Leyton Orient’s 4-2 defeat to Forest Green Rovers this weekend was marred by post-match allegations made by Interim Head Coach Ross Embleton against Forest Green manager Mark Cooper.
The 38-year-old, alleges that his opposite number in the Forest Green dugout called him an “imposter” and remarked “Who do you think you are? Justin Edinburgh?”
Edinburgh tragically passed away in June at the age of 49 and Embleton worked under the former Spurs defender as assistant manager throughout his time at Orient.
The alleged incident occurred in the aftermath of Ebou Adams’ opener for FGR, with Embleton being subsequently sent to the stands after he was seen to retaliate to Cooper’s purported comments by throwing his chewing gum at the former Swindon manager.
Denied
Forest Green’s Chairman, Dale Vince, released a statement after the game stating that his manager denies the claims, adding that “he and Justin were close friends.”
Vince went onto say that the officials have both confirmed they didn’t hear the alleged jibe and that Embleton “has to look at himself for the reason for his behaviour.”
Despite the furore surrounding off the field matters, Orient fell to another disappointing defeat on the pitch, with most of the damage being done in the first half.
A brace from former O’s midfielder Adams helped the away side race into a three goal lead at the interval.
Many O’s fans still haven’t forgiven Adams for not joining the club on a permanent basis following his successful loan spell in 2018 and the Gambian’s gamesmanship in the first half helped to whip up a frenzied atmosphere in E10.
Near Revival
The O’s were a much better side in the second half, in part due to the introduction of Jordan Maguire-Drew at the break.
The former Brighton winger’s precise delivery from a wide free kick was met by the head of Matt Harrold to pull one back for the home side ten minutes after the restart.
Lee Angol made his first league start since returning from injury and he must receive a lot of the plaudits for Orient’s second goal.
The 25-year-old showed great ability to break free down the left hand side and whip a ball in towards Maguire-Drew, who got enough on his strike to beat Joe Wollacott in the Rovers goal at his near post.
End to End
The game’s sliding doors moment came in the 87th minute when, after a barrage of O’s corners, Josh Coulson crashed an effort off the crossbar. The visitors then broke and added a fourth through Junior Mondal to put the game beyond any doubt.
Mondal’s goal condemned Orient to their third consecutive league defeat, however a lot of the attention will now shift to what was said in the dugouts early on in the match.
ORIENT: Brill, Turley, Coulson, Happe, Ling (Alabi 90”), Gorman (Maguire-Drew 46”), Clay, Wright, Brophy, Harrold, Angol
BENCH: Sargeant, Ekpiteta, Dennis, Marsh, Ogie
BOOKED: Clay 39”. Brophy 40”, Turley 49”
GOALS: Harrold 55”, Maguire-Drew 78”
FOREST GREEN: Wollacott, Shephard, Bernard, Mills, Rawson, Winchester, Stevens (McGinley 90”), Collins, Adams, Mills, Aitchison (Dawson 78”)
BENCH: Thomas, Morton, Godwin-Malfie, Mondal, Taylor
BOOKED: Adams 54”
GOALS: Adams 15”, 33”, Stevens 43”, Mondal 88”
REF: Christopher Sarginson ATT: 4614 (264)
