mavericktango

Saturday 20th June 2009

Things are starting to kick in for the new season now. At the supporters club dinner last night they announced Stuart Richardson as their Player of the Year and I gave them a speech congratulating them on their choice, saying how much I feel he could become a real star this season.
On my desk this morning was a memo from our assistant manager Dean Smith listing our current pre-season programme:-

July 12Lewes (a)
July 15Leeds Reserves (h)
July 19Shrewsbury (a)
July 24Crystal Palace (h)
July 30Weymouth (a)

Also there was the official fixtures list from the F.A. showing our League One career begins on August 1st when we entertain Walsall and on August 4th when we visit Queens Park Rangers.

Barry Hearn dropped in for a chat at lunchtime.

"Roberto, how pleased the board are with you so far but this season is going to be a real struggle. The board are expecting you to lead our team bravely against the threat of relegation. You know what our finances are like but we've emptied all our cookie jars and can let you have £75,000 for transfers, use it wisely."

mavericktango

Monday 22nd June 2009

As I sink back in my seat on the Eurostar I smile slowly and sigh contentedly. I've been in France picking up some bargains in the summer sales and if I say so myself I believe that I've gone a long way towards addressing our squad deficiencies.
From St Etienne I've signed 21-year old French right back Rachid Chebana and from Strasbourg comes 20 year old French left back Mehdi Guemache.
Montpellier provided 20-year old French left back Jérémie Champion and Nantes' 21-year old French attacking midfielder Christophe Autret joins us as well.
All four were signed on a free and will join when their current contracts end on July 1st.

Tuesday 23rd June 2009

I signed another striker today, 23-year old Italian Michele Donati to join our league of nations. He will arrive on a free from Serie A side Siena although he spent part of last season on loan at C1 side Sambenedettese where he scored five in 13 appearances.

Thursday 25th June 2009

Reserve winger Albert Jarrett has agreed a deal with Aldershot and will depart when his contract expires on July 1st.
John Hartson came into my office today and made it official that he's hung up his boots; he made 419 league appearances during his career, scoring 191 times. He was also capped 53 times for Wales finding the net 25 times.


Monday 29th June 2009

David James finally confirmed his retirement today, 614 appearances and 34 caps for England was his final total.

Wednesday 1st July 2009

My five free transfers and the one £20K purchase arrive and Jarrett departs for Aldershot while keeper Simon Brown leaves for Wycombe.
Matt Lockwood, Shane Tudor, Tommy Black, Dominic Foley, Justin Miller, Tomi Ameobi and Paul MacLeod are all released at the end of their contracts.
The net result of that is that I'm now only £5,500 over my wage budget.

mavericktango

Sunday 12th July - Pre-Season
Lewes v Leyton Orient

I start the first half with something like what I think my top side will be. Unfortunately Lee Robinson only lasts seven minutes before he has to be replaced with a gashed leg by MacLean. Michele Donati has an excellent start, scoring one and assisting on one. It's a comfortable 3-0 lead at halftime.
I made five changes at halftime and the team coasted to victory then. Di Bonito was very lively and received the M.o.M. Award while Craig Sives and Michele Donati caught the eye
Lewes 0-3 Leyton
(OG 3, Donati 6, Di Bonito 9)

Wednesday 15th July - Pre-Season
Leyton Orient v Leeds Utd Reserves

The game was won as early as the fourth minute when McLean came for a cross through a gaggle of players and got nowhere near Sharp's header. Virtually the whole squad got a runout with Donati and Gardner catching the eye.
Leyton 0-1 Leeds Res.

Saturday 18th July 2009

The injury to Lee Robinson has made me realise how short we are of keeper's at the club following Simon Brown's departure and James retirement. So I move to add two more keepers, 22 year old Dutchman Henk Hoogenkamp joins on a season loan from Championship side Portsmouth. The press have described him as the next Van der Sar while Derby's 21 year old Steven Cann arrives for a fee of £2,000. He has gained 2 U21 caps for Wales.

Sunday 19th July - Pre-Season
Carshalton Athletic v Leyton Orient

Ryman league Cashalton were no match for a strong O's side. Donati showed his potential with four first half goals and Howard added a penalty before halftime. The home side were held to two off target shot while the O's fired in 22, unfortunately the shooting was wild and only nine were on target.
Carshalton 0-6 Leyton
(Donati 8, 12, 28, 41, Howard 32 pen, Walton 68)

Wednesday 22nd July 2009

Jérémie Champion has suffered a broken foot in training and the earliest estimates have him out for between three and five months.

