Preview: Bromley vs Leyton Orient

A London derby is an excellent way to sharpen the mind after a humiliation, and Leyton Orient make the short journey to Hayes Lane knowing that the venue holds unhappy memories from their National League days. The O’s 2-1 defeat in April 2019 was nothing compared to the 6-1 humiliation they suffered in August 2017. That night will live long in the memory for both sets of fans.

The squads have completely changed since those matches took place, and both clubs have enjoyed an upward trajectory since. Even so, Orient will want to set the record straight when they visit BR2 tonight.

Those defeats, along with Bromley’s one-nil win at Brisbane Road in December 2017, are a source of embarrassment to the O’s and their fans, but Bromley love playing the role of noisy neighbour to the ‘bigger’ clubs around them, and that will be the intention once again.

Orient arrive with some sketchy form behind them. While they have advanced to the third round of the EFL Cup, their league form has seen them lose twice at home (Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley) and record a solitary win against bottom-placed Wigan.

Will the real Leyton Orient please stand up?

Interestingly, the two teams that have beaten them are sides that Bromley have already played. By all accounts, Barnsley blitzed Orient, whereas Sheffield Wednesday were possibly fortunate to get the win.

After the Barnsley game, gaffer Richie Wellens stated that his side are currently hamstrung by their injury list, and that it is a bit of a learning curve for his side at the moment as they have so many new players for the level and style of play.

Sound familiar, minus the injury claims?

Is this a good time to play Orient? We’ll find out tonight.

Both Wednesday and Barnsley lined up in a 4-2-3-1, or thereabouts, and I find it hard to believe Bromley won't revert to a back four themselves.

However, before we look at that, earlier this week, I spoke with Herman Wang from the club’s independent fanzine, Leyton Orientear, to learn more about tonight’s opposition.

“Vaguely positive. We had a close loss to Sheffield Wednesday, a win away to Wigan, and we advanced to the third round of the Carabao Cup. But any positivity came to a crashing halt with Saturday's comprehensive 3-1 loss to Barnsley.

“Not only did Orient put on a putrid performance, but manager Richie Wellens went on a strange tirade after the match, blaming fans for having too high expectations, the board for not being ambitious enough, and the players for not showing up. It has soured the vibes only three games into the league season, and where Orient go from here is anyone's guess.”

“After last season's near-relegation, the summer saw a massive reset and clearout, with a dozen new signings coming through the door. Striker Jaze Kabia is lauded as Orient's record signing, coming in from Grimsby to replace Golden Boot winner Dom Ballard, who we sold to Bristol City for an undisclosed fee reported to be around £5 million.

“Veteran midfielder Isaac Hayden has Premier League experience and was signed to stabilise the midfield, though he left Saturday's game with illness. Probably more interesting from an Orient perspective is the emergence of three academy products: midfielder Zech Obiero, defender Phil Chinedu, and goalkeeper Noah Phillips, who was pressed into service after our starting goalkeeper was injured in the second game of the season.

“The 19-year-old Chinedu, in particular, has been quite solid and has attracted some modest transfer interest. You might remember him from Barnet, where he was on loan last season.”

“The 24/25 season's play-off final appearance came on the back of several high-quality loanees who all departed to progress their careers afterwards, while other top performers Ethan Galbraith and Jordan Brown were sold for tidy profits. Given those losses, not many expected a repeat, though the disaster of a 20th-place finish and avoiding relegation on the last day of the season was not on anybody's radar, either.

“The atmosphere around the club felt off all last season. Captain Omar Beckles was shipped off in January, and owner David Gandler shocked many fans by talking about building a new 35,000-seat stadium. Personnel moves also raised eyebrows, with Director of Football Martin Ling relieved of his duties in March.

“This season is supposed to be a reset, and the early results were moderately promising, but the aftermath of the Barnsley match shows how tense the situation is. With some good fortune and good health, the top half of the table finish appears possible, but there may need to be a reset of the reset as soon as possible.”

“Wellens said in his post-match interview after losing to Barnsley that in an ideal world, he would like to bring in five more players. That’s a bold assertion given that twelve new signings were made in the summer. More realistically, there might be one or two moves, perhaps in the loan market, but only if Orient send one or two players out to free up some budget.

“After cashing in on Dom Ballard's Golden Boot season, Orient do have some money to play with, and they also received sell-on proceeds from the move of Ethan Galbraith from Swansea City to Stoke City. But whether that cash is readily available and is best used in the 11th hour of the transfer window remains to be seen.”

“Three games into the season, with the transfer window still open, it is hard to be really sure of anything. Wellens' rant makes the outlook for Orient even more uncertain. Both squads will be looking to move past morale-denting big losses, though the Os seem to be coming in with more baggage.

“I wish I could tell whether Orient are galvanised by the events of the past couple of days or whether they are about to enter into a funk. Your guess is as good as mine.”

As Herman suggests, it is a time of flux for Leyton Orient. The squad received a hard reset in the summer, but the problem with a hard reset is that it usually takes time for the new team to gel and meet expectations.

Orient fans won’t accept another season like the last one, but any demands of a promotion or a play-off push may also be wide of the mark.

A case in point is their change up front.

After selling inspirational top scorer Dom Ballard to Bristol City, Orient replaced him with Jaze Kabia for a fee roumoured to be between 600k and 700k.

Kabia scored 24 goals last season as a League Two footballer, and his ability is not in doubt, but he remains unproven at the League One level. If it clicks immediately, great, but if it takes time, then Orient’s fanbase will need to adapt.

Orient have some worries, but Bromley have plenty of their own.

The Ravens need an unequivocal response to the Sheffield Wednesday debacle; a game in which everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

A lot of how Andy Woodman lines up tonight will depend on how close to full fitness new signings Mickel Miller and George Saville are.

Both have significant League One experience, and it was that level of nous that seemed to be missing on Saturday as the team collectively lost their heads.

However, Woodman will also have to determine how many changes from Saturday are too many changes. Yes, the performance was poor, but that doesn’t always mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater.

In view of that, I would err on the side of caution and make just a few changes rather than wholesale ones. Lest we forget, while it was a whopper, Bromley’s defeat at Hillsborough was their first of the season.

How would you line up tonight? Join me on From Bromley With Love’s new YouTube feature, The Eleven, where I discuss Andy Woodman’s options in more detail.

George

Ifill Sowunmi Grant Mendy

Saville

Archer Conteh Thompson Pinnock

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