Independent Leyton Orient Forum

Was looking at upcoming fixtures and see that for almost the whole of the season Leyton O will play more away games than at home. In fact it will not be until Aoril 6th v Cheltenham when our home game totals will exceed away ones.

By the end of September for example we will have played 4 at home and 6 away. It will be 7 home and 9 away by end October, 9-11 November and finish the year at 12-13. January sees us at 14-16 after which the gap finally closes.

I suppose these things don’t matter over a season but it could be detrimental to any struggling sides chances of staying out of trouble. Similarly it might put the Os in a bit of a false position continually having home games in hand. It could even offer the possibility of a strong finish to the season.

Fixture anomaly? Orient like every other side in the division play 46 games of which 23 are at home and 23 are away.

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 6:59 am Fixture anomaly? Orient like every other side in the division play 46 games of which 23 are at home and 23 are away.

Where did he say we won’t play 46 games with 23 at home and 24 away please?

Rich Tea Wellin wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 7:08 am

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 6:59 am Fixture anomaly? Orient like every other side in the division play 46 games of which 23 are at home and 23 are away.

Where did he say we won’t play 46 games with 23 at home and 24 away please?

I really wouldn’t bother engaging with this tedious helmet if I were you. I’ve got him on foe.

Is it so hard to alternate home and away to keep thing’s equal? To play 3 of your first 4 games away is odd

Story of O wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 8:00 am Is it so hard to alternate home and away to keep thing’s equal? To play 3 of your first 4 games away is odd

If you have built in requirements such as minimising the amount of times Orient and West Ham play at home on the same day, and then at the same time have the Premier league playing midweek when we don't or vice versa, then everybody playing home and away alternatively does become difficult.

Story of O wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 8:00 am Is it so hard to alternate home and away to keep thing’s equal? To play 3 of your first 4 games away is odd

I thought it was caused by our pitch not being ready to be at home on the opening day of the season.

Chelmsford Swimmer wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 8:06 am

Story of O wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 8:00 am Is it so hard to alternate home and away to keep thing’s equal? To play 3 of your first 4 games away is odd

If you have built in requirements such as minimising the amount of times Orient and West Ham play at home on the same day, and then at the same time have the Premier league playing midweek when we don't or vice versa, then everybody playing home and away alternatively does become difficult.

I think you're right because this makes the most sense .

There's also geographical requirements for fixtures like boxing day. This isnt an anomoly.

By the 7th October we'd have played 6 at home and 6 away in the league

Anomaly is probably the wrong the word; just the way the fixtures have come out.

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 6:59 am Fixture anomaly? Orient like every other side in the division play 46 games of which 23 are at home and 23 are away.

This is quite possibly the most predictable post ever made in the history of all the Orient forums.

I have never looked at the order in which games come up before, having assumed that over the course of a season we would sometimes have played more home games than away ones. For this not to happen until game 43 does seem a bit strange.

It could be good that 9 out of our last 16 scheduled games will be home matches especially if we are in the mix promotion/relegation wise.

As an aside, I find it incredible that a simple observation about our fixture list should attract vitriol.
But when I looked at the usual suspects involved, its not that surprising.

It can all change with postponements.

I don’t think this is an anomaly at all, just a mathematical possibility.

If you take only a part of a whole, then it will produce differences from the whole.

If you took Saturday's game and only looked at a 2-minute spell when Cambridge was pressing you would say it was an anomaly that Cambridge had all the possession, but Orient won 2-0


What order the fixtures are played is irrelevant. The only league table that matters is after 46 games when every side has played everyone else.

It is mathematically impossible for every team to play the same number of home and away games throughout the season.



Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7
1v 8 7v 1 1v 6 5v 1 1v 4 3v 1 1v 2
2v 7 6v 2 2v 5 4v 2 2v 3 8v 2 7v 3
3v 6 5v 3 3v 4 8v 3 7v 5 4v 7 6v 4
4v 5 8v 4 7v 8 6v 7 6v 8 5v 6 5v 8



Take a simple 8 team league. Teams 1-4 are at home in week 1 and away in week 2, but in week 3, team 4 have a 2nd away game when 1,2 and 3 are at home.

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:35 pm
If you took Saturday's game and only looked at a 2-minute spell when Cambridge was pressing you would say it was an anomaly that Cambridge had all the possession, but Orient won 2-0

I don't mean to go all spen on yo' ass, but this is nonsense. 'Pressing' is something a team does when out of possession, trying to exert pressure on their opponents and regain the ball. When 'Cambridge was pressing' (sic), Orient were in possession, so it would not be an anomaly that we went on to win the game.

Damn that feels good!

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:35 pm

What order the fixtures are played is irrelevant. The only league table that matters is after 46 games when every side has played everyone else.

I don't mean to go all spen on yo' ass, but this is nonsense. The order in which games are played - whether home or away, top or bottom - absolutely does have an impact on the players' and staffs' psychology. Imagine your first 6 fixtures were all away against the best 6 sides in the division and you lose all 6 games. That is going to negatively impact the players morale and will likely carry over into their next games, potentially resulting in worse results than would have otherwise been obtained.

