result by a bit of kicking.

 

Scored a peach of an own goal for us against Yeovil last season though. See your point though as the tackle the year before on Morrison was disgraceful and still not sure how it wasn't a red.

got a feeling this might go to penalties after a 1-1 draw .... hopefully us thro on the lottery

We're good at penalties.

so, by that token we are due a defeat on penalties.

Wouldn't mind seeing a penalty shoot out, don't think it'll go that far though.

3-0, Francois hatrick.

Is there no prediction league for this?

----------Smith----------

Caddis---Cuthbert---LJF---Rose

---------Douglas--------

---JPM---Prutton---Ferry

-----Austin-----Dossevi----

I'm going with the Adver formation and 3-1 win for us if the rain doesn't call the game off

3-0 Town.

Don't think they're anticipating a big crowd as my missus has just been to get me a ticket and only selling for the Arkells and DRS. No Town End...boo hoo ! So 4,321 I reckon.

What I was thinking about....he'd already taken Cox out thigh high.

Likely to happen?

No. It'll stop between 4-6pm.

In fairness, the Arkells and DRS do hold about 10,000 between them. I'd guess we'll get around 5,000.

As for the score, I'm really hoping we up our game a bit from Saturday. If we do that we should win it, and I'll go for 2-1.

The clue is in the title 'The League Cup'. Since its a Football League competition it will be the same arrangements as normal League matches.

Ive already got a town end ticket, so im not sure what happens with that. Arkells near the away fans?

Its been raining hard since 10am non stop and showing no signs of stopping. Even when it the light gets brighter the rain stays just as heavy. Will be a very wet pitch, but I would think the game will still go ahead.

if the rain stops at 6 then its got an hour or 2 to dry out, it won't be that wet on the surface. we will win 3-0 and get some confidence back.

Dropped my youngest off for the FITC summer course this morning and they were watering the pitch at 9.30!

I have a ticket for the Townend? could be quite lonely in there by the looks of things

Raining most of the night and most of the day, no sign of any let up either.  Some roads  in West Swindon have started to flood. I've booked a days holiday for this so will be more than a little miffed if it's called off.
The missing fans who turned up Saturday wont bother again this season unless further results improve so I'm going for 4010 and 2 1 to my 2nd team L Orient.  Really hopeing for signs that they actually train together rather than 10 strangers turning up for a kick about.

Jock Dave in the ticket office said the TE was closed and those who bought tickets would be moved to the side stands.

3-1 for me, in front of 4,602

Is there really any risk of the game being called off? I need to leave in half an hour or so...

None...

I'm going for 4-0 with Ball up front getting a hatrick and alan O'Brien scoring.

Also a sterling performance from Caddis.

It is very likely to be on. Marcus the groundsman just text me saying so.

I'll go 2-1 Charlie Both Crowd 5397

Sticking with my predictions that are way off, 6-4 Orient. All own goals.

3-1.....att: 4,744..... Dossevi (2) Austin (1)

and Crispy to make a shaky vid and post it on here

1-0 Town - Cuthbert, boring game, crowd under 4000 - boy am I looking forward to this.

1-1, another poor performance, panic ensues in some corners

Got £100 on Swindon at 4/5

Leyton Orient playing Charlton on sky on Friday, so am hoping they may rest a few.  Whilst Town will also squad rotate, we will be bringing in the likes of Ferry and Caddis - who arguably could make our first team.

Caddis and O Brien starting,  Dosevvi and Amankwaah to bench

1-0 and 3124 attendance

Ball up front along Austin then im guessing

Yeah, must be that with Caddis and O'Brien down the flanks which is good as it sounded like we were too narrow on Saturday.

Caddis is replacing kev.  Midfield of JP, Duggie, Prutts, Obrien.  Ball and austin up front

No Ferry then? Oh well. Glad Ball is upfront.

3-2 win ball cuthbert and caddis to score

5.330 att

YOU REDS!!!

Is it on Radio Swindon's internet site tonight?

Hope he has a good day Batch.

3-0 Town...............Austinx2 and Dossevi.

Glad Caddis is starting.....Thought Ferry would have started to be honest but hopefully Prutton plays better today then he did on Saturday.

I dont seem to be able to get it, but dont know whether that is because I'm in France or whether it isnt on. Help please?

Here we go 2-0 Swindon ;D

No vic morgan?! Who's this commentating duo?

Evening people.

Anything happening?

Caddis sounds decent

Yeah I'm not listening at the mo but Caddis' name seems to be popping up on the OS live text a few times.

anyones stfc player a bit jumpy tonight?

Pox 1-0 up.

Yes shit reception on swindon player

2-0 to Pox.

Northampton putting our performance at the weekend into perspective!

JFL is injured, I think he stood on his own cock  :(

How are we doing? I know how bloomin' Oxford are doing.

3-1 up now.

Thanks.

you are welcome. 4-1 up now.

Started well, seems to have settled down a bit now. World is STILL fucking shit.

Rovers have had an awful start to the season. That's 7 conceded already.

gol

JPM

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss :clap:

JP. Legend.

Sparrow sent off for Brighton.

Oh, we scored. Yay.

Sparrow sent off for Brighton, shame it didn't happen on Saturday

35 - GOAL! J-P McGovern gives Town the lead. David Ball did well to beat his man inside the box and cross low towards McGovern who found himself unmarked at the back post, and side-footed the ball calmly home into the corner

Stop doing that, I had enough of that last year ;)

Sat behind my computer on a nightshift, refreshing every five minutes to see the score, crying to myself.
I see Oxford are 4-1 up against Rovers. Oxford next round anyone?

Prutton misses a sitter. Good cross from AOB apparently. You don't see that often.

I may be completely wrong but I think the next round is seeded with Prem and Championship teams playing Lg1 and Lg2 teams.

In that case I hope the Pox getting fucking stuffed.

Or we both go through and we get an easy passage to rd 4!

