Lower League Weeks – Getting back into the groove

The Orient Express Rumbles On

The most improbable event in the past seven weeks is probably the fact that little fancied Leyton Orient have maintained their spot at the top of League One. At the weekend, Orient had a six-pointer against Peterborough, the more fancied side who have thus far being pushing them all the way.

When the sides met at the weekend, Peterborough took the lead early in the game – surely a sign that this was when the bubble would burst? But Kevin Lisbie and David Mooney combined to equalise through a knock down and finish – the kind of ‘old-fashioned’ football stereotypically associated with the lower leagues. But Leyton Orient have also displayed a more skillful side to their game recently, which they displayed when Dean Cox lobbed over the onrushing keeper, and Mooney fired a diagonal shot across the goal into the far corner, to give Orient a 3-1 win.

The obvious comparison to make as an unfancied team bursting out of the blocks to sit on top of the third tier for so long, is Tranmere Rovers from last season. And as Tranmere dropped off dramatically in the second half of last season (losing 12 of the last 17 league games), it’s easy to still dismiss Orient’s promotion hopes, even as they sit three points clear of Wolves at the top of the table.

Tranmere’s form last year was built around smart signings, adding several players to the squad who’d narrowly survived the previous year, as well as signing the clinical Jake Cassidy on a half season’s loan from Wolves. A dramatic change in squad can lead to a dramatic change in performance, but the psychology of the group will, as a result, be shallowly rooted.

By comparison, the key performers for Orient this year – the front pair of Mooney and Lisbie, the creative Dean Cox and breakthrough talent Moses Odubajo have all been at the club since the end of August 2011. The surprise start to the season appears more the result of pre-existing understandings blossoming into life, rather than smart transfer action.

Shaun Batt, who has scored four in 14 from midfield since his summer switch, is the most notable exception to that rule, and even he was on loan at Orient at the end of last season.

As a result, this team have struggled together more in recent years than the Tranmere side had, so they should know how to dig each other out of mental slumps when they inevitably arise. And if Orient lose a star striker in January as Tranmere did, they’ll at least receive money to replace him. It’s not something I saw coming, but there’s a decent chance Orient could last the distance.

Headed for the Championship? Courtesy of Nigel Cox

Bristol City Struggle to Start

Leyton Orient’s success is every bit as unexpected as Bristol City’s poor start. Relegated from the Championship in a shambolic state, picking up two points from the last nine games and finishing 10 points adrift of second bottom Wolves, the clearing away of an overly large wage bill and new arrivals seemed like a good omen for rebirth. The presence of Sean O’Driscoll as manager, experienced in leading smaller teams to the top of League One, was a bit of a coup.

But things haven’t gone to plan – the Robins collected only six points from the first 12 games, winning just once – which saw them sit bottom of the league. That’s started to turn around in the last fortnight, with a draw against Oldham sandwiched between victories over Carlisle and Crawley. All three teams are currently comfortably in mid-table – the kind of sides that Bristol City, as a club with aspirations of promotion ‘should be beating’ but haven’t been so far.

It’s a little unusual that the start has been so poor, especially with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas – an Arsenal youth product who turned down life as an Ipswich squad player for regular football with the Robins – netting 10 in 15 league games so far. But Emmanuel-Thomas may be part of the problem – he’s been accused by his boss of being tactically indisciplined, and seems to be a divisive figure among fans because of his ‘lazy’ attitude – some taking to comments section of the local paper to express their preference for the more workmanlike Ryan Taylor.

There’s also the question of whether O’Driscoll, a manager generally described as ‘dour’, could have done more as a motivator to shake the club out of a negative mentality. I’d probably go as far as to say that O’Driscoll is one of the more sophisticated and under appreciated English managers currently working. But perhaps he could learn a little from the less sophisticated Harry Redknapp, who has shown an impressive ability to bring together a group of talented players, tells them how great they are, and throws them out onto the pitch in a rough tactical shape, usually doing enough to get results.

Despite the three games unbeaten, there doesn’t seem to be much elation at Ashton Gate – fans being either quietly pleased or seeing the form as a flash in the pan from a bad manager. But given that previous over-spending in pursuit of the Premiership has been cut away, Bristol City are a side who, unlike fellow relegatees Wolves, a team who can afford to spend time putting down roots, rather than needing to go up this year.

With talented youngsters like Emmanuel-Thomas and Sam Baldock on their books, a long-term vision may be what Bristol City need.

P45s as Far As The Eye Can See

In the last seven weeks, four managers have been sacked in Leagues One and Two, a rate slightly above even the short-term approach taken by many football clubs.

Before that, Gregg Abbott had been removed from his post as Carlisle manager and after his former assistant Graham Kavanagh won against Sheffield United, Stevenage and Notts County, the Irish international was appointed permanently. Moving the club from tw0 points to 11 certainly makes it look like the job was deserved, but Sheffield United and Notts County were both badly out of form, and have sacked managers since. With five points from six since being permanently appointed, including an impressive draw against Wolves, it’s difficult to draw solid conclusions about the impact Kavanagh has made, but his side have at the very least put a little distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

More surprising than the sacking of Kavanagh was Gillingham’s choice to remove journeyman manager and media favourite Martin Allen, just 11 league games into the season. In a poor start, three draws gave Gillingham the only points collected from the first eight games, but were followed by victories over Crewe and playoff chasing MK Dons. The Gills lost to Shrewsbury the following Saturday, Martin Allen was removed on Sunday evening, and former England U21, Hull and Bahrain manager Peter Taylor was announced as Allen’s replacement on the Monday.

