Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Slaven Belupo waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hajduk Split is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The words a physio says slowly. 67 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Hajduk Split asked and Coventry City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hajduk Split can pretend not to have heard.
Rza Cəfərov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The words a physio says slowly. 75 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hajduk Split people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivica Ivušić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hajduk Split the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Alex Gilbert is living that version at Hajduk Split, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hajduk Split this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Words at Hajduk Split training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexey Miranchuk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 47 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leyton Orient this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jonathan Johnson is 16, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Leyton Orient asked and Crewe Alexandra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Bojan Ciger falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The offer from Milton Keynes Dons for Killian Cahill was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Davide Morisco is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Leyton Orient asked and Crewe Alexandra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Leyton Orient offered $56.0K; Shrewsbury Town said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Leyton Orient training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Gilbert is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Will Wright has improved at 32, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Leyton Orient are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The offer from Wrexham for Idris El Mizouni was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Leyton Orient is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leyton Orient this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Leyton Orient offered $290.0K; AFC Wimbledon said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Gilbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Leyton Orient asked and Leicester City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Atlético Madrid arrived with $59.3M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Dane Scarlett will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Leyton Orient escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Two goals and a mark of 8.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leyton Orient, and it is not being withdrawn.
Johan Manzambi has gone, the accounts have $59.3M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The offer went to AFC Wimbledon this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
$550.0K was the most the club would pay and Walsall were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Louie Bradbury has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Adelaide United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leyton Orient is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leyton Orient can pretend not to have heard.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer went to Walsall this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Johan Manzambi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Idris El Mizouni and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Bolton Wanderers kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Leyton Orient will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
A brace, and Anas Alaoui takes the afternoon — 9.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anas Alaoui provided it, and the 9.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Alex Gilbert was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leyton Orient they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Leyton Orient hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Anas Alaoui was at the centre of it, Barnsley were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
Player ratings21 May 2029
A brace, and Anas Alaoui takes the afternoon — 9.24
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anas Alaoui provided it, and the 9.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leyton Orient is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Milan van Ewijk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Leyton Orient training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Johan Manzambi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Louie Bradbury has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Alex Gilbert at his very best
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leyton Orient, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Leyton Orient scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Killian Cahill and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dylan Levitt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Anas Alaoui has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leyton Orient will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leyton Orient, and it is not being withdrawn.
Milan van Ewijk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Josh Welland will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leyton Orient the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Johan Manzambi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leyton Orient will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leyton Orient can pretend not to have heard.
Milan van Ewijk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Leyton Orient training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Johan Manzambi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dane Scarlett. 3‑2 against Preston, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Alex Gilbert was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.77, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Johan Manzambi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leyton Orient can pretend not to have heard.
Milan van Ewijk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Dylan Levitt falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Max McFadden has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Alex Gilbert was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Jonathan Fisher, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leyton Orient can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leyton Orient they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Johan Manzambi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Leyton Orient can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Jonathan Fisher left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
A brace, and Dane Scarlett takes the afternoon — 8.53
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dane Scarlett provided it, and the 8.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leyton Orient this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Johan Manzambi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Leyton Orient are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The offer from Malmo FF for Milan van Ewijk was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Johan Manzambi provided it, and the 8.31 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Milan van Ewijk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leyton Orient they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Dylan Levitt falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.51 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Add another name to the list: Malmo FF have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Milan van Ewijk. The answer from Leyton Orient has not changed — yet.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Milan van Ewijk and Leyton Orient agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Milan van Ewijk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leyton Orient heard it as anything else.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Johan Manzambi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
In brief
Player ratingsJohan Manzambi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Dylan Levitt at his very best
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leyton Orient they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alex Gilbert and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dylan Levitt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Nobody at Leyton Orient will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The offer from LNZ for Matthew Young was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Milan van Ewijk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leyton Orient is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Leyton Orient asked and Bradford City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leyton Orient can pretend not to have heard.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Tranmere Rovers moved on, Dylan Levitt reports back to Leyton Orient, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Leyton Orient close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 6 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Dylan Levitt and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leyton Orient heard it as anything else.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leyton Orient, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leyton Orient this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Leyton Orient asked and Oxford United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Leyton Orient can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Wigan Athletic will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Leyton Orient were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The offer from Olimpija Ljubljana for Milan van Ewijk was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Milan van Ewijk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leyton Orient they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Gassan Ahadme at his very best
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leyton Orient is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leyton Orient, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Blackpool have kept their man, and Leyton Orient go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Kyle Bartley falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Leyton Orient know it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leyton Orient, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leyton Orient heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jack Taylor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Leyton Orient know it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leyton Orient, and it is not being withdrawn.
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leyton Orient is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Milan van Ewijk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leyton Orient, and it is not being withdrawn.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every Leyton Orient game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Charlton Athletic runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Jonathan Fisher left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Player ratingsAn own goal to forget for Anas Alaoui
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leyton Orient can pretend not to have heard.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Alex Gilbert was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
0‑1 to Plymouth Argyle, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Isaac Hayden falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jonathan Fisher after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Leyton Orient will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutDylan Levitt knocks on the manager's door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leyton Orient they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leyton Orient this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.