Ian Longdon, no Mark O'D is he? Bless him for trying though.

'Town go into the break a goal to the good after a solid first half performance against a Leyton Orient side who have barely threatened in front of goal.'

We're bound to lose now.

Why the fuck would you sit in the town end if you have poor eyesight?

soapy tit wank what a twat

Oh well at least we have a 1 in 7 chance of getting them them in the Johnstone's Paint. Draw on Saturday on Soccer Am.

Watching England U21's drawing 0-0 with the might of Uzbekistan U21's on ESPN. the future is bright!

All the decent u-21 players are in the main squad anyway! See Robinsons retirement has earnt the blackburn reserve keeper a call up

Probably struggling for players as Capello has taken a few. Watford's Scott Loach and Blackburn's Frankie Fielding in the latest squad of 19. Frankie whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I hear you say.

Rodwell had a good game. Just gone off.

Danny Rose makes it 1-0.

Stole this off of Wikipedia (a reliable source of knowledge) about the next round of the Carling Cup

Second round
The 13 Premier League teams not involved in European competitions will enter at this stage, along with the winners from the First Round plus Burnley and Hull City, who received a First Round bye. From the Second Round onwards, the teams are no longer split geographically. The draw for the Second Round will take place on 11 August 2010, after the First Round games had been completed, and the matches will be played in the week beginning 23 August 2010.[1]

Doesn't say anything about seeding so Swindon beating Oxford in Round 2 is a possibility.

Rovers are a shambles. 5-1 down.

Oh dear. I'd have some fun at work tomorrow, except for the fact its a pub team dishing out the thrashing.

Whens the draw for next round

Tomorrow morning

Thanks

Are you sure? Surely there are games tomorrow aren't there?

Nope, games yesterday and today. Draw tomorrow. What they said at half time anyway

Revell goes close....

There are 3 games tomorrow. Seems quite odd.

Commentator hates O Brien, its as if O Brien must have shagged the commentators wife

SSN just said the draw is tomorrow night on said channel.

Is a any radio links available ....cheers

I reckon he'd be quick.

Shrewsbury come back from 3 down against charlton, 3-3.

Sounds like we need to chuck on a couple of subs as Orient starting to dominate

Well that's the thing with O'Brien, he always pulls something...

Goal to l'orient

Dosevvi coming on

Commentator hasn't a clue

Fucking hell

wooops

Smith should have saved that.

Just back from a run, think I've picked up on it being 1-1. Is that right?

Yes.

2-1

FFS.

Smith should have saved that.

hahahahahaha revell. 2-1

Hmm. Who got ours and how long's left?

Another ghost haunting us

Bollocksssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss :badmood:

Ah, fuck!

OMG this is shit, I am not going to listen any more!

I have just got in from a day out, tuned in to STFCWorld just as the equalizer went in.

What the fuck?

Direct free kick from Revell.

Wonderful :(

Oh well, at least we can concentrate on the league then :(

We won this competition once.

Not good.

What is the attendance?

Bloody hell....same old same old...!!!

And the ambient humidity reading?  I need to know this.

From the noise it sounds little more than 4k

Game of 2 halves. Isn't it. hmmm

Right through the wall, bottom corner... nice.

First goal arrowed top corner, harsh to say Smith should have had that... another failed office trap, BTW.

Shrewsbury now 4-3 up

72.8%. Better now?

4,450

wont do anything this season without a change of centre backs!

4k

Why was I looking forward to this season....???? :cry:

Austin misses

are the departures of greer and paynter taking their toll?

should have remembered that our defence was not great last season....and now its worse....proabably got caught up in dovessi hype

Cunt! Just popped out for a 5 mins at 1-0 and now it's 1-2.

Too early to be negative about the season. In Wilson we trust and all that.

Possibly....although, suggest I have always thought the next one would be better !!!
Bit like woman I suppose. :(

exactly I trust him to get some centre backs before deadline day

I thought OB and Revell had been subbed but the commentator just mentioned them both.

if he does, it will still be 4 weeks too late.

JFL MOM again !

What was that Yoda?

Two narrow defeats would not equate to crisis for me... Especially one being a cup game.


Tinkering might be required though.

Cuthbert was immense last season, Lesci probably the best player on Saturday.

its not a crisis agreed, but we are woefully short at centre back and it sounds like it is showing last two games

both home games we might have expected to win though.

It sounds like Austin has been shit

I won't panic on August 10th. No way.

Barry Corr scores against Shitty

Getting sick of this come on Swindon

scum winning 6-1

Just seen that the scum are 5-1 up against Rovers. Hope no crowing cunts come on here.

Great start to the season.

Have to bounce back at Hartlepool on Saturday.

Excuse me if i'm wrong, but i'm guessing we're short of a centre back......................................?

I've not been following the game at all today, but JFL proved he is a worthy CB, and we all know Scotty Cuthbert is an immense CB, so why the sudden need? Is it just leadership from the backline we're missing?

Oh dear.

Scum get their sixth.

Yes.

Poor by the sound of it, very poor.

Well that was disappointing but I'm not jumping in the life raft just yet.

I do think it's clear now that we do need a senior central defender.

I listened to this on player but was in the TE on Saturday so I may still be wrong.

Has the game finished? Oh well....NEXT!

With JFL pretty new at CB playing with Cuthbert and Rose new in at LB its a pretty inexperienced back line. Seems to be showing at the moment.

It will come good, hopefully sooner rather than later. We need a scrappy 1-0 win soon.

so much for hitting the ground running :spank:

Well we are off on holiday on Thursday, and won't be back until after the Dongs game.

Wonder if we will have any points by then?  :(

Work certainly needs to be done, but I'm reading phrases such as "I'm sick of this", the season is 2 games old!

