Tag Archives: Leyton Orient

A Leyton Orient fan’s view of Gavin Massey

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Fan Views and tagged with , , , , , ,

 

Wigan Athletic have announced the signing of Gavin Massey from Leyton Orient. The 24 year old forward, 5 ft 8 in tall, was a free agent following the London club’s relegation from the EFL.

On signing Massey, Latics manager Paul Cook commented on the club’s website that: “Gavin is a player we feel can do really well for us. He played against Portsmouth twice last season and scored a great goal at Fratton Park. He’s quick, strong and committed and can operate anywhere across the front three. For a player of his age, he has a lot of experience and has played a lot in this division. He adds great competition to the squad.”

Gavin Massey was born in Watford and is a product of their Harefield Academy. The Watford manager at the time, Malky Mackay, gave him his first team debut as a 17 year old in May 2010 at Coventry, soon after which he signed his first professional contract. In March 2011, he was loaned out to Wealdstone. He went on to make 6 appearances for the Isthmian League side in the 6 weeks of the loan period, scoring one goal. After making an appearance for Watford in mid-August 2011 Massey was sent on loan to Yeovil Town in September. He went on to make 16 appearances for the West Country club, scoring 4 goals before returning to Watford in mid-January 2012. However, just over a week later he joined Colchester United on a one month loan.

After returning to Watford he was to be released on a free transfer to return to Colchester. Massey went on to make 158 appearances for the U’s, scoring 20 goals, in four years with them. In the summer of 2016 Leyton Orient paid Colchester an undisclosed fee to sign Massey. He went on to make 36 appearances, scoring 4 goals, last season.

In order to find out more about Massey’s performance over the last season we contacted Matt Simpson of the Leyton Orient blog View from the West Stand, who put us in touch with David Thompson (@DavidTh64301889).

Here are David’s responses to our questions:

What positions has he played in for Orient? Which is his best?

He started off playing right midfield and did quite well early on, even scoring 3 minutes into his debut.  He then had a slight knock and sort of disappeared in games for a little bit.  To be honest I think that was more to do with the complete circus surrounding the club at the time and him suddenly realising what he had got himself into!  Around Christmas time he came back into the side and was playing as a number 10, off of a front man and at times as a more advanced forward.  He was superb at this point and scored some great goals (check out his goal away at Portsmouth on YouTube).

What are his strengths and weaknesses as a player?

He’s actually quicker than he looks – he’s not a jet healed type winger but is quite fast.  He can put a decent cross in and has a decent touch.   He scored a few goals for us, a couple of which were crackers from distance.  It’s hard to call him out on weaknesses, as at times he was playing in a terrible side, put together by whatever sucker / idiot / victim was selected as manager that week.  He’s not the most defensive player you will see and can go missing a bit.

How does he relate to the fans? Is he a team player? Does he show commitment?

He was popular with the fans, especially around Christmas when he was putting on a one man show at times to try and keep us up. Personally, I think losing him around April time to injury was one of the major nails in the coffin of our relegation as he had been playing so well and teams were scared of him.  His effort from Christmas on was excellent and cannot be faulted.  If I was being cynical I could say he was playing for a move as he could see the writing on the wall for Orient, but let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was getting stuck in.

What kind of potential does he have? Would you have him back at the O’s?

He has a lot of potential.  He’s only 24/25 I think and could play at least Championship in my opinion.  He needs a decent run of games and a team that’s going to go on the offensive in games, allowing him to get in and around the box where he is a hand full.   Would I have him back?  Absolutely.  The rumour is we paid out around 200K for him.  On a free he’s a bargain.

 

 
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A Cardiff fan’s view of Alex Revell

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Fan Views and tagged with , , , , ,

RevellIt was announced yesterday that Wigan Athletic have signed 32 year old Cardiff target man Alex Revell on a short term loan until January 23rd .

The 6 ft 3 in tall Revell was born in Cambridge and is a product of the Cambridge United youth system. After a four year spell with United in League 2, making 57 appearances and scoring 8 goals, he moved on to non-league Braintree Town. After scoring 39 goals in 65 appearances and helping Braintree get promotion to the Conference South, Revell signed for Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer of 2005 for £8,000.

After scoring 21 goals in 59 appearances in a two and a half year stay in Brighton, Revell moved on to Southend United in January 2008 for a fee of £150,000. In January 2009 Revell broke his leg in a game against Leyton Orient, missing the remainder of the season. In the 2009-10 season he was sent out on loan to Swindon Town and Wycombe Wanderers. During his time at Roots Hall, Revell had made 34 appearances, scoring 6 goals.

In summer 2010 he joined Leyton Orient, where he stayed for a year, and scoring 13 goals in 44 appearances. At the end of August 2011, Revell signed for League 2 Rotherham United. He went on to become a fan favourite as Rotherham climbed up to the Championship division under the management of Steve Evans.  In his four years there Revell made 150 appearances, scoring 28 goals.

Revell scored Rotherham’s first goal in the 2014 League 1 playoff first leg against Preston. He went on to score two goals in the final when they drew 2-2 with Leyton Orient, before Rotherham won the resulting penalty shootout. Revell’s second goal had been a spectacular effort from 40 yards out.

In January 2015 Revell  joined Cardiff City for a £400,000 fee. At the time Evans told the Rotherham Advertiser that:

“Without Alex I couldn’t have been a Championship Manager, not just because of his two goals at Wembley but his performances all the way through the last season. During my time here there has only been about two or three occasions when he’s not played when not injured. The greatest tribute I can give him is that the highlights he has given me as a manager will be in my thoughts on my deathbed – and I can’t say that about many players. He’s been stunning and he’s a great individual and pro off and on the pitch.”

On signing for Cardiff,  Revell was rejoining Russell Slade who had been his manager at Leyton Orient. However, he has had a hard time at the Welsh club, scoring just two goals in 15 starts and 10 appearances off the bench.

In order to learn more about Revell’s time at Cardiff we have once more reached out to Benjamin James of the View from the Ninian site (@ViewFromTheNin).

Here’s over to Ben:

Alex Revell kind of looks like a footballer in as much as he has the boots and plays professionally for Cardiff. I don’t want to be too harsh on him but I have spent the best part of ten months bemoaning his lack of ability. He’s never been a prolific striker and when Slade signed him, it was clear he was never going to anything other than a back-up to Jones.

Due to our lack of options this season, he has started more games than I thought he would but he’s never made a big impact. A big man up top, he seems to struggle to win headers. A willing runner who rarely threatens the goal, he’s only managed a couple in his time at Cardiff – one was a spectacular one at Brentford last year and he does seem to have the odd belter in his locker.

It’s an odd departure for us; another striker of ours has just been ruled out for six weeks and Revell leaving means Jones and Mason are only out and out strikers who aren’t injured or on loan. Either Slade is signing someone else or Revell is so poorly thought of, it doesn’t matter if he stays or not.

Saying this, he’ll probably smash them in for you lot. I’ll just be very, very surprised if he does. 

 

 

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