Friday 24th July - Pre-Season
Shrewsbury Town v Leyton Orient

Conference National side Shrewsbury gave the O's a harder game but in the end were no match for the first choice O's side. Di Bonito put on another fine performance and Donati scored his sixth goal in four games.
Shrewsbury 0-3 Leyton
(Donati 40, Walton 67, Milton 73)

Saturday 25th July 2009

The last piece in the jigsaw arrived today. 22 year old left winger Vincenzo Calabria was signed from Serie C2 side Montevarchi for £24,000.

Monday 27th July - Pre-Season
Leyton Orient v Crystal Palace

I put out what I consider to be my full strength side for the visit of Championship side Palace. It was a hard slog against a strong visiting side, the O's were ahead twice though and despite Palace coming back twice I was pleased with the overall effort of my players.
Leyton 2-2 C. Palace
(Richardson 25, Gardner 61)

mavericktango

Thursday 30th July - Pre-Season
Weymouth v Leyton Orient

In our final pre-season game we start with virtually a reserve XI. The O's still had no problem putting away the non league side, the main concern was the injuries suffered. Walton will mis a week with a facial injury, Nuno Gourgei has a bruised rib and will miss up to two weeks. The worst is Marco Milton who has damaged a hip, he will visit a specialist and could miss 2 or 3 months.

Saturday 1st August - League One
Leyton Orient v Walsall

This team I sent out for our first League One game is Hoogenkamp - Guemache, Sives, Low, Chebana - Calabria, Gardner, Autret, Di Bonito - Donati, Richardson. Substitutes: McLean, Robinson, Sedgwick, Howard, Alexander.
The game was decided on the half hour when Paul Munster rose above both Low and Sives in the six yard box to head home. Walsall generally looked the more cohesive side in a game of few chances. We lose another player to injury though as Graham Low has picked up a back strain and will miss a month.
Leyton 0-1 Walsall
Leyton scorers: none
Walsall scorers: Munster 30
Att: 3,272

Huddersfield recorded the biggest score of opening day, winning 5-1 against Southend while the best away win at Coventry's 3-0 victory at Northampton. Peterborough won 1-0 at Tranmere and another promoted side Chester secured a 1-1 draw with our next opponents QPR.

Tuesday 4th August - League One
Queens Park Rangers v Leyton Orient

Showing faith with the team, the only change is the enforced chance, Robinson for the injured Low.
The O's convincingly lost this one, allowing James Graham to open the scoring after nine minutes and then relying on some poor Rangers finishing to keep the score down. As we approached first half injury time Di Bonito finally put Donati away to score his first league goal for the club.
Three minutes into the second half Cook's wicked cross curled away from the defense and Rowlands was all alone to head in at the far post. The home side controlled the half after that and in injury time Jay Bothroyd burst through the defense while Robinson was down injured and stroked it into the far corner.
QPR 3-1 Leyton
QPR scorers: Graham 9, Rowlands 48, Bothroyd 91
Leyron scorers: Donati 45
Att: 17, 824

Calabria becomes the sixth player injured as he could be out for two weeks with a gashed head. Peterborough romp on with a 2-1 win over Huddersfield and Hull go top with a 2-0 win at Notts County.

Flying_Fin

That's a nasty injury bug you've got there, but I'm sure it'll all work out fine

mavericktango

Saturday 8th August - League One
Leyton Orient v Rochdale

Three minutes into the game a wayward backpass left Hoogenkamp absolutely stranded and Holt had an empty net to shoot into from 35 yards. The O's were looking pretty poor and Richardson giving the ball away with a terrible pass on 28 minutes was typical of the malaise. Donati had other ideas though, he dived in the retrieve the ball, burst straight between the defenders and blasted the ball into the top corner.
The O's gradually grew in confidence and went ahead with six minutes left when Gardner lost his marker and arrived unmarked in the six-yard box to head home Chebana's free kick. I can sleep easier now we have our first points on the board.
Leyton 2-1 Rochdale
Leyton scorers: Donati 29, Gardner 84
Rochdale scorers: Holt 3
Att: 2,913

Our first points lift us from 21st to 17th. Hull's 3-0 win over Southend keeps them top while Lincoln's 3-1 win at Gillingham leaves the second. Coventry thrash Tranmere 4-1 at Prenton Park to move into third place.

