Ratings: Leyton Orient 1-0 Bolton Wanderers

Tom rates a disappointing afternoon for Bolton

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Nathan Baxter 6.5

Not at fault for the awful performance in front of him but did look shakier than usual in possession. Made a couple of good saves and claimed some crosses. But while Sol Brynn denied Dion’s 1v1 he dived early and Agyei punished him in a similar situation. Still “Super” in my view mind, unlike his teammates…

Eoin Toal 4

I’ve said for a long while that I think he’s up there with Fil Morais as one of our most surprisingly good bits of business since falling out of the premier league. Nevertheless, on what’s meant to be his favoured right hand side he was torn to pieces by Theo Archibald. In fairness, the Orient winger is very fast with good feet, but Toal’s nervousness in dealing with the Scot led to Orient’s winner and he was wasteful in possession too. Is capable of so so much better.

Ricardo Santos 6

Not at fault for the goal despite his poor pass to JDC leading to Toal’s error, plus he battered Agyei on a number of occasions which I loved so frustratingly pathetic was the former Burnley striker. Nevertheless, he’s supposed to lead this team and you never get the sense he does that. The diagonals didn’t come off and he couldn’t lift his stuttering team out of their malaise.

I love Rico, but the man isn’t a captain. Steve Smith/Joe Root were/are their teams’ stars and Rico is often ours; let him focus on the game and not the leadership aspect at which he is clearly not adept.

Jack Iredale 7

Anyone who knows me also know I can’t stand Iredale. I think he’s defensively suspect with weak tackling and poor positioning which negates the value he adds in possession. Nevertheless, credit where it is due, while all around him lost their heads he got to grips with Shaq Forder well and won several duels both on the deck and in the air. Genuinely think he comes away from this shambles with credit.

Josh Dacres-Cogley 5

Anonymous first half and much improved as an outlet in the second period. However, as much good work as I think he did, the chance in extra time where, despite having time, space and obviously the requisite pace to drive into the box to improve the odds of converting, he chose to blaze one over the bar is something I will genuinely take a while to get over.

Sweeney, the Orient full back, was terrified and would likely have fouled him or offered the chance to cross for one of our strikers. To shoot from 25 yards as a non goal-scoring full back was just amazingly stupid. The man has his strengths but, sadly, decision making isn’t one of them.

Josh Sheehan 5.5

The man has been the fulcrum of our midfield but he was completely innocuous for large periods here. Gets bonus points for two things: telling the American just how incompetent he was (for which he was booked) and also a superb pass into Thomason to set up Dion’s second half chance (more on this later).

I think he’s excellent, but I don’t think he can play at the level he did vs Luton and then do it again 3/4 days later.

George Thomason 5.5

Similar to Sheehan, just looked out of sorts for long periods. Passing radar was off and was bypassed up until the Orient goal. After that, he improved hugely by setting up Dion’s chance and fighting like he usually does. Another whom I think is potentially fatigued.

Kyle Dempsey 4

Absolute shocker. Looked like he did when he was playing with his fractured back i.e. not battling enough and sluggish on the ball. Honestly may well have not been on the pitch which is such a shame given his ability.

Zach Ashworth 4

By all accounts he was excellent in the Cup vs Luton but he looked like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights here. Lost the ball almost every time it was fed to him in space and did nothing to convince anyone that he is worth a regular place in the side. Maybe another whom is fatigued, but, honestly, he just looked like a fish out of water.

Victor Adeboyejo 7

Sod the naysayers, the lad has come on leaps and bounds and after a tricky 15 minutes he made the experienced Omar Beckles quake in his boots for the latter part of the first half. He’s always been strong and a nuisance, but the first touch has improved hugely. We all want him to succeed and I genuinely think he is getting there. It’s such a shame that, in the eyes of most fans, he will never be up to scratch no matter what he does.

Dion Charles 3

We all love him, he’s our best striker and we’d be buggered without him. However, if any of those Championship scouts watched today then there’s no way anyone is buying him this month.

Dion’s pressing, pace and positioning are genuinely first rate. He’s exactly the kind of striker I’d hate playing against us. The sad thing is that his finishing is the worst part of his game. When he has time to think about a chance it seems like it reduces his conversion rate by circa 80%.

The two misses here were just unforgivable. His header was very poor but at 0-0 you can try and forgive it.

Sadly, when put through perfectly by Thomason for a 1v1 literally moments after we went a goal down and, unlike Agyei, he panicked and barely tested Brynn. That was unforgivable and our team as a whole never really recovered. So disappointing.

Substitutes:

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson 6

Some great touches and positioning but he genuinely looks as likely as someone in the crowd to score a league goal at the moment.

Cameron Jerome 6

Ran hard, used his experience to fashion some openings and looked bang up for it. The sad thing is his pace has all but gone and his touch still isn’t great. I may be in the minority but I think Victor should have stayed on to keep getting the better of Beckles.

Aaron Morley 4

Looks a shell of his former self right now. The awful potshot at the end was so out of character that it makes me genuinely worry about him. Hoofed the ball exclusively and his two corners were dreadful. Much better than this.

Randell Williams 4

Looked unfit and out of sorts. Couldn’t control the ball and his crosses almost always went out of play. Gains an extra point, despite playing terribly, for causing some minor chaos with his throws and getting that Leicester reject Richie Wellens sent to the stands.

Paris Maghoma 4

Couldn’t get into it and, when he did, played some out of character awful passes. I think Paris has more talent in his little toe than a lot of our squad put together, someone just needs to ask him straight if he really wants to use it.

Manager:

Ian Evatt 4

We have players in key positions missing and aren’t able to fully rest people, I’ll give him that, but if he told our players to pass the ball between the back four and then hoof it as part of his tactics then I genuinely question his sanity.

Orient’s game was two quick passes at the back then a midfielder thumped the ball over the top for their pacy players. Our forwards aren’t the quickest and their centre halves were 6,3 and 6,5 respectively. Still we consistently tried their tactic and, lo and behold, it yielded nothing. The chances for Dion came from playing our game, not Orients. Evatt has coached his team to play excellent stuff and yet against poor sides we don’t do it.

At the end of the day, we have to get promoted from the position in which we find ourselves. Win our games in hand and we are still going to be 4 points clear at the top. No excuses about injuries or fixture pile up, as much as some fans eulogise the man, if he can’t get this done he should be sacked without a moments thought.

Time to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, Ian.