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gives an award to the paper that makes the daftest comment each
month - see the OSJAs roll of dishonour.Gazette deservedly wins OSJA for October... Brush and Ling given contracts until end of 2003/04 season... Tony Cottee will work one day a week with the strikers... Brush is checking Spurs, Charlton, Fulham reserves in case centre-back cover is needed - only Joseph, McElholm or Harris could play there, according to him... Player news: Christie played 20 minutes for reserves... Joseph (hamstring), Beall (shin), Herrera (back, toe) should be ok for Saturday... Oakes out for the season, Downer out for 4-6 months, Lockwood could be back at Christmas... Barnard has cracked a bone in his leg - back in a few weeks... Fletcher has knee injury (hem-hem)... Jabo suspended for Kiddie (5 bookings), Minton & Harris could be next... Castle spending another month at Stevenage, Opara's gone on loan to Purfleet, Grimsdell to Aveley... O's 4 Rochdale 2: Gazette and Recorder roughly agree that we're "a confident team full of players wanting the ball" (Recorder)... Guardian says, "Orient were playing some superb passing football"... Guardian makes Ibehre MOTM, Recorder goes for Joseph... Scunthorpe preview: They have Peter Beagrie, Martin Carruthers and Lee Hodges (who always plays well against us)... Other bits: O's away to Bristol City in FA Cup 17th November... Taylor's gone to Darlington - at least until the end of the season... Watts reveals in the Recorder that he had a bust-up with Taylor: "...in my second season we fell out".
"We maybe need a couple of fresh faces... but... we will be judging everyone on merit," says Brush... "Things were going stale here," says Minton... Gazette makes grand claims for Brush: "O's seem to have rediscovered their mean streak at the back. After leaking 12 goals in the four league games before he took over, the O's have conceded just one in their last two matches" (a ridiculous thing to say after just 2 games, and conveniently ignoring the 3 conceded v Daggers - OSJA nomination)... Player news: Downer out for at least 4 months (knee surgery)... Oakes proabably out for the season... Bayes could play on Saturday, as could Herrera (back), Gough's okay too... Constantine goes back to Millwall... Swans 0 O's 1: "a dour affair" (Guardian), with 2 shots on target (one each)... O's had banner "Petty Out - Orient fans against asset stripping" (Petty is Swans' chairman), which went down well with Swansea fans, who sang, "Orient we love you")... Guardian makes Harris MOTM, Recorder goes for Smith... Hull 1 O's 1: "a richly deserved point" (Gazette - others agree)... Guardian makes Martin MOTM, Recorder picks Harris... Rochdale preview: Dale have 10 out injured and have never won at our place in 32 years of trying.
Taylor goes: "I am not a quitter... I will not chuck away five years of hard work" (Taylor)... "The board of Leyton Orient reluctantly agreed to accept Tommy's resignation..." (Hearn - priceless)... Paul Brush, 43, appointed manager until end of season, Martin Ling promoted to joint assistant manager alongside Clark (ha ha ha!)... Trevor Davies writes a tear-stained farewell to Taylor in the Gazette, including his season-by-season record and this OSJA nomination: "...there were more highs than lows during the Taylor years..." (Davies seems to have overlooked the fact that we are now in our longest spell in the bottom division in recent history, and Taylor did nothing about that - it was one, long, five-year low)... "we are an average third division side," says Brush... Player news: No new players for now, Brush wants to improve links with Spurs and Arsenal... Oakes could be out for the season (shock!), Joseph probably fit for Saturday... Lockwood out until new year... O's 2 Shrews 4: "humiliating" (Guardian)... Gazette ignores the game(!), Guardian makes Watts MOTM and give McGhee 3 out of 10, Recorder goes for Watts too... Guardian caption says: "Brighton fans celebrate their fourth goal", but doesn't explain why they were watching O's v Shrews - OSJA nomination... Daggers 3 O's 2: Guardian makes Minton MOTM, Recorder picks McLean... Swansea preview: Swans in a total mess as new chairman Tony Petty tries to destroy them... Hull preview: Gary Alexander is top scorer... Other bits: Guardian says that club was involved in Let's Kick Racism Out Of football week (they did as little as they could get away with), tries for an OSJA by claiming that kids from Norlington School watched a display by ex-Orient players "including Laurie Cunningham". Cunningham died in 1989.