Saturday 15th August – League One
Swindon Town v Leyton Orient

Michael Gillian takes over at left back while Walton is fit enough to sit on the bench.
Six minutes into the game Gardner's deft flick put Richardson away and he calmly drove it under the keeper for his first of the season. Less than 20 minutes later Donatii drew the defense away allowing Howard's cross to find Richardson in space and he fired home his second. Sedgwick had to replace the injured Di Bonito after half an hour and Walton was called on to take over from the injured Richardson just five minutes later.
The second half saw Swindon edge back into the game but their finishing was wasteful and Paul Robinson was commanding in the air letting nothing past him.
Swindon 0-2 Leyton
Swindon scorers: none
Leyton scorers: Richardson 7, 25
Att: 4,866

We seem to be back on track as our second consecutive win lifts us to 12th. Lincoln's 1-0 win over Tranmere takes them top while QPR's 4-1 win over Walsall moves them second. A thrilling match at the Rioch Arena saw Coventry edge Huddersfield 4-3 to lift the home side to third.

Stuart Richardson has fractured ribs and will be out for up to two months while Di Bonito's gashed arm should enable him to be fit within the week.

mavericktango

Wednesday 19th August - Carling Cup 1st Rd

Leyton Orient v Bristol City

Sedgwick and Walton replaced the injured Di Bonito and Richardson. Nuno Gourgei gets his first seat on the bench since I took over.
Autret's pass gave Walton enough room to turn and fire home in the ninth minute. Donatl picked up Gardner's through ball on 15 minutes and he slotted it home into the bottom corner.
The O's finally wrapped it up with 13 minutes to go when substitute Gourgei robbed the full back and slipped it to Autret who fired in his first ever goal for the club.
Leyton 3-0 Bristol C.
Leyton scorers: Walton 9, Donati 16, Autret 77
Bristol scorers: none
Att: 2,073

A comfortable passage to round two but to add to all my woes Northampton's bid of £200K meets Brian Howard's release clause and he's agreed personal terms with them.

Thursday 20th August 2009

To replace the long term injured Stuart Richardson I have signed 20-year old Spanish striker David Cardoso Rodrigues from Anderlecht. He has been in the Anderlecht system for five years but has only made two senior starts.

Saturday 22nd August - League One
Leyton Orient v Notts County

Rodrigues is set to make his debut and Calabria takes the departed Howard's place. Sedgwick continues at right back as Di Bonito still isn't quite fit.
The O's took the lead after 16 minutes when Rodrigues' swift turn enabled him to find the space to slip the ball to Autret who was overjoyed to fire home his first ever senior league goal. It was all level 10 minutes later when Wison just beat Sives to the ball and poked it across the box to Showunmi who had ghosted in at the far post to slide the ball home. The visitors were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of halftime when Grétar Steinsson picked up his second yellow.
The O's failed to take advantage of the numerical superiority in the second half and the game degenerated into a bore draw.
Leyton 1-1 Notts County
Leyton scorers: Autret 17
Notts scorers: Showunmi 27
Att: 3,950

We remain in 12th place despite the draw. Hull regain top spot after a 2-1 win over Bradford as Lincoln slide to second following their 0-0 draw at Huddersfield. QPR are 3rd as they can only draw 0-0 too with MK Dons.

The O's have been handed a home game with Championship side Sheffield United in the Carling Cup 2nd round.

Monday 24th August 2009

Former Anorthosi left winger Konstantinos Samaras has agreed to sign for the O's for a fee of £100,000. He has one cap for Cyprus and has scored 17 goals in 147 appearances for Anorthosi.

League One
Southend United v Leyton Orient

Samaras goes straight into the team off the plane and Di Bonito comes in for Sedgwick who drops to the bench.
Samaras almost had a dream start after 10 minutes when following a goalmouth melee the ball broke to him and he drove it through a crowd only to see it hit the post. Southend took the lead on 15 minutes when James Beaumont, ex of TNS struck a 25-yard free kick into the top left corner. A goalmouth scramble three minutes later led to Ryan poking home the home sides second. The O's managed to pull one back on 27 minutes when Rodrigues nodded Gardner's through ball on to Donati who squeezed it in at the post. Donati helped to level the scores just a few minutes later when he came deep to get the ball and flicked it out to Samaras. He broke free of the defense and bore down on goal. As the keeper started to advance Samaras slipped the ball across to Di Bonito who had the goal at his mercy. There was pandemonium in the visiting fan's end two minutes later when a Southend defender made a right hash of clearing a bouncing ball and Donati nipped in to steal the ball, round the keeper and slot home his fifth of the season. On 35 minutes the O's were 4-2 ahead when Samaras probing cross found Rodrigues, his shot was blocked but Donati fired in the rebound for his hat trick. On the stroke of halftime Ronnie Wallwork's shot was deflected in off Robinson to reduce the deficit to one.
Fives minutes into the second half Ryan was left unmarked in to area to level the game at four. The O's had several chances to break the deadlock but just couldn't find the right touch.
Southend 4-4 Leyton
Southend scorers: Beaumont 16, Ryan 18, 51, Wallwork 45
Leyton scorers: Donati 28, 31, 35, Di Bonito 29
Att: 3,842

