2015/16 Prediction League; Game 38 v Leyton Orient (home)

Div3North · 23-03-2016, 22:40

Accrington Stanley

V

Leyton Orient

2015/16 Prediction League; Game 38 v Leyton Orient (home)

How fickle is fate, I ask, once again on the issue of managerial appointments and job security...... on 10th January, Notts County appointed Scot Jamie Fullarton, ex Crystal Palace, to replace the departed Ricardo Moniz; at the time, Chairman Ray Trew said of him;

• “I don’t think I have ever been as impressed by someone at an interview as I was by Jamie. He had us all captivated throughout what turned out to be a lengthy assessment of his suitability for the role.”

He lasted 70 days ............

The Magpies haven’t won at home in 7; Jamie’s Men managed one home point in five games; he won 3 out of 12, and was shown the revolving door from the outside again after a 4-1 home defeat by Exeter last Saturday ......this time Ray TrewlyScrumptious said;

• "I have to thank Jamie for his efforts over the past few weeks because he has had to face an incredibly difficult atmosphere, somewhat unfairly I feel. He has maintained an exceptional level of professionalism throughout and should be applauded for how he has conducted himself."

But not, apparently, for how he managed the team .......... 12 games? 70 days? Oh please ................

Compare and contrast the new kid on the block at Clapton Orient (known as Eric – the club, not the manager) ......on 21st January they appointed Scouse-born ex Bolton (296 games), Newcastle (85) and Hammers’ (141) MF Kevin Anthony Jance (that’s a name?) Nolan (33) to replace the departed Ian Hendon (whose last game, coincidentally, was a 3-1 home defeat by Exeter); that made Our Kev their 5th manager in 18 months, which is a Poisoned Chalice if ever I saw one ......... He’s been in post 11 games (one fewer than Jamie); of those, they’ve won 7, drawn one and lost three; they’ve failed to score twice, and kept seven clean sheets out of eleven, including against Wycombe, Pompey and Oxford ......when he came in they were 11th with 27 points from 26 games; now they’re 7th with 59 from 37 ....

I doubt that Fullarton will be comforted by the fact that sometimes the Mischievous Gods of Football simply have it in for you .......... Colchester, cut miles adrift at the foot of League One, played second placed Wigan two weeks back; they were 3-2 up until the 90th minute, when three points became one; last week they went to third placed Walsall and were 1-0 up until the 89th minute, conceding one then, and one more on 94, so that three points became none; York, deep in the doo-doo, were holding the Wombles to a half-Desmond until the 93rd minute, and lost (the Commoners won the stats race by 14 shots to 4, 8 on target as against 2, and 12 corners to one, though) ...... and what about the Burden Puddings? Part company with Neil Lennon and replace him with Academy Manger Jimmy Phillips ....lying 24th, new Manager, chance to impress, they go to Bristol City (4 points above the drop zone) ..............and lose 6-0!

Eric Orient lie 7th by virtue of a record which reads P37 W16 D11 L10 GF53 GA48; they’re two points above Wycombe (the only other top-8 team we have left to play) and one below Pompey ...........Only Plymouth of the top seven have scored fewer goals (51), and none of the top 7 have conceded more than the Orient (although, with only 10 conceded in the Nolan Era – and why did he give up the singing career? – which include three at home to Cambridge and four at home to the Cobblers, you wonder what might have been if he’d been there all season ....) Their run-in consists of visits to York, Barnet, the Wombles and Yeovil, and home ties against Hartlepool, the Daggers, Plymouth and Mansfield, so they’ve only two top-eight to play ...........and for the record, their last 6 away games have finished 1-0 at Oxford, Notts County and Pompey, 2-0 at Wycombe, and Desmonds at Carlisle and Stevenage ............. This one isn’t as easy as it might have looked a month or two back; you heard it here first!

That said, we did Do It Unto Them at the MatchBox Stadium (now, I see, referred to as Brisbane Road again) in our only previous meeting on Halloween, winning 1-0 with a Josh McWindass goal on 25 .......whatever did happen to him, I wonder?

They haven’t done much in the transfer market (if you don’t include Managers, that is, where they’ve been as busy as Hell); CB Connor Essam, who joined them in the summer, has been loaned back to Dover, where he played (and was skipper) previously, and MF Bradley Pritchard has gone on loan to Stevenage (why would you want to do that, I wonder?); Palace GK David Gregory has come in on loan, and they’ve also LoanSigned defender Peter Ramage, now 32, and a veteran of Newcastle, QPR, Palace, Brum and Barnsley on loan, Kerala Blasters (Indian Super League) and Coventry, for whom he signed on 7th January (if it were me, I’d think signing in January and being lent out in March didn’t say much for my long-term prospects)

Their leading scorers are Jay-Alistaire Frederick Simpson (27, striker, ex Arsenal, Hull and Buriram United in Thailand, who reputedly paid him £40,000 a month, and not related to Homer as far as I know) who has 23 in all competitions, followed at a respectful distance by 24-year old, 6’ 5” striker Ollie Palmer (once of Havant and Waterlooville and Mansfield) with 7 ......since they’ve hit 53 in the League and 8 in the Cups - and 6 of those were in one game against Staines (try Persil) – it sort of follows that if you can shackle Simpson and Palmer, you’ve got half a chance ........... Dean Cox has got 5, and four players (including Jobi MacAnuff and Amand Gnaduillet) have 3 each; our very own Billy Whizz has 16 ½

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Good Friday, 25th March ........and don’t forget that the clocks forward on Saturday! Northampton now need – given their GD – 10 points to go up; you can’t believe they won’t make it .......Plymouth are wobbling a bit, maybe, Pompey are drawing too many and dropping off the pace ........Cobblers, Oxford and Brizzle (who are putting a run together at the right time) ? Everything to play for still, and at last we got a bit of luck to add to a bit of steel, and we won ugly at the Daggers (I’m referring to the goal, which would win Scrappy Goal of the Day easily); but winning ugly’s exactly what it’s about. N’est-ce pas? Especially at the business end of the season ............

Good luck to everyone! ............ Keep the Faith! ......... And thanks for playing!