Damn that feels good!

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:35 pm


Take a simple 8 team league. Teams 1-4 are at home in week 1 and away in week 2, but in week 3, team 4 have a 2nd away game when 1,2 and 3 are at home.

How many of the 8 teams do you support, Spen?

Max Fowler wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 11:15 am

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 6:59 am Fixture anomaly? Orient like every other side in the division play 46 games of which 23 are at home and 23 are away.

This is quite possibly the most predictable post ever made in the history of all the Orient forums.

It’s so boring and puts people off posting. Utter tripe.

Max Fowler wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:12 pm

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:35 pm

What order the fixtures are played is irrelevant. The only league table that matters is after 46 games when every side has played everyone else.

I don't mean to go all spen on yo' ass, but this is nonsense. The order in which games are played - whether home or away, top or bottom - absolutely does have an impact on the players' and staffs' psychology. Imagine your first 6 fixtures were all away against the best 6 sides in the division and you lose all 6 games. That is going to negatively impact the players morale and will likely carry over into their next games, potentially resulting in worse results than would have otherwise been obtained.

Damn that feels good!

I admire you for trying but there seriously is no point engaging with this guy. Anyone who thinks that the order of fixtures is irrelevant is either being purposely obtuse or is a complete moron.

The Reverend wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 2:38 pm

Max Fowler wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:12 pm

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:35 pm

What order the fixtures are played is irrelevant. The only league table that matters is after 46 games when every side has played everyone else.

I don't mean to go all spen on yo' ass, but this is nonsense. The order in which games are played - whether home or away, top or bottom - absolutely does have an impact on the players' and staffs' psychology. Imagine your first 6 fixtures were all away against the best 6 sides in the division and you lose all 6 games. That is going to negatively impact the players morale and will likely carry over into their next games, potentially resulting in worse results than would have otherwise been obtained.

Damn that feels good!

I admire you for trying but there seriously is no point engaging with this guy. Anyone who thinks that the order of fixtures is irrelevant is either being purposely obtuse or is a complete moron.

Or simply holds a differing view to you.

They are also able to hold a debate without abuse or insults because someone sees things differently to you



Tell me how many home games or away games each team plays over a season?

It matters not if in first half of season you play an extra home game, it evens itself out over the season so you play same number of games home and away.

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 2:42 pm

The Reverend wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 2:38 pm

Max Fowler wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:12 pm

I don't mean to go all spen on yo' ass, but this is nonsense. The order in which games are played - whether home or away, top or bottom - absolutely does have an impact on the players' and staffs' psychology. Imagine your first 6 fixtures were all away against the best 6 sides in the division and you lose all 6 games. That is going to negatively impact the players morale and will likely carry over into their next games, potentially resulting in worse results than would have otherwise been obtained.

Damn that feels good!

I admire you for trying but there seriously is no point engaging with this guy. Anyone who thinks that the order of fixtures is irrelevant is either being purposely obtuse or is a complete moron.

Or simply holds a differing view to you.

They are also able to hold a debate without abuse or insults because someone sees things differently to you



Tell me how many home games or away games each team plays over a season?

It matters not if in first half of season you play an extra home game, it evens itself out over the season so you play same number of games home and away.

So if you played all your home games first and your last 23 games of the season were all away you don't think this would make any difference to performance?
Why do the fixture people bother about trying to balance out fixtures if it doesn't make any difference?

leebmx wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 4:53 pm

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 2:42 pm

The Reverend wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 2:38 pm

I admire you for trying but there seriously is no point engaging with this guy. Anyone who thinks that the order of fixtures is irrelevant is either being purposely obtuse or is a complete moron.

Or simply holds a differing view to you.

They are also able to hold a debate without abuse or insults because someone sees things differently to you



Tell me how many home games or away games each team plays over a season?

It matters not if in first half of season you play an extra home game, it evens itself out over the season so you play same number of games home and away.

So if you played all your home games first and your last 23 games of the season were all away you don't think this would make any difference to performance?
Why do the fixture people bother about trying to balance out fixtures if it doesn't make any difference?

Cashflow

PS I was talking about one more game at home or away in half a season - not all 23 games

spen666 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 2:42 pm

The Reverend wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 2:38 pm

Max Fowler wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:12 pm

I don't mean to go all spen on yo' ass, but this is nonsense. The order in which games are played - whether home or away, top or bottom - absolutely does have an impact on the players' and staffs' psychology. Imagine your first 6 fixtures were all away against the best 6 sides in the division and you lose all 6 games. That is going to negatively impact the players morale and will likely carry over into their next games, potentially resulting in worse results than would have otherwise been obtained.

Damn that feels good!

I admire you for trying but there seriously is no point engaging with this guy. Anyone who thinks that the order of fixtures is irrelevant is either being purposely obtuse or is a complete moron.

Or simply holds a differing view to you.

They are also able to hold a debate without abuse or insults because someone sees things differently to you



Tell me how many home games or away games each team plays over a season?

It matters not if in first half of season you play an extra home game, it evens itself out over the season so you play same number of games home and away.

Thanks for confirming that the answer was the second option: you’re a moron.

Goodbye again.