There are many ways to look at Tuesday nights League Cup match, whether your from SE7 or just North of the river in E10.
The doom and gloom merchants from Charlton will be very much commenting on how hard the squad we have is going to find the step up to the Championship blah blah blah blah. Those overconfident and optimistic amongst the O's will be waxing lyrical about how they came South and beat Goliath and are going to 'do a Charlton' and take tier three by storm this term.
Then there are the realists. An Orient side with nothing to lose came and narrowly beat Charlton's reserves in a game that had a real pre season friendly feel to it in it's general tempo.
Of the starting eleven I'd say only Hamer, Cort and Hollands are definite for Saturdays trip to Birmingham. The rest are very much fringe players who could maybe individually do a job covering for any short term injuries or suspensions.
Comments that have run through my mind having given myself a couple of days to think about the game are as follows:-
Hamer - Still the best keeping option, he seemed to have been instructed to try and distribute the ball via quick throws out to the full backs to release quick counter attacks. (Something that was a really strong part of Elliots game). But often looked nervy and his throws lacked the pace of a good pass. Not sure if this was down to a lack of confidence in the full backs (understandable in Wilson's case, but i'll get to that in a bit).
Taylor - I still think he is decent cover for either Cort or Morrison, but it is the latter two that should be our first choice central defensive pairing. Cort seldom lets the ball or player past him.
Evina - When he decided to run at players and cut in looked pretty sharp, and a real alternative to the way Wiggins attacks the ball. Not quite as solid defensively as Rhoys but I think this could be the season where we see him used a bit more often for tactical purposes.
Wilson - Did a lot of purposeful gesticulating and pointing to tell other where they should pass the ball. As a performance I found his passing unimaginative, I didn't have great confidence in his tackling ability and thats that really. Nothing to convince me that he shouldn't still be in League One with Stevenage really. Sorry, perhaps he'll settle in and prove me wrong.
Smith - I don't want to be too negative, but the words Eeeeh and Awwwe spring to mind. He looked pretty much out of his depth really. Didn't think he held the ball up well, had very little control when running with it and, for a big guy, did not win much in the air.
Waggy - The 'Roy of the Rovers/Local boy does good' in me really wants Scott Wagstaff The Striker to work. But it doesn't really doe it? He still has plenty in his locker as an attacking midfielder and I'm sure will have another decent season and chip in with enough goals to help the team as a whole consolidate this year.
Cook - There's been a fair bit of raving about him having a great game. My opinion is that he didn't have a bad one. And towards the end did indeed, when he decided to really start having a go create a lot of problems for the Orient defence. He in my mind will be good cover and great to have on the bench, as it would seem he can play up top or on the wing. One to watch I think.
Kerkar - He's going to be one of those marmite type of players. At times he looked pretty good, I wouldn't go as far as the real deal, but certainly given time could prove to be a competent addition to the overall playing squad and could play his way into a regular slot.
Sir Chris - It's always going to be hard to be critical of Powell. But his shenanigans that lead to him being sent to the stands and dare I say slightly overly petulant performance that could well lead to the touchline ban being longer than it should have been were a bit naive and disappointing. I understand as much as anyone his frustration at third division refereeing standards, we've all spent the last three seasons experiencing them. But at the end of the day, it was a none game, we were pretty much fielding a second eleven, and the important game is on Saturday at St Andrews. Where he's needed, like the following matches, in the dug out doing his job. Other than that, can't fault his passion, or new found will and understanding that we will need to try out and have formations other than 4-4-2 to punch our weight in this division.
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