Hull remains top after a 2-1 win at Coventry and Lincoln's 2-0 win over Oxford leaves them second. Our second successive draw sees us slip to 13th.

Christophe Autret has joined the ranks of the injured after he bruised his head against Southend.

mavericktango

Saturday 29th August - League One
Leyton Orient v Peterborough United

For the visit of 7th placed Peterborough, Ahmed replaced the injured Autret and Lee Robinson makes his debut, taking over in goal from Hoogenkamp in the only changes.
The visitors get a good start when Chambers find Hegyesi unmarked after 12 minutes and he volleys it into the far corner. Despite a few good attempts the O's go in behind to last season's League Two champions.
Peterborough extended their lead on 66 minutes when Hegyesi got above Paul Robinson and Gillian to head to Chambers in the clear and he coolly finished.
Leyton 0-2 Peterborough
Leyton scorers: none
Peterboro scorers: Hegyesi 12, Chambers 66
Att: 6,082

A disappointing loss in front of our biggest crowd of the season drops us to 14th. Few games took place today and QPR took advantage of this to go top with a 2-1 win over Swindon.

Monday 31st August 2009

Gabriel Zakuani has been whining again about not being in the first team so I accept a £9,000 bid from Grimsby just to shut up the whining. We rush through the deal as today sees the closing of the transfer window.

Saturday 5th September - League One
Leyton Orient v Coventry City

Autret and Low are pressed back into service against 4th placed Coventry although they're not quite 100% yet.
The O's started brightly and Rodrigues reverse flick picked out Di Bonito who drilled it low into the bottom corner. Coventry equalised on 35 minutes when Low couldn't stop Pawel Abbott turning and firing home.
Seven minutes into the second half Turner's desperate attempt to get the ball away from Rodrigues in the box only fell to Donati who half volleyed it into the net. The O's were comfortable for the rest of the game but finished with 10 men when Walton was taken off with a dead leg which will keep him out for a week.
Leyton 2-1 Coventry
Leyton scorers: Di Bonito 23, Donati 52
Coventry scorers: Abbott 34
Att: 6,180

A good win which lifts the O's up to 11th. QPR remain top with a 1-0 win over Southend while Hull's 2-2 draw with Wolves is enough to give them second place after Lincoln's first defeat of the season, 1-0 at 20th placed Chester.

Monday 7th September 2009

Samaras has suffered a groin strain in training and will miss up to a month.

mavericktango

Saturday 12th September - League One
Bradford City v Leyton Orient

Calabria comes into the side again replacing the injured Samaras.
The home side take the lead on 17 minutes when Williams blasts a scorcher into the top corner from 25-yards. The O's got their equaliser from even further out though with 3 minutes left in the half. A dreadful backpass had the Bradford keeper scrambling to try and retrieve the situation but it was too late as Donati whipped it into the open net from 35-yards.
The O's were ahead after seven minutes of the second half when Donati outpaced the fullback and cut inside to drill it in at the near post. Bradford pushed hard after that for the equaliser but Lee Robinson put on a match winning display to turn everything aside.
Bradford 1-2 Leyton
Bradford scorers: Williams 18
Leyton scorers: Donati 43, 53
Att: 6,078

QPR's 2-0 win at Notts County kept them top while Wolves 3-0 win over Oxford takes them into second place. We remain in 11th place but only three points separate us from 5th place.