Hmmmmm. So we dominated the first and fucked up the 2nd? Doesn't bode too well that. You'd hazard a guess that if we were more than 1 up at HT it would have been plain sailing. Oh well.

on my way back all i can say is rubbish

I suspect that thisis will not make good reading tonight no doubt all the doom merchants will start slipping out from under their stones calling for Wilson and Fitton out  >:(

I would start by getting a proper left sided midfielder and dropping obrien. ::)

As much as i like Phil Smith, do we reckon David Lucas will make a difference to our 'leadership' across the backline? Smith is generally pretty quiet, whereas we all know what Lucas is like..! Could make the difference for the time being

I felt on Saturday we were ok but lacked direction, I Couldnt make the game today due to lack of funds but sounds as if we desperatly need Lucas back in goal. Between Greer and Lucas we had 2 leaders at the back currently we have none. Phil Smith is quiet and there appears to be a lack of leadership on the pitch. No need to panic and cant pass judgement on the game but we need a leader badly IMO. Onwards and upwards!

Left midfield is the least of our problems.

if we carry on playing like this then we could seriously end up struggling to nail anywhertr above sixth. The league is too strong if we play like we did tonight. On my way home alike many of you. Shocker.

who cares? the league cup doesn't mean anything any more, not like back when we won it anyway

all about the league for me, saturday wasn't too bad they just scored with their only shot and their other goal was offside.

I'm not concerned but its a sign of modern football that two losses on the bounce means start of a mini crisis

We're a Danny Ward and Matt Taylor away from the autos!

Joking aside, blatantly gonna have to give the team time to settle. I don't think Wilson knows the best formation for the personnel, which is always likely when bringing players in late in preseason.

I would still start Ferry instead of Prutton, Be interesting to see what people say about Prutton who were at the match this evening

The squad is sound it just needs time to gel but i think the leftside is our weak point and not our defence.

Hartlepool is more important.

Crowd attendances will suffer because that's two home defeats now.

KOT reckons Prutton was a lot better tonight but Cuthbert and Austin were a bit shit

Two home games, and Four goals against may tell a different story

It is a weak point admittedley but I think AOB will come good given a run.

In a word yes! Smiths a shot stopper and that's it really. He needs to start fucking opening his mouth. Cuthbert was fuming with him and could barely look at him by the end of the game.
Ferry must start next game, we need to go back to the tried and tested Douglas/Ferry midfield!

What seriously concerns me is that we never come back when we go behind.....We never win a game once we go behind.....WHY?.....I think it's a fair point, Last season we couldn't do it is it going to be the same this season???

Yes I think Ferry and Douglas should be the chosen two for CM on Saturday. I think we need a LM quite urgently. Ball can't play there, AOB isn't up to much sadly. For me that's the priority. We need a CB preferebly experienced but either way 3 isn't enough. Dossevi isn't match fit and Charlie hasn't had the best support/a constant partner like he had last season yet. For me it's about gelling as a team and getting in the 2 or 3 more key players we need. It will come good i'm sure. There's too much quality there really.

except we were ahead tonight

so are you saying we are mssing ward,greer and paynter?if so you are deffo on the money imo.
 losing 3 key players like that was always going to be a factor this season.it would seem that none have been replaced with a like for like player.greer hasn't been replaced at all.
early days but it's a bit of a concern.

I meant when we went behind........

I don't want to be knocking Lescinel who I think is an ok squad man but he was positionally all over the place at Wembley and I do think CB and left-midfield are pretty much our urgent priorities.

Anyone think we need another striker as well?

Cannot believe we lost that. We dominated for 60 mins, but didn't take our chances. Prutton should've buried his effort from 6 yards, which hit the goalie's foot. The second goal wasn't a free kick in the first place, but there was a gap in wall, which Revell's shot was lucky to find and the ball hit one of our defenders behind the wall, which deflected in. Charlie then had a great effort which was again saved by the goalie's foot.

Ball looked better up front than on Saturday. Even AOB looked like he was causing their full back problems, especially second half. Caddis looks a good player with quite a bit of pace.

At the end of the day, we've just got to stop conceding stupid goals, and take the chances we create. Hopefully we'll go and score a few on Saturday.

Observations :

Ban the 'We're Going To Win' song. We played it years ago before games, and we didn't win.

Also, why are the players warming up on the Arkells side towards SB. They've always warmed up towards the TE for years. 

And WTF was the tannoy announcer getting excited about the Pox result. Yes they beat Wovers, but if there was a case of not wanting either to win,that was it.

Presumably Trundle was to replace Paynter before he joined Neath, We were hoping OBrien would be able replace Ward I think. As you note Greer hasnt been replaced at all. Personally I would give Morrison a shot and hope Lucas gets back soon. Lucas will offer the leadership at the back whilst Morrison is a big lad and can take the position of Greer.

Exactly....of greater concern is that we'd nearly gone a whole season in 09/10 without losing a game having gone ahead, until game 46.

We've got problems....no doubt about that...it's what the manager gets paid for to sort it out.

Wilson has shown he can identify failings and make changes, so it's over to him.

Just got back from the game. Same old story really. We dominated the game whilst they had 3 shots and scored 2 of them. Ferry needed to come on earlier and should start on sat. Caddis was a big plus first half but smiths communication in goal is shocking. We move onto saturday though and im confident we can get a result. Maybe were better suited to play away from home.

Fully agree with that. Forest was causing mayhem down that side in the friendly, and out of the two sides, that is definately the weaker.

Maybe our players have been speaking to Aljofree and got scared to play at home?

Caddis was really good, and Prutton was better. Ball looks much more at home up front, i wouldn't have any problem with him starting there on Saturday.

That was dogshit. To solve the leftside problem then play Rose in midfield as for the 3 games he's played for us he has been fucking useless defensively so get him out of the way where he can play to his strengths. Yet another diagonal ball over him for the opposition to run onto with Smith steaming out of his goal to then backpedal furiously leaving him unable to dive to try and keep the ball out of the net if its on target and not sirectly at him. Put Caddis as the left back - impressive first half and good shot with his left.
Boy do we miss Paynter. how many times did we hit it long and it just keeps coming back to us.
Lescy again was very good particularly as yet again he was playng CB and LB.
Smith is either a shit goalkeeper or the unluckiest keeper alive.  

