Promoted teams from the National League - some stats

[Smendrick Feaselberg]

Exactly. Players out of contract this summer presents an opportunity to move on and improve. Cannot remember the situation with players on expiring deals after 2005/06.

[Still's Carenae]

I still think we might be overestimating just how good these 'youngsters' are. Koroma is the one with the potential to go the furthest, can see him being a long standing Championship player, just hope he's getting paid what he's worth and sticks around for a while yet.

I'm less concerned about offers coming in for the other 3.

Baffling that anyone doesn’t think that Ekpiteta is the top prospect. He’s tall, quick, tough, excellent on the ball in tight situations and a danger at set pieces. A long spell in the Championship awaits. Koroma is a show pony who will carve out an inconsistent career in the bottom two divisions after an initial move to Huddersfield. He doesn’t have the physical attributes to cut it in the second tier. Bonne is at best a mid-table League One player who could do with another season with us and Happe is all set for a decade in League Two; probably with Orient. Needs to drastically improve his positioning before anyone will take a chance on him.

I think you have been on the magic mushrooms.

If things go well for Koroma will Definately make championship. Happe has a better chance than Marvin as there is a 3 year age difference and Happe is much more composed on the ball. Bonne not sure will make a league one player, next season will give us some answers.

[Proposition Joe]

Happe more composed on the ball than Marvin? Literal LOL. They're both brilliant, mind. On that we can agree.

[Still's Carenae]

Exactly. Players out of contract this summer presents an opportunity to move on and improve. Cannot remember the situation with players on expiring deals after 2005/06.

Virtually all the players stayed. Finished 14th first season from memory, then upgraded with Thornton and Chambers.

[Proposition Joe]

Man, Chambers was good. The absolute perfect signing for us at that time.

Although your memory is playing tricks. 2006/7 Chambers was already there and we finished 20th.

[Smendrick Feaselberg]

Exactly. Players out of contract this summer presents an opportunity to move on and improve. Cannot remember the situation with players on expiring deals after 2005/06.

Virtually all the players stayed. Finished 14th first season from memory, then upgraded with Thornton and Chambers.

Sorry, I should have said the situation with the number of players on expiring deals after 2005/06, as it may have been we couldn't have moved on from some of them with term still remaining on their contract. This season we have, what, seven? So there's definitely opportunities to both upgrade and retain at least some consistency.

[Thor]

Happe more composed on the ball than Marvin? Literal LOL. They're both brilliant, mind. On that we can agree.

Yes he is defo more composed than Marvin. When Happe improves on his positioning he will be some player. I’m not knocking Marvin here as I think he’s fantastic and too good for us and is the better player of the two mentioned. I just think Dan has more grace and elegance about him right now.

[Smendrick Feaselberg]

Happe more composed on the ball than Marvin? Literal LOL. They're both brilliant, mind. On that we can agree.

Yes he is defo more composed than Marvin. When Happe improves on his positioning he will be some player. I’m not knocking Marvin here as I think he’s fantastic and too good for us and is the better player of the two mentioned. I just think Dan has more grace and elegance about him right now.

Not convinced Ekpiteta is too good for us at the moment as a League Two team until he significantly improves his distribution (which he certainly can do this season and go on to be an even better player).

But he has a nice first name that people like to use instead of his surname so I think that makes him seem better than he is to some of our fans.

[Proposition Joe]

Weird.

[Kitch’s Magic Toes]

I still think we might be overestimating just how good these 'youngsters' are. Koroma is the one with the potential to go the furthest, can see him being a long standing Championship player, just hope he's getting paid what he's worth and sticks around for a while yet.

I'm less concerned about offers coming in for the other 3.

Baffling that anyone doesn’t think that Ekpiteta is the top prospect. He’s tall, quick, tough, excellent on the ball in tight situations and a danger at set pieces. A long spell in the Championship awaits. Koroma is a show pony who will carve out an inconsistent career in the bottom two divisions after an initial move to Huddersfield. He doesn’t have the physical attributes to cut it in the second tier. Bonne is at best a mid-table League One player who could do with another season with us and Happe is all set for a decade in League Two; probably with Orient. Needs to drastically improve his positioning before anyone will take a chance on him.

I think you have been on the magic mushrooms.

If things go well for Koroma will Definately make championship. Happe has a better chance than Marvin as there is a 3 year age difference and Happe is much more composed on the ball. Bonne not sure will make a league one player, next season will give us some answers.

