Hello and welcome to what I hope is my first of many Match Previews as editor of the Orient VitalFootball page.
Admittedly this preview may be fairly poor because we haven’t played since the 29th December so news is a little light from the Orient camp. However, I could bore you with how the snow affected me and how Britain can’t cope but as I said it will bore you.
Onto the game and this is (hopefully) our first game since that woeful showing against the Mud Men from Sarfend. The less said about that performance the better.
We have a number of important games coming up starting with this and we could start with three new signings! I’ll go into each player more in ‘Home Team News’ but it’s quite exciting having fresh faces at the club.
As I sign off the introduction I will leave you with an interesting fact about Bristol. The word Bristol or Bristols is used as Cockney rhyming slang for a pair of woman’s breasts.
Vital Quotes:
Orient Team News:
I have to mention the three signings here. Since the window opened we spent the first week sitting back before hitting the January Sales this week where we bought Jonathan Tehoue, Nicky Adams and Matthew Briggs.
Tehoue is the one most Orient fans are looking forward to see and have even started making up a song for the powerful Frenchman, ‘I like Tehoue, houe’ to the tune of 1996 dance hit ‘I like to move it, move it’. The Paris born striker has played in the top flight in his native France, Belgium and Turkey so fans are hoping he uses his experience to save us from the drop.
Adams is 23 and signs for a month from Leicester, he’s a winger so I see him as the replacement for Andros Townsend. Whilst on the subject of Andros, I will tell you why I think he is now at MK Dons and not Orient. Andros is a footballer and a very good one at that, he likes the ball to be played to feet not this useless long-ball rubbish we play so knowing he’d done enough for us, he rejected us to go to a team that plays the game the right way.
Briggs is a 18 year old from Fulham who plays at left-back so he will provide cover for Charlie Daniels who has played well in a role he isn’t comfortable in.
Player to watch: Jonathan Tehoue
Jonathan Tehoue. The big Frenchman has been subject of conversation between Orient fans this week as he’s been touted as the next Kevin Campbell by O’s fans. I’ve seen a YouTube clip of him playing for a Turkish side against Roberto Carlos’ (Wow, I never thought I’d get Roberto Carlos in a Orient v Bristol Rovers mach previe-ed) Fenerbache. Tehoue looks to be a presence and has a powerful strike in him, two things we simply haven’t got at the club.
Bristol Rovers Team News:
The Gas Heads move for Pat Baldwin has been delayed so Byron Anthony or Steve Elliott are likely to take the field in the centre-back spot vacated by Baldwin.
Daryl Duffy, formerly of Swansea is likely to return to the starting line-up for The Pirates at Brizzy Road.
Also Chris Lines, a player who I rate, has signed a new long-term deal at Rovers and whas expressed that he’s over the moon with the contract.
Player to watch: Stuart Campbell
Stuart Campbell. I’ve picked the 32 year old for a number of reasons but he may not be the obvious choice. Campbell isn’t the top scorer at Rovers but the 32 year-old has made the most appearances for the club this season and also has the most assists at the club.
For those reasons that is why I picked Campbell. His ability to create goals could be the biggest danger for us today as we try to get back to winning ways and the fact that he has played the most games shows that he has an engine on him and has the stamina and ability to last the whole 90 minutes, meaning Orient are going to have to keep a watch on him.
Match Facts & Stats
The only player with any connections between the two clubs is Rhys Evans. Evans had a loan spell at The O’s in the 2002-03 season where he played seven games for us before returning to Chelsea.
Match Prediction:
Orient 1-1 Bristol Rovers.
Next Fixtures:
Orient:
Yeovil Town (h) 19.01.10
Bristol Rovers:
Huddersfield Town (a) 19.01.10