He's a shit goalkeeper.

I thought LJF had a very good game. He is definitely settling at CB. AOB was good in patches, as said before, I think he will improve. Not a patch on Wardy by a long way yet though (yes, we do miss him). Caddis looks the real deal, although Big Kev played well as usual when he came on. Real competition for that position.

I think the comments about Prutton and Douglas being very similar are spot on, although they weren't running into each other like Saturday. Douglas was not that good tonight, like Saturday. Yup, Ferry to start on Sat please.

The goals we conceded were silly although both were well taken. I'm not sure Lucas would have got to either of them tbh. We have to stop getting caught on the break.

Overall very disappointing. A lack of urgency, tempo and a lot of the players were doing statue imitations for long periods.

I'm sure Danny will sort it out though, but it might take a few more matches and several slit wrists before we get there.

Go on to the BBC website and watch the highlights of the game from Saturday. Then pause it just as the pass is played through to Sparrow for the second goal...and you can quite clearly see Cuthburt was keeping him onside by a few yards.

Thought that was back to being the solid controlled performance we enjoyed last year, and it was for about 65mins.

Disappointed losing from being in controll but, if we pull out a win on Sat I won't care at all about tonights result.

Really? I thought Manky was crap when he came on. Agree with Caddis, but he looks better attacking than defending.

Something's not right with the balance of the team; I just hope DW can sort it out soon.

Well that was a strange game.  should of been 3 0 up at half time.  4 0 up when  the O's scored which was  against the run of play.  Then 2 1 down we looked a poor reflection on the first 60 minutes.  Mind you, we made 2 substitutions just when they scored which ruined the flow a bit.  4 2 win and everybody goes home happy.  Losing 2 1 and the Town leave the pitch with the boos wringing in their ears.

Can't blame the defence to much. After all even with Greer and Lucas we didn't return to many clean sheets last season but with out paynters goals its a different scenario

Orient took their chances, we didn't. That sums it up really.

Orient's first was a near mirror image of Brighton's first on Saturday. Rose came flying out of position and got nowhere near the mean, Lecsi was then always struggling to drop into left-back and Smith was in no mans land (started to come, stopped, backpedalled) then got easily beaten at the near post when he should've saved IMO.

The second was never a freekick, but Smith being beaten at his near post (again) was poor even if it did take a deflection.

Was impressed with Ball first half, looked very lively. Prutton also looked better, but still looks a few yards off the pace and too often ended up going for the same ball as Douglas.

O'Brien looked better, but still has no end product. Caddis looked great first half, not so much second half.

Austin seems to be looking a bit cumbersome. Some great touches, but seems to be lacking that edge he had last season. Could be due to the lack of service I suppose.

If JFL carries on in the same form for the rest of the season then he'll certainly be some player. Was very impressed with him again tonight and was a worthy MOM.

We drew plenty though! Just like to point out we have only won 2 out of our last 11 competitive games.

Oh and cock-of-the-night award goes to the block who sarchastically shouted "Great substitutions Wilson, you twat" after we went 2-1 down.

I did ask him after the game why he bothers coming to which he replied "Fair point, but...". I stopped listening to him at that point.

Bit of an odd one tonight. First half had its bad patches, but we looked quite good for most of it and should have been more than 1-0 up.

Second half we lost our way totally. I'm not sure what happened but we just couldn't string it together. It wasn't down to our central defence or keeper. IMHO it looks to me that both Prutton and Douglas are good players but it doesn't seem to work as a pairing early days yet though.

I think those that said we are missing Ward and Paynter are right. I'm not sure the loss of Greer has had an effect...yet.

I'm aware of that...however getting a point is always better than losing.

Can back 5 as a unit have not looked at all solid yet this season.

played too slow

o'brien can only play at the half-way line or the byline, but nowhere inbetween like a proper footballer

lfj looked c-lass

prutton is a slower version of ferry

rose looks to be a slower version of sheehan

dossevis movement was excellent

at both goals a whole host of players went full barrells at smith suggesting his organisation was distinctly average

need mcgovern on the right

cuthbert seemed to spend too much time trying to organise and not enough on fulfilling his role. hopefully lucas' return will help

Agreed. We were doing fine...odd changes really.


Player of the Season if he does.


Yarp.

True...I meant to mention the alarming amount of late goals we conceded when leading games last season. Didn't mean to state the obvious.

Can't remember if LJF and Scott Cuthbert even played together at centre back other than at Wembley? I remember LJF played there against Hartlepool but I'm pretty sure that was with GG??

I mean Cuthbert is a young, inexperienced player and to pair him with someone who isn't an out and out CB, can't give either of them much confidence in each other. It sounds like LJF did well again, so maybe it's just a subject where we're looking for an excuse for the poor start?

We didn't look eager enough or creative on Saturday, which is why we lost. It was like those games where we went one nil up, sat back and let the away team have their opportunity(ies). Except we hadn't yet scored.

Didn't go tonight so won't pass a judgement based on awful radio commentary but if Lescinel was a worthy man of the match then it doesn't sound like centre backs are the problem.

Do we seem a bit too pedestrian and think we can roll over teams because we did so well last season? Whatever it is, I can't see us playing poorly for too long.

Too all the people singing with me in the corner on the DRS, i love you all.

That is all.

Hopefully Lucas' return will help there. I think sometimes we underestimate how important a player Lucas is to us and when he isn't there we do miss him. Whether it's fair on Smith or not the team never seems to be fully confident with Smith in goal whereas Lucas seems to command the respect of the whole team.
I'm not too worried yet I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that if Ferry and Douglas are paired together and Lucas returns things will start to pick up and the team will gel together.

I'm glad to see most have maintained some kind of perspective after that game. I was surprised the team got booed off. It was of course very frustrating to lose but there was no way Orient deserved to win the game.