Koroma will get a move to the Championship, for sure. This summer, in fact. He’s scored some flashy goals and he sometimes makes National League defenders look silly. He has ‘a bit of magic’ about him on a good day. But he has major deficiencies with strength, acceleration (possibly due to poor anticipation rather than a physical problem), decision-making, passing and off the ball movement, all of which will affect his end product at Championship level. Plus he has on-field temperament issues. Good player, but there’s a reason that he stayed with Orient when Alzate, Dalby, Adeboyejo and Abrahams all moved on.

As for Happe being “more composed”, lol. He strikes the ball better than Marvin does, but that is a world away from being more composed. Look back on the number of misplaced low passes Happe tries to play into other players’ (who are often under pressure themselves) feet. Then compare that to how Marvin beats pressure with a body swerve and brings the ball out himself. It’s a world of difference.

[CreamofSumYungGai]

Some really bizarre analysis of our young prospects on this thread.

[bobo66]

I must admit, I don't think Koroma is ready for a move to a higher division. He can be brilliant on his day, but he can always be completely anonymous when it's not. Mind you a lot of players are like that. I also agree that he is not strong enough. I think he could improve, so another year with us would be good for him and us obviously.

Of course it depends on what offers are received and what the advice from his agent will be (I hate agents). It would be a shame to see him, or any of the others, go to a Championship side and just warm the bench, (or not even that).

[CreamofSumYungGai]

You could easily see him going to a Leeds or whoevers U23 side (he's still only 20!), play no football this season but pull in a decent wage, then get loaned out to a L1 club the season after next.

Hopefully he's still in contact with the likes of Abrahams and will realise there's a lot of merit to sticking around here for another season yet, possibly longer.

[orienfan64920]

If you think Happe is more composed than Marv you've not watched us enough this season

[Red_Army]

Both Happe and Ekpiteta have flaws that mean right now they would not be suitable to 2nd or maybe even third flight football. Happe is completely one footed to the extent that he will only use his right foot as a last resort. Ekpiteta can be caught with a ball in behind between him and a centre back and can be caught out by pace- as can Happe. Both were excellent last season and are excellent prospects, but I would be shocked if either of them were playing football in the Championship next season. They could adapt to league 1 in my view, but I couldn't see a championship side paying enough money to prise away a player that has never played outside of non-league (Ekpiteta), or a couple of games in lge 2 (Happe).

[OyinbO]

Some really bizarre analysis of our young prospects on this thread.

Agree.

The age thing is important here. Ekipteta & Bonne have got 3 years on Happe & Koroma. I would say that this makes Bonne a higher flight risk (because he is closer to his peak) and Ekpiteta a lower one (because he actually has less of a track record at a relatively advanced age).

Koroma & Happe are somewhere in the middle, and unlikely to go IMO because they have more time on their side to develop in a comfortable but still improving situation here. Both will know very well what has happened to Alzate, Abrahams, Dalby et al and would be very receptive to the argument that the long-term arc of their careers would be better served by growing more gradually and sustainably with Orient. And both are somewhat raw and inconsistent still, so while clubs from a higher level may very well be interested, I'm not sure they'd be able to offer enough to prise them away from a club on the up that was determined to keep them.

I think that, even in Bonne's case, so long as we're still challenging next season and the prospect of League 1 football here is getting closer, he'll stay. The only thing that might change that is if he has a stormer in Egypt this summer and the offers get a bit silly.

[Still's Carenae]

Agree with most of OyinbO. One thing about Bonne is that he has always scored goals. A league one side may well take a chance on him.

Last night would have shown Koroma and Happe the real difference in playing senior football. I would not be surprised if we had bids for several of our players. Hopefully not high enough to prize them away.

[Still's Carenae]

Man, Chambers was good. The absolute perfect signing for us at that time.

Although your memory is playing tricks. 2006/7 Chambers was already there and we finished 20th.

Went back and checked. Amazed at the number of players we used. The bad runs after winning 2 out of our first 3 games, went 11 games without winning (sounds familiar). But with 9 games to go we had 45 points and only picked up 6 in the next 9 games. I had obviously forgotten about this poor end of the season.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Some really bizarre analysis of our young prospects on this thread.

Agree.

The age thing is important here. Ekipteta & Bonne have got 3 years on Happe & Koroma. I would say that this makes Bonne a higher flight risk (because he is closer to his peak) and Ekpiteta a lower one (because he actually has less of a track record at a relatively advanced age).

