Independent Leyton Orient Forum

Scuba Diver wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:16 am

Apple Wumble wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:38 am Can't blame him. He's not that young any more and might not get another chance.

I really liked him as a player. He came from nothing and in the promotion season was outstanding in almost every game. Was slow out of the gates in League Two but grew into it. I think League One might be a little bit of a struggle for him if i'm completely honest but i hope he smashes it.

I think it's a real shame that we couldn't sign him. I just hope it wasn't purely money after the amount we must have spent on someone like Coulson extending his contract.

Agree completely. A real shame to lose him. Not gonna criticise the club, as sometimes you simply cannot stop a player leaving, but we need a replacement asap.

PoliticOs wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:25 am It's really not the end of the world. He wasn't even a great League Two player and he is about to turn 25. We can find someone at least as good or get another young player with potential in. Would have been cool if he stayed but not worth any hysterics. Hope he does really well at Blackpool though, seems a good lad.

DuvB wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:20 am

Scuba Diver wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:16 am

Apple Wumble wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:38 am Can't blame him. He's not that young any more and might not get another chance.

I really liked him as a player. He came from nothing and in the promotion season was outstanding in almost every game. Was slow out of the gates in League Two but grew into it. I think League One might be a little bit of a struggle for him if i'm completely honest but i hope he smashes it.

I think it's a real shame that we couldn't sign him. I just hope it wasn't purely money after the amount we must have spent on someone like Coulson extending his contract.

Agree completely. A real shame to lose him. Not gonna criticise the club, as sometimes you simply cannot stop a player leaving, but we need a replacement asap.

Well we still have Turley, Happe (if we dont sell him), Coulson and maybe Ogie in that position. Its not the end of the world. We will probably bring in another centre half as back up as well.

RedO wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:14 am

Millennial Snowflake wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:59 am We literally turned down a £200k bid from Rotherham last summer. If you ask me, we should have accepted it as it's crazy money for someone like him. But this was around the same time we'd just sold Bonne and Koroma, and there would have been an extra mega meltdown had we let all three of them go.

If anyone had literally offered £200k for him, do you honestly think he would still be here? Like, seriously?

Millennial Snowflake wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:31 am

RedO wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:14 am

Millennial Snowflake wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:59 am We literally turned down a £200k bid from Rotherham last summer. If you ask me, we should have accepted it as it's crazy money for someone like him. But this was around the same time we'd just sold Bonne and Koroma, and there would have been an extra mega meltdown had we let all three of them go.

If anyone had literally offered £200k for him, do you honestly think he would still be here? Like, seriously?

I know for a fact someone offered £200k for him and we rejected it. Probably because we’d already sold Bonne and Koroma and a) didn’t need the money at the time and b) didn’t want to lose 3 key players in one summer and risk going straight back down

Top of the JES wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:02 am Good Luck to him. He and his agent have clearly had this on the back burner for several months, genuinely hope he does well for them. No-one on this board or anywhere else should hold it against him because it's the way football is these days, we plucked him out of non league and gave his talents a platform now he has the chance on a higher stage. shame there is no fee but hopefully we will pick another young talent to replace him.

I always feel that defenders/goalkeepers are more easily replaced than midfielders/forwards I will be more upset if/when Ruel leaves.

DuvB wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:20 am

Scuba Diver wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:16 am

Apple Wumble wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:38 am Can't blame him. He's not that young any more and might not get another chance.

I really liked him as a player. He came from nothing and in the promotion season was outstanding in almost every game. Was slow out of the gates in League Two but grew into it. I think League One might be a little bit of a struggle for him if i'm completely honest but i hope he smashes it.

I think it's a real shame that we couldn't sign him. I just hope it wasn't purely money after the amount we must have spent on someone like Coulson extending his contract.

Agree completely. A real shame to lose him. Not gonna criticise the club, as sometimes you simply cannot stop a player leaving, but we need a replacement asap.

Well we still have Turley, Happe (if we dont sell him), Coulson and maybe Ogie in that position. Its not the end of the world. We will probably bring in another centre half as back up as well.

TourDeO wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:55 am Maybe we can sign his twin brother from Newport - save printing costs on the shirt and training kit? Shame to see him leave but I cannot blame him for wanting to better himself at the age of 25. I am really not worried about anyone leaving as there will be so many decent players without a club - will be some real gems to sign if we do our research.

DuvB wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:20 am

Scuba Diver wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:16 am

Apple Wumble wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:38 am Can't blame him. He's not that young any more and might not get another chance.

I really liked him as a player. He came from nothing and in the promotion season was outstanding in almost every game. Was slow out of the gates in League Two but grew into it. I think League One might be a little bit of a struggle for him if i'm completely honest but i hope he smashes it.

I think it's a real shame that we couldn't sign him. I just hope it wasn't purely money after the amount we must have spent on someone like Coulson extending his contract.

Agree completely. A real shame to lose him. Not gonna criticise the club, as sometimes you simply cannot stop a player leaving, but we need a replacement asap.

Well we still have Turley, Happe (if we dont sell him), Coulson and maybe Ogie in that position. Its not the end of the world. We will probably bring in another centre half as back up as well.

HeyO wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:08 pm

DuvB wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:20 am

Scuba Diver wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:16 am

Agree completely. A real shame to lose him. Not gonna criticise the club, as sometimes you simply cannot stop a player leaving, but we need a replacement asap.

Well we still have Turley, Happe (if we dont sell him), Coulson and maybe Ogie in that position. Its not the end of the world. We will probably bring in another centre half as back up as well.

Turley the sicknote?

gshaw wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:23 pm Not surprised by this tbh, mentally he seemed to be halfway out the door after last summer's transfer speculation and never seemed settled after that.

He's been a good value signing for us, a vital part of the promotion squad and for what we paid 2.5 years of a decent player is money well spent. Wish him well for Blackpool, needs to improve that first touch though as it was getting exploited even at L2 level. Young enough to improve though with good coaching as he has all the right physical attributes to be successful.

The key now is how we replace him. I hope Ogie isn't the "signing" given how Embleton barely gave him a minute of game time season just gone.

For me the way we scouted Ekpiteta is the model for the future, snaffle promising young pros cheap and develop them. Cut price Peterborough if you will.