LJF deserved his MOTM award, as he made some great tackles and even looked comfortable in possession. He played a great cross-field ball to JPM in the second half too. Caddis also looked good in the first half, with a good turn of pace and the ability to take on his man before getting the cross in. Unfortunately our link up play in general fell to pieces in the second half so he had less chance to do it. As for the midfield, Prutton had a much better game but really should have scored in the first half. Some began to moan at him for wasting chances but his "wastefulness" was largely the result of being given no options in the final third. JPM was decent and we look so much better when he's on the right wing combining with a full back. O'Brien took on his man a couple of times which was encouraging but needs to work on his distribution. Up front, I think Ball looked much better, and I think that criticisms of Charlie are harsh. He had very little service and did a good job of getting the ball down. He also had one great chance where he took the ball down from a cross and went past the defender all in one touch on his chest, before the keeper got lucky sticking his boot out to save it. Dossevi looked lively when he came on and has clearly got a good touch, but we weren;t very impressive in attack towards the end so he had little chance to impress.

Overall we really didn't deserve to lose. A couple of rash decisions and a free kick that was never a foul are what cost us tonight, against an Orient side who looked ok but nothing special. To improve, we need to work on our attacking play and wipe the mistakes out at the back. The defensive problem can be solved by Lucas returning, and by Wilson getting Rose to be more careful in coming out of the back line. The attacking problem is a bit more complex, but I think that getting the wingers out wide and playing quick passes to feet is the way to do it. It worked all last season and we showed we can do it in the first half tonight.

For Hartlepool I'd play Lucas if fit, keep the defence from tonight with Caddis at RB, bring Ferry in for Prutton, and play Dossevi up front. JPM needs to stick to the wing, our full backs need to bomb forward, and Douglas needs to cover them when they do. I still think we're good enough to do well this season if we get back to playing the right way.

I agree wholeheartedly - although I would contend that Orient were a dreadful side (all hoofing and lumping), which makes me feel even worse about the defeat. I thought Alan O'Brien had a cracking second half (I'm positive I saw a brown stain on the back of their right back's shorts) and Wilson made a mistake taking him off. But whatever, we all make mistakes.

And to the poster Libertine, or whatever your name is, I suggest you keep your fingers under wraps until you can type something more constructive than "we need new centrebacks" over and over.

O Brien did jack shit the first half. in the second he had one great run in the centre when he was fouledas he losing the ball. He got into 3 great positions and fucked up every one of the three crosses - all identically, low and to their defender.

Just got back.

We were entirely in control for 60-65 minutes and the second goal was coming. After the subs, we lost our shape and width which meant we couldn't get back into the game at all.

It's difficult to judge players after tonight's performance as the two halves(ish) were so contrasting.

Smith made one good save. That's about it. The back four looked solid before the entire team turned into a bunch of headless chickens trying to chase a game with no shape, width or balance, Caddis is a better player than Amankwaah. I don't agree that Lecs and Cuthbert were at fault tonight and thought Lecs had another good game, given a bit more time at centre-back he'll improve further... Lucas' return will help the organisation at the back.

Douglas and Prutton don't seem to work together. Prutton is quite selfish and wastes as many passes as he completes. O'Brien sits far too deep and doesn't play to his strengths at all; too often he receives the ball on the touchline crowded by opposition players and can only play a simple lay-off to the full-back. In the second half he ran with the ball, ran at defenders and delivered some decent crosses. I don't think he's the answer and is far too frustrating to carry. Austin and Ball did all they could. I suppose you could criticise them for not burying one of the chances they each had, although it was a good save from Austin's late shot.

I'm not unduly concerned. We looked ten times better than Saturday but lacked a cutting edge again and we can't rely on Austin as our sole source of goals, Pericard and Dossevi don't strike me as prolific goalscorers - Dossevi will be a good player for us though - and I'm undecided about Ball, he played well but I don't feel confident about him... No logic behind that. As others have said, we miss Paynter, Ward and Greer. I believe that Lecs will make the position his own and Cuthbert will grow in confidence and become more of a leader at the back, so given time we won't miss Greer so much. It's difficult to see who in the side will replace Ward and with so much emphasis on the flanks in our build up play, I'm not sure that Ball or O'Brien will fit that role. Austin thrived last season playing off Paynter's strength and I think Dossevi will replace him. My main concern is central midfield, the game totally passed by Douglas and Prutton for large periods of the past two games. Once Orient scored they disappeared out of the game completely. Ferry in for Prutton please, it worked last season.

I'm not saying the defence isn't an issue as it clearly is - four goals conceded at home in two games is pretty damning evidence - but I think Lecs and Cuthbert need to be given a chance. Unless there's someone out there who is experienced, has leadership qualities and displays all the right attributes then I think chopping and changing the centre-back pairing will only upset things. Caddis and Rose will learn to play as part of the unit. Lucas will return and command the defence much better than Smith.

It'll come good. I'm not going to Carlisle so we might win.


edit: that sounded a lot more critical than intended. I think I'm just tired

Says it all doesn't it. That was probably o'briens best game for us and he was still pretty average.Our left hand side needs sorting asap as Rose has been partially at fault for 3 of the goals we have conceded already this season. I would go as far as saying he is possibly the worst defensive fullback i have seen in a long time.

People will disagree but i think Wilson will get a centre half and we will end up seeing JFL  at left back again.  

Baffling subs again i thought. Hope Prutton doesn't become one of those players that we have to change the way we play just to accomodate.

Could you please not go to Hartlepool either


Many thanks


Love

Toni

That was such a weird night. We were totally in control without looking impressive for an hour and then out of the blue two terrible goals conceded and we didn't react at all and bar Charlie's effort didn't really crank up the pressure.

Smith was shocking I think. Made one comfortable save, but his communication and decision making is shoddy and he has now been beaten at his near post 3 times in 2 games. The sooner Lucas is back the better.