"We've got to be in the top 7 by Christmas," says Taylor (sure he doesn't mean the bottom 7?)... Player news: Oakes could be out for 6 weeks (knee this time - ho hum...)... Watts is fit and came on at Mansfield... Christie could be playing in 4 weeks... Bayes out for Saturday (shoulder), Houghton could miss it too (hamstring)... Herrera might play, Smith should be fit... Tate's back - Stevenage didn't want him (or couldn't afford his pay)... Parsons is back from Dover... Mansfield 3 O's 2: "I thought we deserved a draw," says Taylor, "...a stirring 2nd-half performance," (Guardian), O's "did not really deserve to get anything," (Recorder)... McGhee came on and took over as captain when Smith went off... fans weren't happy: "...quick to show their disapproval," (Gazette), "...screaming for [Taylor's] head," (Recorder)... Gazette makes McGhee MOTM, Recorder goes for Jones, Guardian goes for Barrett... Shrewsbury preview: Luke Rodgers has 10 goals this season, Nigel Jemson has 6... Dagenham & Redbridge preview: Injured Junior McDougald is there... O's were 3-2 down at half-time in FA Cup match in 1992, but won 5-4... Other bits: Ahmet Brkovic gets 3-month contract at Luton... Sasha Opinel playing for Chelten Utd in the Barking & District Sunday League... Torquay game brought 1st commentary for blind, arranged by Community Sports Programme and LOFT - ring 020 8556 5973 or e-mail fleming@theorient27.fsnet.co.uk if you're interested.
Hackney Gazette wins OSJA for September... Taylor losing it: "Crunch time for Taylor" (Guardian) as O's bad run continues... "There's been a terrible tragedy in America and we could be on the brink of war, so in the grand scheme of things there are far more important things happening in the world at the moment" (Taylor - is there nothing he won't try to deflect attention?)... "Things are now a million times better than before I came" (Taylor)... Lack of money "has been frustrating... people have to accept we are not Real Madrid" (Taylor)... Player news: O's couldn't afford Brett Angell's wages (says Taylor)... Robbie Herrera, 31-year-old left back who can't get in the Torquay team, joins on non-contract basis...Watts could return, he played 45 minutes for reserves on Tuesday... Ibehre fit (flu)... Bayes out (shoulder)... Christie back in proper training in 4-5 weeks... Lockwood doing "light exercise" (Recorder)... O's 1 Torquay 2: O's "dominated the game for the first 30 minutes" (Gazette), but lost confidence when Torquay equalised... "If we want to buy new players, we will have to lose others... we were carrying 5 or 6 players today" (Clark)... "The cries of 'Taylor out' began soon after" Gulls' 2nd goal (Recorder)... Gazette & Recorder make Harris MOTM, Guardian goes for Smith... Mansfield preview: Hicks and Adam Barrett are at Mansfield - so's 9-goal Chris Greenacre... Other bits: O's have over 1200 tickets for LDV Vans game at Dagenham & Redbridge.