Wednesday 16th September - Carling Cup 2nd Round
Leyton Orient v Sheffield United

We fielded an unchanged side for the visit of struggling Championship side Sheff. Utd.
The O's grab the lead on the quarter of an hour mark when Di Bonito's ball into the box is collected by Rodrigues who slots home his first ever goal for the club. 15 minutes later the visitors equalise from the spot after Di Bonito handballed. Sheffield are rocked though on 37 minutes when Neill Collins is dismissed for hauling down Donati who was clean through. The O's made them pay further as Di Bonito fired the ball through the wall into the net. Sheffield hadn't learnt their lesson and were reduced to nine men when John Thompson was dismissed on 43 minutes for the same offense on Rodrigues.
Three minutes into the second half the O's led by two after Autret's flick found Rodrigues who steered it into the far corner. Two minutes later Rodrigues had completed his hat trick. Penalties were coming thick and fast as Autret missed his and Sheffield put theirs in. Donati got into the act as he headed in Calabria's cross for his 10th goal of the season as the O's ran riot.
Leyton 5-2 Sheff Utd
Leyton scorers: Rodrigues 16, 48, 50, Di Bonito 39, Donati 77
Sheffield scorers: Hoefkens 29 pen, 74 pen
Att: 4,460

Everyone here is over the moon at the O's fine win, the supporters club chairman has been quoted as saying it's the win that marks a beginning of a successful new era for The O's and Barry Hearn has praised the style of the victory.

Friday 18th September 2009

The draw for the third round of the Carling Cup was given us a home tie against fellow League One side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

mavericktango

Saturday 19th September - League One
Lincoln City v Leyton Orient

We are unchanged again for the difficult trip to third placed Imps who have only lost once this season so far.
The home side took the lead after only 7 minutes when Calum Bett looked up as he received the ball 10 yards inside the O's half and spotted Lee Robinson on the edge of his area. His 40 yard chip was inch perfect and never gave Robinson a chance to recover his ground. They piled on the pressure and got their second on 38 minutes when Bett dribbled past Paul Robinson and Gillian before planting it firmly into the net.
The O's certainly got a tongue lashing at halftime and they did make a bit better show of it but the Imps were really in a different class. Calum Bett completed his hat trick on 65 minutes when he just volleyed Dyer's cross past the helpless Robinson.
Lincoln 3-0 Leyton
Lincoln scorers: Bett 7, 38, 66
Leyton scorers: none
Att: 6,137

QPR remain top with 24 points despite only drawing 0-0 at Peterborough, Wolves stay second with 22 points after a 1-0 win against Rotherham. We now lie 12th with 14 points from 10 games and a -3 goal difference.

Tuesday 22nd September - League One
Leyton Orient v Bristol Rovers

Keeping faith with the team we go into the game with sixth placed Rovers with an unchanged side again.
Bristol might have been on a six game unbeaten streak but Donati opened the scoring after only five minutes. Di Bonito lofted the ball over the defense and Donati ran on to blast the ball in. Rovers though equalise 15 minutes later when Paul Robinson fails to go with Adam Proudlock and he uses the space to slide the ball in the bottom corner. The O's seemed to lose confidence after that and it was a desperate rearguard action to get to halftime still level.
The O's determined defense was finally broken in the 68th minute when the ball skidded across the goalmouth and broke to Ricardo Fernandes who slid it in. We were able to peg Rovers back straight away though when their keeper dwelt too long on a backpass. Walton slid in for a challenge and the ball broke to Donati who wasted no time firing it into the empty net. This was definitely a point gained as Rovers will be very disappointed not to have won this one.
Leyton 2-2 Bristol R
Leyton scorers: Donati 5, 72
Bristol scorers: Proudlock 22, Fernandes 69
Att: 5,656

Another draw, 0-0 against Bradford, keeps QPR top and Hull move into second with a 3-0 win over Northampton. Our draw enables us to creep up a place to 11th.

Friday 25th September 2009

The LDV Vans Trophy Southern section 1st round draw gives us a home tie against another League One side Oxford United.

Saturday 26th September - League One
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Leyton Orient

It's going to be a difficult afternoon as we travel to 4th placed Wolves looking to improve on recent performances.
It looked as though the O's were going to be blown out of sight as the movement of the Wolves forwards catches the defense out twice in the opening 15 minutes but we dug in and pulled one back on half an hour when Donati poked in Chebana's deep cross.
The O's improve a little in the second half but rarely threaten as the home side are firmly in command. A loss but it could have been far worse.
Wolves 2-1 Leyton
Wolves scorers: Daly 2, Miller 12
Leyton scorers: Donati 29
Att: 22,952

Lincoln's 4-1 win over Walsall takes them back to the top as QPR have their third successive draw, 0-0 at Coventry and slip to third. Hull's 3-1 win at Gillingham leaves them third. We remain in 12th, five points above the relegation spots.