Someone earlier in the thread made the point about Cuthbert not being as good as last season because he now has to worry about the whole back four, the line etc rather than just focus on his game and I agree but feel that with practice he'll be fine. I don't get the LJF love. He was average tonight, not bad but not outstanding neither. Played a couple of cracking balls, but gets carried away - ie the 60 yard diagonal with his wrong foot, and passes into feet towards the end that just weren't on. Defensively he looks impressive, but I'm concerned he looks impressive because he's recovering from poor positioning. We'll see.

Caddis looked immense first half, quieter after the break but done enough to keep his place. Rose really hasn't impressed me yet, going forward or defensively, so the jury's out.

In the middle, Dougie was standard but I'm not sure he's a captain. He's not the most vocal of lads, and it may be removing his focus from his own perfomance. Prutton was much better tonight but slows us down I think. We are at our best when we play quick football. If he continues to improve then fair enough, but Ferry will be chomping at the bit. JPM looked good again and AOB wasn't bad, made some superb runs and if Prutton could finish would have an assist to his name.

I think Charlie is getting some unfair criticism. His overall game has come on leaps and bounds since he first joined. Ball is not a winger, and done well up top but is a bit light-weight and I thought Dossevi was class again for his little cameo. Would persist with him and Charlie for sure.

Overall, it was dissapointing to lose but at times - for the first hour mostly - we were miles ahead of Orient. It was like playing someone from a division below. But silly errors, not taking chances and poor goalkeeping have cost us. Get Lucas back, get the back four gelling - which will happen naturally over time - make sure Ferry is pressuring Prutts to improve every game and feed AOBs confidence and we'll be challenging again, I've no doubt.

oops. I meant Hartlepool.

I shall return for Brentford so fair warning, make other plans unless you want to see us lose

choo choo with us ?

Next person who see sonicyouth at football  kindly kill him. Its all his fault.

Also if anyone bumps into that Mex guy kick him in the balls and tell him he must start the match day threads.


Yours,

Unsuperstitious Dave

We should have won, and created enough decent chances to do so.

My main concern is about the quality of Rose, poor positioning, poor distribution, poor decision making and dithers on the ball.
O'Brien played ok, and got more confident second half but could have been better if Rose has brought him into the game more often.
Prutton played nearer what I hoped he would do for us and JFL showed some flashes of brilliance, stepping inside the the attacker to ping left to right passes to the JPM.

Overal DW needs to stick his foot up Roses arse and get him playing and get Lucas fit...! 

Dear god no, LFJ is a disaster at left back.

i thought cutbert was awful last night, prutton was better and obrien showed that with game time and the crowd backing him could be lethal.

Haven't really read the thread, but firstly, comeback Chalkie's Shorts, the people in your seats last night were incredibly annoying, had decided Prutton was shit and useless after about five minutes and proceeded to tell everyone that for the rest of the game. They weren't even old, which seems to be the main cause of moaning.

Last night just felt completely like a pre-season friendly- two stands, 20 away fans, we played nicely without any cutting edge and gave up when they scored. Rose looks terrified on the ball and just hesitates time and time again, Prutton seems to be playing further back and leaving Douglas to be the attacking midfielder, and Jonny seems to be trying killer balls all over the place which isn't his game. Early days, but Prutton and Douglas as a combo don't look like much so far.

LJF and especially Caddis were great though, until he moved onto the wing he was having a stormer.

Having had time to reflect it was a very poor display

I dont particularly blame the centre backs altho Cuthbert and LJF do not seem to work as well together as Cuthbert and Greer did and whatever happens we need another centre back for cover if nothing else - could be worth trying Morrison out tho to see if that works better.

Full backs - Caddis was excellent - will be a real find
Rose - awful - poor defending and tentative attack play - we miss Sheehan

Midfield is where we lost it - when there are only 2 midfielders in there they have to play their butts off as Douglas and Ferry did last season - problem? David Prutton - he walks around the middle of the park - apart from a few dribbles which came to nothing his contribution/effectiveness was zero - he cant tackle or pass and quite frankly should be booted out of the club already - here for the money only - no effort whatsoever - why Wilson took till 89 mins to put Ferry on I have no idea ... Ferry must start at the weekend

Wingers - O Brien mainly anonymous as he so often is - final delivery when he does speed through was poor
JPM was excellent I thought - my man of the match - struggled a bit on left wing but he was busting a gut all game

Up front Austin was isolated but dangerous when he created stuff for himself - Ball was too small and weak to make any real impression as a striker - was more effective on Saturday on the left wing - Dossevi came on a bit too late and couldnt really make an impression either - with Pericard injured (AGAIN!) we seem woefully short here

To sum up we need to get a centre back or give Morrison a go - give Prutton a good telling off for a totally unacceptable two displays so far - put Ferry in - and above all find a new striker in the mould of Paynter to help out Austin

If we dont do this we are going to be looking at the wrong end of the table and come January Austin might be shipped out to another team ....

Negative I know for just 2 games but it is obvious that the work done in pre-season wasnt enough

Main highlight for me last night was Caddis. He looks like a class act. Shown to be even more so once Kev came on. (Not because he looked better in midfield, but Kev was weaker defensively.)


Glad someone stated this. OB looked really good at times last night. He was, at last, prepare to run at his man and showed some nice touches and movement. He also cut inside and played a cross or 2 with his right foot, which is something I didn't even think he possessed. I'm starting to feel quite confident that given a run and no injuries, he could come good.

He's no Pook, that's for sure.



I think O'Brien needs someone to talk him through a game, the fact he sits so deep suggests to me he likes an overlapping fullback and I can't recall a single occasion last night when he and Rose overlapped. If he is ever to produce consistently for us, he needs time, support and confidence both in his ability and the fact his hamstring won't turn to piss if he starts to run. He's got the technique to cross the ball well - although he needs to float it a bit and not play it along the ground into the box so often - and can beat his man every single time. My concern is that he'll never be consistent for us and JPM's consistency - and latterly Ward's - last season meant we could rely on the wingers to find space and get the ball into the box. If the outlet on the left is hit and miss, we'll become very one dimensional.