Player news: Castle goes on loan to Stevenage and could stay there, Tate could stay there too... Niam Uka goes on loan to Wingate & Finchley... (nothing about Watts...) Halifax 0 O's 0: The "lowest league attendance of the day" (Guardian) created an "eerily silent atmosphere" (Recorder) to watch an O's performance "short on inspiration" (Gazette)... O's "lack of a midfield player to work alongside Jeff Minton" (Recorder) is a problem... MOTM: Minton (Recorder), Jones (Gazette), Harris (Guardian)... "...to come here and keep a clean sheet and restrict them to very few chances was morale-boosting," says stand-in boss Clark (he's mad, that bloke) - Taylor missed the game with a bad back... O's 1 Luton 3: O's "biggest home gate of the season" (Gazette) saw us "comprehensively beaten" (Gazette) by the "title certs" (Gazette)... "Orient fans turned on Tommy Taylor" (Recorder)... "Further performances like this could result in some of Orient's more moderate fans joining the boo-boys on the anti-Taylor bandwagon" (Guardian)... "The way the crowd turned on Tuesday night was surely a little premature", says the Gazette, ignoring 5 years in the basement and earning a nomination for this month's OSJA... "I will keep doing the job until the chairman tells me otherwise," says Taylor, "I can't help it if I've no money to spend"... "Had we scored [early] I think we would have gone on to win the game" (Taylor again - he's mad, that bloke)... MOTM: Harris (Gazette), Smith (Guardian), Joseph (Recorder)... Torquay preview: Fletcher & Houghton will start (says Recorder)... Torquay have won the last two at our place 2-0... Other bits: O's draw Dagenham & Redbridge away in the LDV Vans Trophy on 16th October... Taylor was 50 on Wednesday (happy birthday, Tom).
Player news: Constantine will stay for 3 months... Bayes has recovered from shoulder injury... "Jabo probably needs a rest... he's got more bookings than goals" (Taylor)... O's 2 Rushden & Diamonds 1: "Four penalties, three goals, four yellow cards and one red" (Guardian)... "Orient were rather sitting on their lead" (Recorder) after going 2-0 up against 10 men... "I'm still trying to find out why Scott [Houghton] didn't take the 2nd [missed] penalty," (Taylor)... "O's fans were more than a little relieved to hear the final whistle" (Gazette)... Gazette makes Joseph MOTM, Guardian goes for Minton... Darlo 3 O's 0: O's were stuck on the bus for 5 hours before the game (they should have stayed on it)... "...we have a young side and they are not going to be able to stay at the top of the game every week... after doing well for five games it's unrealistic to expect the players to turn in another half-a-dozen good performances..." says Taylor... Gazette makes Minton MOTM... Halifax preview: They have temporary managers Neil Redfearn & Tony Parks, but have won their last two games.
Player news: Constantine ("The Eel") could stay for 3 months - he is already "evoking memories of Kevin Campbell," says Recorder... Fletcher & Watts should be fit for Saturday... Rushden & Diamonds tried to buy Smith... Tate on-loan at Stevenage, scored 2 and was sent-off once in 2 games - move could become permanent... Jay Murray on-loan at Sutton... O's 3 Bristol Rovers 1: "the hardest game we have had this season" (Taylor)... he blames McGhee for poor passing in the 1st half and Ibehre for not holding the ball up well enough, but says, "I don't think anyone had a poor game"... "...it was not going to be Rovers' day" (Gazette)... Constantine scored goal of the season so far when he "...jinked his way past 3 defenders before wrong-footing goalkeeper Scott Howie..." (Gazette)... Recorder says he scored with his left foot (but he couldn't and didn't)... Rovers' goal was pretty good too: a "screamer" (Gazette), "cracking" (Recorder), "he [Gall] spanked it" (Bayes), "...he ripped a 20-yard shot into the top corner..." (Guardian)... Gazette and Guardian make Constantine MOTM... Rushden & Diamonds preview: They're doing badly and have only 2 fit strikers, Billy Turley is in goal... Other bits: Lockwood's ruptured spleen was not diagnosed until a couple of days after the event.
Gazette wins OSJA for August... Player news: Constantine on-loan until Sep 27th, but says, "I can't see any reason to leave in a hurry... me and Jabo work well together"... Taylor says he might want to extend the loan... Christie has another op, but should start training in 2 weeks... Watts out for about 2 weeks (back injury)... Fletcher still ill... McGhee banned for Rushden, Darlo, Halifax, though O's are appealing against sending-off v Sarfend... McElholm goes on-loan to Chelmsford... Sarfend 1 O's 2: Taylor praises Smith: "outstanding" and Barnard: "outstanding"... he says O's practised playing 10 v 11 because "I just thought that somebody might get sent off"... Gazette says, "anyone arriving after the incident [McGhee being sent-off] would not have noticed Orient's numerical handicap"... KO was delayed 15 minutes... Guardian & Gazette both make Smith MOTM... Bristol Rovers preview: They're "big" (says Taylor)... we haven't beaten them in the league for 8 years... Other bits: U-19s beat Sarfend 1-0, U-17s beat Brighton 3-2....
