2016/17 Prediction League; Game 20 v Leyton Orient (away)

Div3North · 08-12-2016, 23:44

Leyton Orient

V

Accrington Stanley

2016/17 Prediction League; Game 20 v Orient (away)

So far this season Leyton Orient have had three managers (one of them twice), and have played 12 home games – ten in the League, one in the EFLCup, and one in the EFLTroffy …………………. Of those twelve they’ve lost 10 and won two ………………. The two wins (one League, one EFLTroffy) were within two weeks of each other in the second half of August, and the Os beat the same team twice, 3-0 in the League and 3-1 in the Troffy ………….. Your starter for ten this week is – which is the only team to have left Brisbane Road in 2016/17 having lost the game they’d just played there (twice)? The answer, surprisingly perhaps, is Stevenage, who – as a result of nailing Newport back to the foot of the League (2-0) – are currently 9th on 27 points, one point off Wycombe and Yeovil in the play-off places.

In the League, Orient – now managed by Andy Edwards (whose career as full-time manager - he was appointed interim when The Hess left in September) began last week with a 3-1 defeat at TableToppingDonnie courtesy of two penalties (which suggests he may have Penalty Area Issues!)) – won their second home League game (see above), having lost the first 1-0 to Newport …………. Since then they’ve lost eight straight at The Matchroom (if it’s still called that – I can’t keep up) - Mansfield 1-2, Yeovil 0-1, Plymouth 0-2, Pompey 0-1, Luton 1-2, Crewe 0-2, Blackpool 1-2 and Exeter 0-1 ………. The maths is easy; P10 W1 L9 GF 6 (three of them in one game) GA14 Pts 3 ……. They’ve failed to trouble the scorers 6 times in those 10 (plus 3 x one goal and one x three goals), they’ve kept one clean sheet, and conceded either one goal (4 times) or two goals (five times) ……in their last 10 in the League they’ve won 2, drawn 1 and lost 7, for a measly 7pts, whereas we’ve won 1, drawn four and lost 5, giving us ……………… 7 points! They sit an uncomfortable 22nd – above Cheltenham on GD (-5 plays -8) and above Newport by one point …….. if you look at the Cups, they’re in a good position to concentrate on the League, because they’re out of all three – losing 3-2 at home to Fulham in the EFLCup, winning one and losing two in the EFLTroffy, and succumbing to a Bad Day at the Office in the FA Cup (6-0 at the Blades) …..overall GF26 in 24 games, GA38 …………..so; they’re better away from home, where they’ve won four (2-1 at Grimsby and at Morecambe, 3-1 at Hartlepool, and 3-0 at Colchester) and currently overall about as good as we are – which is more than a bit worrying!

Twelve players “moved on” in the summer, among them former player-manager Kevin Nolan – still clubless, it seems - CB Mathieu Baudry (to Donnie), LW Jobie McAnuff (who went to Stevenage, only to be embarrassed there twice in August by his former employers), one Frazer Shaw (who came to the Stanley and moved on to Woking without playing a game for us – although he did play against us last Saturday), RW Blair Turgott (to Bromley), striker Armand Gnaduillet (to Blackpool), RB Sean Clohessy (to Braintree) and “second striker” – the bloke who plays just behind the frontman - Scott Kashket, who joined Wycombe (for whom he just signed a three-year deal, having done pretty ok so far, including scoring a hat-trick in the 5-0 win at Chesterfield in the FA Cup Second Round on Saturday – and by the way, who liked Adam Morgan’s opening goal for Curzon ReallyVeryUnluckyIndeedButTheyShouldHaveParkedThe Bus Ashton?)

They signed twelve to replace the twelve, and most of them came from Clubs I’ve never heard of in Countries I’ve had to look up ………. So, Jens Janse (RB) came in recently from Ternana (Italy!), CM Michael Collins from Bengaluru (India), CB Yvan Erichot from Sint-Truidense (Belgium), Teddy Mezague from Royal Excel Mouscron (also Belgium), RW Ulrich N’Nomo from Chateauroux (France), and MF Liam Kelly from Oldham (England) …….. Gavin Massey arrived from Colchester, Tom Parkes from BrizzleR, Robbie Weir from Burton and Callum Kennedy from the Wombles – all in all, a rare old League of Nations …………..and they’ve still got Nicky Hunt, of course!

We did them 1-0 chez nous last season (Scott Brown with the goal), having already done them by the same score chez eux in October …….there aren’t that many teams against whom we have a 100% lifetime record, but they’re one of them! And long may it continue (which given their home form at the moment it just might!)

Their leading scorers are Paul McCallum (wasn’t he in the Man from Uncle?) – a 23 year old striker with loan games all over the place – who has 7 (only three of them in the League), 6’ 5” striker Ollie Palmer (Mansfield, Havant and Waterlooville, Grimsby and Woking) with 4, and Scottish international MF (half a game in 2012) Liam Kelly and F/W Gavin Massey, once of Watford and three times (including loans) of Colchester, both with three.

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm this Saturday, 10th December ............. While the 3rd Round of the FA Cup is brilliant (and winnable, with a bit of luck and an absence of Kettle), we need to climb the old League Table, chaps, don’t you think? This week we’ve got Darren Drysdale in the middle and a LadyLiner (Lisa Rashid) - and why not? It’s worth noting, perhaps, that LO’s “won 1 lost 9” – while it’s the worst overall – isn’t completely out there on its own; Notts Co have a 1-4-5 home record, Newport have a 1-3-5, and Exeter have 0-2-7, with 3 scored and 13 conceded ................... And we’ve no-one nominated for Manager of the Month or Player of the Month for November (now there’s a surprise!), so the Bogey Man won’t get us either ............ We could do with something from this one, because our next three are Plymouth (home, and Grimsby and Crewe (away, but on different dates), and there’s no bankers in that lot ...................... no, Bankers!

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