We do look devoid of leadership and organisation, I'm not sure that Ball & Austin are the right combination together up front, Ball has to be given time to get to grips with this league but we cant carry passengers, I think Austin needs someone to play off like he did with paynter.

for the 2nd half Orient started to close us down quicker which when that happens we seem to lose any idea of how to play and seem to stop playing.

I wdo wonder if Douglas is being weighed down with the extra responsibility of being captain he seems a shadow of the player he was last season so far.

All in all I'd say we need another 3 players and hopefully that will include a couple of experienced L1 players with a bit of bulk that can be used to out muscle teams when they start putting everyone behind the ball

I read a program from Celtic from a year or so ago highlighting Caddis, in which he states he can play as a fullback/wingback but much prefers to play as a wide man/winger.

Thought we did alright last night. Got some neat stuff going at the beginning - Caddis looks the biz - then the game went flat until we scored. Orient created some chances without feeling too threatening, Smith made a decent save from Revell and he shot just over the bar aswell.

Then we took our foot off the gas and that is what really cost us.

I don't understand why Rose seems so reluctant to cross, he's meant to have this quality delivery, which we saw on occasion, why not get it in there more?!

Would like to see their first again as there was a hint of offside again imo. Almost a carbon copy of Brightons first.

AOB seems to be growing in confidence, just get that delivery improved boy! Though Ball did ok upfront, seemed more involved than Saturday.
Would really like to see Ferry and Dougie in the middle vs Hartlepool, Doss and Austin upfront.

Perhaps an away game will do them good?

I ended up sat in W115 as we only got the tickets in the morning and ours had been sold - busniess as usual from now on. After a few hours consideration I still think Rose defensively is fucking bollocks.

R4E

fair comment on defence - I agree with you there - time may help - as it will Ball

I still dont rate Prutton - he is going to have to produce some to put egg on my face - Im pretty sure he isnt capable of anything right now - time will tell

My worry there about us being at the wrong end come January is that should a bigger club come in for Austin our heads will be turned by the cash regardless of whether we should sell or not -- on the plus side this may give more money for the squad overall but Id hate to see Charlie go so soon ...


And I hope you are right that we will improve - I still thing some work needs to be done by DW - he turned it around last season so Im hopeful he can right the wrongs eventually - starting with 3 points at the Monkey Hangers .. come on you reds !

My take on last night.

Smith i don't really blame for any of the goals because we were left exposed at the back as explained by my Rsoe commenrts. The only thing that irked me was his kicking was poor at times and seemed to just end up with the oppositions keeper.

Rose was too often caught out of position because he was too far forward. This left us exposed at the back because Lecs had to keep coming across to cover for Rose

Lecs by far the best player on the pitch last night.  I'm a big fan of Cuthbert but out of the 2 centrebacks last night Lecs was by far the best.

Caddis was brilliant last night. Not only can he strike the ball he defends well too he is going to be a great acquisition for us.  I like big Kev Amankwaah because of his runs but defensively he isn't great.  I also think Kev was poor when he came on as a sub.

Prutton as already said played a lot better last night but sometimes was a bit greedy with the ball. I still think there is confusion between JD & Prutton because they are like for like players.

JD also for me had a poor game. I'm not sure if it's the fact that it's the Prutton link or whether his captaining duties is distracting him from his job but so far he hasn't been anything like the player is was last season.

McGovern another decent display from JPM i can't really criticise him tbh because he was our only outlet of creativity last night & scored a good goal.  Definetly uncomfortable on the left wing though.

O'Brien I'm fast losing patience with him.  1st half played to deep 2nd half he did improve but his final ball was absolute dog shit. Pace is his only ability everything else he lacks. Maybe he needs a few more games but i just can't see him getting any better than we saw 2nd half last night.

Austin I can't quite put my finger on. I'm not sure if he is lacking confidence but the few chances he had last night had it been last season he would have buried them.  He seems way off pace than he did of last season. I'm not sure if it's the lack of srvice or whether it's the lack of prtnership up front so i won't criticise him too much

Ball plays a lot better up front but for me Austin & Ball are too much like for like and i don't think they'll work up front together. I maybe judging too early but both strikers last night was lacking a player to hold up the ball like Paynter could

Ferry's substitution came far too late last night i can't understand why we made this so late as all we did was take time away from ourselves with this sub.  I'd like to see him start saturday.

Dossevi I think is very gifted however i think he is struggling with the phyicality of league one. He is a player that is not use to this style of play and in time once he settles will do well for us.

Amankwaah very poor game when he came on which is suprising because he usually has that knack of making us more dangerous going forward.

As much as everyone criticise Pericard he is the kind of player we need up front at the moment because he has the physicality at least that Paynter had and will lay on the balls to Austin / Ball / Dossevi to score providing our players don't lump balls forward to him which just fly over his head.

Goals :   1-2
Possession : 50%-50%
Shots On Target : 5-3
Shots Off Target : 7-1

I think that tells you what you need to know. Oddly enough, Orient fans seem fairly happy with their second-half performance last night. I suppose they did have a terrible season last year, but a good performance would have seen us walk all over them.

Last night also highlighted to me that we need a bit more strengh in the team.Apart from our centre halves we are a very very small team.

I noticed this as well DRS, especially when doing that gay lining up thing at the start. We're tiny, even Cuthbert and the keepers aren't big for their positions. Ball and Caddis are like children.

Are you sure you weren't watching the mascots...Which as if by magic leads me to my next point :)

I don't know if anybody from the club reads this (its OK if not we'll be posting a thank-you card) but I have to say we had a fantastic evening last night with my son Alex and a lad called Davy being the mascots. We were all allowed down into the dressing room and boot room to meet the players as they arrived. Alex must have got 17 or 18 autographs (David Lucas and Callam Kenendy making the extra). We also met Danny Wilson, had a supringly nice meal and most strangely of all were allowed on the pitch to take photos as the players came out the tunnel.  It didn't feel right!