Adding a layer of intrigue, Taylor had been spotted in the crowd for several weeks. Taylor has said that he was scouting for another League One side, and only discussed the job with chairman Paul Scally after Allen had been removed. But it would have been logical to explore options after eight games without a win – certainly more logical than after winning two games from three. Although a manager who often hits the ground running, Martin Allen is a boss few clubs want to give a full second year in charge.

Gillingham have won two from four games during Peter Taylor’s second spell in charge at Priestfield, and Taylor, who seems to have been appointed as a long-term caretaker, has said he wants the job permanently.

Peter Taylor, with his teeth so bright. Courtesy of Jonesy702

Down in League Two, after Bury collected only two wins and three draws from the first 11 games, Kevin Blackwell was removed as manager. With their financial problems largely behind them, and Blackwell talking ambitiously in the summer about picking up the best of Europe’s third and fourth tier talent, a quicker start to the season was a reasonable expectation. His assistant, former Gillingham boss Ronnie Jepson, has been named as caretaker manager until January, but Bury have remained around the League Two relegation zone in his four games in charge.

David Weir was a man with a big reputation in the summer, making the shortlist for the vacant Everton job. Understandably not wanting to appoint a first-time manager to one of the country’s top jobs, Everton instead chose Roberto Martinez. But Everton fans seemed to hold the belief that their former centre half was a managerial talent to keep an eye on. Weir’s experience as a player and coach was enough for him to be named as boss of League One Sheffield United, a team that should be expected to reach the playoffs. The season started decently, with the Blades looking incisive but wasteful against ten men Notts County on the opening night of the season.

But the Blades won only one of the next 12 games– a penalty shoot-out victory over League Two Scunthorpe. During that time they were knocked out of the Football League Trophy by Burton and the League Cup by Hartlepool, both in League Two. For a side hoping to gain promotion from League One, an inability to beat sides in their own division or the division below was a significant problem, and David Weir was sacked. Weir’s men were described by Radio Sheffield’s Keith Edwards of ‘behaving like robots’ in defeat to Carlisle. Appointing a first time manager, even if highly rated as a coach, will always carry the risk that they haven’t yet learned to strike a balance between organisation and creative freedom.

Chris Morgan, whose record of two wins in seven at the end of last season was made to look almost competent by Weir, was again appointed as caretaker manager, winning one from three before the significantly more experienced Nigel Clough was announced as a permanent replacement.

Bizarrely, each of Clough’s first three league games in charge were or will be against the team sitting in 18th at the time – his side beat Crewe, lost to Shrewsbury, and will host Gillingham after an equally winnable match against Colchester in the FA Cup. Having taken his time to lay the foundations of Burton’s rise into the Football League, and built his Derby squad over a similarly torturous period of time, Clough won’t necessarily make a dramatic impact at Bramall Lane. But he does have the experience to steer them away from their poor early season form.

The latest sacking in the lower leagues came towards the end of October. Chris Kiwomya wasn’t a popular appointment at Notts County when the youth team manager took over from Keith Curle. Curle was sacked in February this year with the team 10th, with chairman Ray Trew stating earlier in the season that the club had the sixth highest wage bill in the division.

Kiwomya’s record as caretaker wasn’t great, winning three and drawing six of his 11 games, with two of those wins being against Bury and Scunthorpe, who would end up being relegated. Nevertheless, Kiwomya was given a three-year contract as manager, his experience in developing young talent presumably giving him the edge.

Although County ended last season with two wins from the last three, their start to this season has been particularly poor. Winning three and drawing one of the first 14, the Magpies were rock bottom at the time of Kiwomya’s sacking, unmistakable backward movement since the time of his appointment. If nothing else, it was a clear mistake to give Kiwomya such a long contract – given poor results under his caretaker management, giving him a shorter contract would only have been sensible.

As I write this, Notts County have just named Kiwomya’s replacement – former player Shaun Derry as player-manager, with Greg Abbott his assistant. Derry had been on loan from QPR to Millwall, where he’d played fairly regularly, so presumably he’ll be a first-teamer rather than just being saved for emergencies.

Abbott is by reputation very much a training ground manager – given that in addition to learning his trade as a manager, Derry will be working to maintain his fitness at the point of his career when he’d be expected to collect additional niggles, Abbott looks a smart addition to Derry’s backroom.

The Football League’s newest manager. Courtesy of Pgcedave111

“…It’s Much More Important Than That”

While the past two months have been a period of relative turmoil in the lower leagues, relatively well paid managers losing their jobs is fairly trivial in the grand scale of things.

Tranmere Rovers’ 24-year-old right-winger Joe Thompson has been diagnosed with a form of cancer – nodular sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma. Even at such a young age, and with the fitness levels required of a professional footballer, he’ll have a long battle ahead. Eric Abidal and Stanislav Petrov’s cancer battles were well publicised, and Exeter City’s Adam Stansfield passed away from colorectal cancer in 2010, aged just 31.

In the summer, Thompson, who had a mixed first season on Merseyside, spoke about his “need to feel loved” to achieve his best form. He’ll need it even more during what’s sure to be a difficult six months of treatment.