Player news: Lockwood ruptured spleen v York and is out until Christmas - squad stopped for 3 hours at Pontefract while he was seen after the game... Advertiser says he still hasn't been offered a new contract... striker Leon Constantine on-loan for a month from Millwall - he signed and met the players on the morning of the Hartlepool match, then started the game! - "a desperate move" (Gazette)... Fletcher may have kidney infection... Barrett recovering from last week's cartilage operation... Watts could be fit for Saturday... Gazette aims for this month's OSJA, saying, "...the problems are starting to pile up for Taylor" (it's only a couple of unpredicted injuries!)... York 2 O's 1: Taylor slates Watts & Ibehre: "today it looked as if they had never played together before... it's down to the forwards" - both were subbed, replacements Gough got booked and McLean got a goal... "our general play fell below the standards expected," says Brush... Guardian makes Harris MOTM... O's 2 Hartlepool 0: "...sweltering heat" (Guardian)... "baking" (Recorder)... "Hartlepool looked even less menacing than Orient" (Gazette)... O's scored from "a dubious free kick" but "looked comfortable" (Recorder)... Gazette makes Minton MOTM, Guardian goes for Ibehre... Southend preview: Constantine will probably start again... Tony Richards & Jason Harris are at Southend... Other bits: U-19s beat Brighton 2-1, U-17s beat Southend 1-0... Joseph is coaching at Crown & Manor once a week... Adrian Whitbread signs for Reading... Tommy Cunningham sinks to Ryman League Div 3 as manager of Wingate & Finchley.
Player news: We're after Brett Angell, 33-year-old striker from Walsall, on loan... Trevor Benjamin is not coming in because others want him... Taylor spoke to Steve Bruce of Palace about Lockwood: "...but we only spoke about him generally"... McGhee should be fit and playing at the weekend... O's 0 Carlisle 0: "bore draw" (Guardian)... "disappointing" (Gazette)... "Orient laboured against the Cumbrians" (Recorder)... "...we kept fading away in the last third of the pitch... the strikers who were out there gave us very little," says Taylor (that's Oakes, Watts, Tate & Fletcher)...Guardian notes Fletcher's "miserable debut"...Guardian has the best pictures again... Gazette makes Houghton MOTM... O's 2 Palace 4: O's led twice and hit woodwork 3 times... "For the 1st 70 minutes the players really excited me," says Taylor.. Tate pulled out due to family bereavement (Gazette) or him and Fletcher were ordered to do extra training (Recorder)... Palace got "a victory their 2nd half performance clearly merited" (Guardian)... Gazette makes Houghton MOTM (again)... Gazette tries hard for August's OSJA with this classic about Castle: "An experienced campaigner who won't let you down." (He's being letting Orient down since the day he came back!)... York preview: we haven't won there since 1976... "...if anyone falls below he level of Tuesday night [v Palace] then they will be out of the side," says Taylor (but he's talking crap!)... Other bits: McElholm called up on standby for Northern Ireland u-21s... Opara scored for Billericay... Les Sealey died of a heart-attack aged 43... LOFT (Leyton Orient Fans' Trust) and LOCSP (Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme) have arranged commentary for blind and partially sighted people at home games - contact either organisation for details (see links page)... Guardian has a token scheme for £5 off a team shirt - collect 5 from 8 published and present them at the club shop (5 copies of the paper cost £1.75).