Anyway top job George and Brenda, they are the people who look after the mascots. And if Davy should read this thanks again for letting Alex run out with Charlie Austin "because it was his birthday". I know he was your favourite player too.

Back to the original point, now I've seen him up close Kevin Amankwha scares the crap out of me!

Manks is pretty fucking huge. Wears about a litre of aftershave as well.

Sexy isn't he.

I didn't go last night and i'm not overly worried by the result or what i've read about the performance.

Sounds like we were in control for an hour, didn't take our chances and then 2 quick goals out of nothing knocked the stuffing out of us. Maybe in a league game with more of a crowd in to get behind the team we would have raised ourselves and got back into it because we were clearly the better side.

The new players are taking time to settle in and I think we are missing Greer, Ward and Paynter more than we thought we would. Wilson is no mug though and he knows where we are going wrong, I fully expect him to put things right, either with the players we've already got or with some new additions.

We were a bit unlucky last night. We had quite a few good chances to make it 2 nil and couldnt convert.

Thought we started slowly, very rusty and got better as it went on. Austin in particular. Ball showed some nice touches while we were 1 nil up, but struggled the rest of the time.

We need a lot more movement off the ball. They need to start trusting each other. Rose and O'Brien in particular need to start working out some plays between them.

Hope Ferry starts on saturday.

Very true.

Did we end up with 3 at the back? amankwaah cuthburt ljf?

Yes. Ferry replace rose. But only with 2 to go

Hope Rose proves me wrong but LFJ at the moment would be a better option in my opinion.

dont forget we still have Callum Kennedy lurking somewhere.

maybe Kim Heiselberg is still knocking around somewhere

Austin looks a bit overweight

 It should be noted that the last time we lost the first 2 home games was 99/00. This coincidentally included losing to Leyton Orient in the LC....we got relegated.

That small stat does just emphasise, how poor a start we've made. Pressure comes right on for Saturday, to at least get a point.

It also has to be said that in 85/86 we lost at home 1-0 to Wrexham 1st game of the season, followed by a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Hereford, then only 2 wins in the next 6 games and we went on to win the division with record 102 points.

Fucking doom and gloom does my head in.

I love you!!

We'll have to disagree and leave it there.

.... Christ.

But we went into admin after few months of the season in 99/00, which I cannot see happening now.

Nevertheless, it should be reported, that in 85/86 we sandwiched 2 opening league defeats by winning 2-1 at Torquay in the LC.....David Moss scoring his last goal for the Town some 13 years after the first...

It was this bit of impetus provided by then beating Sunderland and Wendies, which got our season going.

In fact the last time we opened with a home league defeat backed by a home LC lose was 74/75.

A decent season, but we got on a good run straight after those 2 defeats only losing one more game at home.

In the first eight games of the 85/86 season we won 2 and drew 1.September was even worse
than August and our league season only got going with the win over Exeter at the beginning of
October.

Macari had brought in some older players,but when things weren't going correctly,he wasn't afraid to
make changes.

It's obviously a vastly different era and players hold the power and Wilson has the difficulty of dealing
with the transfer window.I know he's looking for players,but it's a case of finding the right ones at
the right prices.Wilson like Macari won't be afraid to make changes if he feels it's correct to do so.

Have some faith guys!

I don't think so Batch. Check your voicemail i have left you loads of messages telling you.

didnt we get thrashed 6-2 by Blackpool in that run-or was that a different season?

Following season Adje.Macari realised that Kenny Allen and David Cole weren't up to life
in what is now League 1 and replaced them with Fraser and new arrival Tim Parkin.

I can remember seeing the first home game with Notts County and realising this,but i suppose
that Lou wanted to be loyal to the players from our record breaking previous season.

Then you leave me no choice. I will now leaflet drop your house.

Last season's optimism has worn off already then, eh Reg?

I'm as disappointed as everybody else on here with our start to the season, but it's a bit fucking early to start talking about relegation.

We've got too much quality to go down. What we don't need though is a winless run of games or only a few wins between now and October as we'll be playing catch up again.

I'm just pointing out an interesting stat....the other season between 74/75 and 99/00 when we lost the first 2 home games was 93/94.  Of course, that season it was 2 league games as we didn't enter the LC until R2.....we got relegated.... >:(

that's it then.we're doomed

Could you say that twice please in a scottish accent.

Millwall started slowly last season after play off final defeat. they ended up alright.

If we're still bottom half come november i'll start to worry. Not yet though

It took 6 games before Millwall lost at West Ham in the LC....they only lost 1home all season, like we only lost 2.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's true though. We are 3 players away from a top 6 or even possibly top 2 side IMO.

3 players is more than 25% of the side....

a left mid,centre half and a striker short?

Yes. Well certainly the first 2 Arriba. The striker isn't essential but I think we could do with another because I still have doubts about Pericard and maybe Ball is too lightweight.

It's the striker that we're missing....

Well for me it's the LM. Each to their own though. We certainly all agree that we need one of each of the 3 positions mentioned.

Iffy's OB is right.  This is possibly the best squad with which we've started a season for years.

Love LJF and Cuthbert but there's not much experience there, Dossevi is neither a scorer nor a target man I fear (albeit in the right role he could be quality and that's no criticism but it could become one of DW if he doesn't recognize that)  and however fast O'Brien may be is not really a footballer and that means he will never be a consistent contributor.

So yes, agreed, get a striker, a wide left-sided player, an experienced centre back, perhaps on loan and we'll have a top squad.

I'm still a bit concerned by talk about gelling, about being a player or two short and all that is a bit of an excuse.  The season has started and we need to be grinding out results now (as other teams with arguably less able individuals must) and that is down to Danny and the mental strength and culture he instils.

Good post.

Some people just need to chill out!

Has anyone got a picture of a panic button?