Orient depress

United's misery continued in East London this evening as they were humbled 3-0 by Orient. Steve Watts opened the scoring in the 16th minute, beating Ian McCaldon at the near post and John Martin doubled the score five minutes later with a rasping shot. Jabo Ibehre finished the scoring in the 59th minute as the Us revealed the limitations of their ability.

There was only one change from the humiliation at Mansfield, skipper Martin Thomas coming back into the side to replace Manny Omoyinmi as the formation reverted from 3-4-3 to 5-3-2. United made a double substitution at half-time as ROS Rob Folland replaced Sam Stockley and Paul Moody came off to be replaced by Stuart Douglas in the final game of his loan spell from Luton. Ten minutes into the second half Phil Bolland went off injured to be replaced by Jon Richardson.

Referee Bill Jordan booked two Oxford players in quick succession right at the end of the first half, Dean Whitehead and then Bolland receiving the yellow card. The attendance of 3,753 included over 470 Oxford followers who outsang the Orient fans throughout the game. Mark Wright, sat in the Directors Box adjacent to Firoz Kassam due to his four match ban commencing, left the ground without passing comment. A match report can be found here.

All the three teams below United also lost, so at least the club doesn't drop any closer to the bottom of the league. Halifax went down 3-0 at Hartlepool; Macclesfield lost 4-1 at Oxford's next opponents Cheltenham Town; Carlisle were defeated by a Nigel Jemson goal at home to Shrewsbury. Other significant results in the Third Division include Exeter beating local rivals Torquay 2-0 at Plainmoor, Bristol Rovers going down 1-0 at home to Mansfield, Luton losing 1-0 to Hull at Kenilworth Road, and Plymouth beating Southend 1-0 at Roots Hall. The only other former Us player to find the scoresheet was Marco Gabbiadini, who scored Northampton's goal in their 2-1 defeat at Wycombe.

Rare sighting of Bald Eagle

There were strong rumours circulating today that Kassam has been in discussions with former United manager Jim Smith regarding a Director of Football role. The rumours have not been confirmed and it is highly unlikely that Smith would accept such a job anyway, having already turned down a similar offer at Derby, stating his preference for a coaching position. 61 year old Smith would be a popular appointment amongst United supporters, but would run the same risk as Malcolm Shotton and it is probably best to let this particular speculation lie down and go to sleep. Radio Oxford reported that Smith turned down the post after having spoken to the previous incumbents Joe Kinnear and Ray Harford, although that appears to be as speculative as the original story.

Another rumour has broken this evening on the Mansfield Town Rivals site. According to this unlikely speculation Les Robinson is poised to move back to Oxford on the strength of his wife's unhappiness in the East Midlands, possibly with one eye on the United managerial or coaching position. File this one under “Believe it if it happens”, just slightly behind the Jim Smith rumour.