Koroma & Happe are somewhere in the middle, and unlikely to go IMO because they have more time on their side to develop in a comfortable but still improving situation here. Both will know very well what has happened to Alzate, Abrahams, Dalby et al and would be very receptive to the argument that the long-term arc of their careers would be better served by growing more gradually and sustainably with Orient. And both are somewhat raw and inconsistent still, so while clubs from a higher level may very well be interested, I'm not sure they'd be able to offer enough to prise them away from a club on the up that was determined to keep them.

I think that, even in Bonne's case, so long as we're still challenging next season and the prospect of League 1 football here is getting closer, he'll stay. The only thing that might change that is if he has a stormer in Egypt this summer and the offers get a bit silly.

Forgot Bonne was playing in the African cup of nations this summer. He’s never got injured for us so all but guarantee he’ll be out for a while after getting injured for his country. Great!

[CreamofSumYungGai]

Some really bizarre analysis of our young prospects on this thread.

Agree.

The age thing is important here. Ekipteta & Bonne have got 3 years on Happe & Koroma. I would say that this makes Bonne a higher flight risk (because he is closer to his peak) and Ekpiteta a lower one (because he actually has less of a track record at a relatively advanced age).

Koroma & Happe are somewhere in the middle, and unlikely to go IMO because they have more time on their side to develop in a comfortable but still improving situation here. Both will know very well what has happened to Alzate, Abrahams, Dalby et al and would be very receptive to the argument that the long-term arc of their careers would be better served by growing more gradually and sustainably with Orient. And both are somewhat raw and inconsistent still, so while clubs from a higher level may very well be interested, I'm not sure they'd be able to offer enough to prise them away from a club on the up that was determined to keep them.

I think that, even in Bonne's case, so long as we're still challenging next season and the prospect of League 1 football here is getting closer, he'll stay. The only thing that might change that is if he has a stormer in Egypt this summer and the offers get a bit silly.

Good analysis, the difference in ages is critical.

Bonne may well be a target for L1 clubs but don’t see too many Championship sides getting involved. And if they did, he wouldn’t be getting much football. The only real threat is if a biggish L1 sides makes him a silly offer. Hopefully the positive environment here and the potential we have may be enough to swing it.

I still see Koroma and Happe as the most likely targets. Looking at what was on offer last night, Villa could take both of them now and they’d be right up there even though they’ve still got 3 years at U23 level. I’m sure that would apply to lots of Championship clubs. JK was saying last night he couldn’t play U23 football every week, they’ll both still be in touch with Tristan and seen what’s happened there, I’m hopeful they’ll also see the positives of staying.

[Proposition Joe]

Man, Chambers was good. The absolute perfect signing for us at that time.

Although your memory is playing tricks. 2006/7 Chambers was already there and we finished 20th.

Went back and checked. Amazed at the number of players we used. The bad runs after winning 2 out of our first 3 games, went 11 games without winning (sounds familiar). But with 9 games to go we had 45 points and only picked up 6 in the next 9 games. I had obviously forgotten about this poor end of the season.

Same, my memories vs what actually happened are significantly different.

[Red_Army]

With the players that left it needs to be remembered that it can't be proven that they made the 'wrong choice' yet. They would all probably be breaking through now or would have been sold before anybody had heard of them in normal circumstances.

I accept that Abrahams' contract is up this summer, but there's no reason all three can't go on to have great careers, potentially better than if they had stayed at Orient.

[Kitch’s Magic Toes]

Double post.

[Kitch’s Magic Toes]

I still think we might be overestimating just how good these 'youngsters' are. Koroma is the one with the potential to go the furthest, can see him being a long standing Championship player, just hope he's getting paid what he's worth and sticks around for a while yet.

I'm less concerned about offers coming in for the other 3.

Baffling that anyone doesn’t think that Ekpiteta is the top prospect. He’s tall, quick, tough, excellent on the ball in tight situations and a danger at set pieces. A long spell in the Championship awaits. Koroma is a show pony who will carve out an inconsistent career in the bottom two divisions after an initial move to Huddersfield. He doesn’t have the physical attributes to cut it in the second tier. Bonne is at best a mid-table League One player who could do with another season with us and Happe is all set for a decade in League Two; probably with Orient. Needs to drastically improve his positioning before anyone will take a chance on him.

Well, I did tell you all a month ago...