Player news: Watts, Fletcher (got over an eye injury), Houghton ready for Saturday... Christie won't be back for "at least another couple of months" (Gazette)... Opara and Morgan on-loan to Ryman League Premier Division Billericay, Dorrian on-loan to Conference side Dover, Gough will go on-loan to Chelmsford when he's fit... Cheltenham 1 O's 1: Most papers say O's could have won... Joseph and McGhee played in midfield, Harris at right-back to try to get crosses in: "Andy is a better crosser than Matthew," says Taylor - he goes on to slate Oakes: "Oakes was too wide and he didn't really get into the game"... Taylor comments on how big Cheltenham players were, but doesn't moan, Guardian says only one Chelts player was under 6 foot... Tate booked, but says: "...it's like a religion - every Saturday I get a yellow card"... Gazette warns about "the lack of an obvious 20-goal-a-season striker"... Gazette and Guardian make Smith MOTM... Guardian has best (colour) pictures... Carlisle preview: Carlisle in a desperate state and must be beaten, though according to Taylor they now "play a passing game"... Palace preview: game must be decided on the night (Tuesday), i.e. extra-time and penalties could happen... Other bits: Griff scored for Luton (of course)... Time Out (£2.20) says: "Of course, Lockwood's gone now.." - no he hasn't! If it was a local paper, it'd be up for this month's OSJA for that one.
Taylor speaks: All papers talk to Taylor... he says that if we score goals we'll do well, but sounds more confident in the Recorder... moans to Advertiser about losing Garcia last season... moans about Watts being suspended for 1st game: "We have been penalised for being successful last season" (funny, we thought Orient lost in the play-offs)... Predictions: Gazette says O's could be "one quality striker short of a championship chasing team", but claims that Griff "did score almost a goal every game during his time at the O's" (an early bid for this month's OSJA, because his record was more like a goal every other game)... Hartlepool, Scunthorpe, Cheltenham, Hull, Rushden & Diamonds, Luton Oxford, Swansea are threats, according to them...Guardian has centre-page spread including squad picture (badly reproduced)... they go for Hull, Hartlepool, Luton, plus Bristol R, O's, Shrewsbury & Cheltenham and use headline "CAN O'S BE THE BEST... OF THE REST?" (i.e. they reckon play-offs at best)... Lockwood saga: confirmed bid of £150k from Millwall was rejected... Taylor may be looking at ex-QPR left-back Rik Lopez who's at Bristol Rovers... Injuries update: McGhee had suspected fractured leg, but should be ok for Saturday (and may play in midfield), as should Houghton (knee) & Fletcher (kidney infection)... Watts was carried off v Hampton & Richmond, but should be ok by Carlisle... Christie could be back in a month... Friendlies: Dartford 0 O's 3... Hampton & Richmond 0 O's 1, Craig Maskell played for H&R... Other bits: U-19 won English Riviera Cup (?!)... some young players could be loaned out soon... Luton v QPR included Griff, Brkovic & Brissett... Terry McFlynn's gone to Stevenage.
Lockwood saga: Hearn says Millwall have offered "peanuts" for him... Gazette reckons bid was around £150k... Hearn says: "We will make every effort to keep Matthew at Orient" (so that's him gone, then)... Taylor says, "We have had initial phone calls from clubs seeing if the player is available", West Brom are thought to be one of them... Guardian makes an early bid for August OSJA, saying: "The left-back was on trial with Millwall last month but no bid was made" (that's comepletely correct if you ignore the fact that a bid was made)... Player news: Craig Brown, 18 year old winger / attacking midfielder/ forward signs for 1 year - he's a Reading reject... Rob Carter still on trial... Friendlies: O's 0 Chelsea 2, England U-21 coach David Platt was watching... Crawley 0 O's 3: "We played very well against a good side," says Taylor (he's mad, that bloke)... O's 1 India 1: Equaliser for India scored by IM Vijayan, a Bollywood film star - Castle was on the pitch for about 20 seconds before being ordered to be subbed by the ref for a red card offence... Other bits: Tony Richards signs for Southend for £36k... Yellow Advertiser wins OSJA for July... open day update: Sunday, August 5th from 11am-2pm at Waltham Forest track & pool, Chingford Rd, Walthamstow.
Balls from the box is archived into A load of old 'balls'. Coverage started on 14th December 2000.