Lisbie provides the goals - and the food

Former Addicks striker Super Kevin Lisbie is providing lots of goals for table topping Leyton Orient. He scored his ninth of the season in yesterday's 2-1 victory over MK Dons with what was rated as a 'clever finish'.

However, Super Kev is also providing the meals when the team breaks for training on away trips. His wife Joanna cooks West Indian meals for the striker and the other players used to smell it and ask for some. A deal was agreed whereby Joanna gets paid for providing 15-20 meals for each away trip. No recipes are provided, but chicken seems to feature prominently.

New rival for Charlton?

For a brief period at the beginning of the 1930s it seemed as if the mysterious club Thames might serve as a rival to Charlton. But the club created to use a ground soon collapsed and we absorbed a number of their players.

When Thames folded, a merger approach was made to the Custom House club by Clapton Orient, later Leyton Orient. Now Orient have aspirations to play in the Olympic Stadium and owner Barry Hearn has suggested that, if they succeed, they will re-branded as London Orient: Orient

I have nothing against Orient at all, but this does strike me as a singularly daft idea. Orient's average attendance last season was 4,298, but Hearn reckons that with the stadium move and re-branding, he can attract 27,000, which would be a capacity crowd for us. I don't think there are that many foot loose mugs out there.

Of course, we have had our re-branding issues. In the 1950s the club were known as the Robins, which always invited confusion with other clubs such as the 'Rocking' Robins of Swindon. The club tried to rebrand us as the Valiants, which also invited confusion with other clubs. The name never caught on among the fans, although ignorant members of the media occasionally use it.

I always thought 'Robins' was a bit anodyne, although, of course, we keep the jaunty Red, Red Robin song. We have reverted to our original nickname of Addicks. Some years ago I talked to a lady who went to games with her father in the 1920s and c confirmed that it was used then as a corruption of 'Addocks.

Of course if this name change idea catches on, goodness knows what might happen. Let me know if you see branding consultants around The Valley.

Orient look for victory

With Chris Powell hinting that he may put out less than his full first choice eleven in tonight's Capital One match, Leyton Orient are hoping for victory: Orient

Saturday's clash at Birmingham City is clearly more important. Also, it would be good to see the likes of Wilson, Cook and Kerkar given a run out. Reports on Kerkar pre-season have been particularly promising despite Rangers fans saying that he was no good.

Orient have not had a particularly good pre-season, but as the writer of the linked article points out, this does not really tell us very much.

What we can do without is extra time and penalties. We don't want anything that will tire players ahead of Saturday's match, or more worrying, lead them to pick up injuries.

I can't get down from the Midlands, but either Paul May or Liz Horton will provide match coverage.

Massive result for Sheffield Wednesday last night who went behind at mighty Oldham but showed their Premiership potential to fight back and win 4-2.

Orient looking to 'turn over' Charlton

Leyton Orient are looking to 'turn over' Charlton at the Capital One cup clash between the clubs at The Valley next week: Orient

As the Orient boss points out, the timing of this game is a bit odd and it is difficult to believe that there will be a big attendance. Really it looks like a higher grade practice match and it is quite possible that a joyful Orient will make the return journey through the Blackwall tunnel.

Defeat in front of the Sky TV cameras

Last night I saw the top-uf-the-table Elite League ice hockey clash between Coventry Blaze and Nottingham Panthers (you can see it on Sky on Friday). Whoever won would go top and the Panthers were deserved victors at 3-1. They were just faster to the puck, quicker on the counter attack, better at keeping possession and more solid in defence than Blaze.

Sound a bit like Charlton? I might add that Nottingham are the Manchester United of British ice hockey with their big rink and large following (4,500 at home games).

Incidentally, the game ended with the fight of all fights right in front of us which included a di Canio style shove on one of the officials; a blazing row all round the rink between the player and the lino; and the rare award of a penalty for 'abusing an official' on the Panther responsible.

I stayed behind rinkside afterwards and it was interesting to observe the mood of he crowd: subdued, disappointed, upset, even frustrated, but not angry. And believe me, for some of these people ice hockey is their sporting life, no great surprise when you learn that some of them are former Sky Blues fans.

There was quite a contrast with the febrile atmosphere at The Valley despite the team exceeding my expectations this season and still being in contention for automatic promotion.

Of course, the British love to whinge. I have never noticed the same level of complaining at baseball matches in the States or rules matches in Australia. They like to complain about the weather, the government, their boss, their relatives, South Eastern trains (with good reason in that case) and above all their own football team.

I listened to the Hartlepool match and it sounded like quite a good performance which was confirmed by the BBC report. Yet the very firm consensus of those who were there was that Charlton were awful despite winning. I suspect that part of the story is that Hartlepool's young side played well above their usual standard, motivated by the fact that they had nothing to lose but might gain a 'scalp' from the big club.

This is League 1 and we are a League 1 team. We have very few really talented players (ones that other clubs might pay a significant sum to buy) and two of them are very inconsistent within a game (Sam and Shelvey). Bailey is my candidate for player of the year, but he cannot run the whole game or compensate for the deficiencies of other players.

I also think that the margin between teams in this league, although it certainly exists, is not so big that any team cannot be defeated by any other team. We did the double over Hartlepool and Wycombe, but it wasn't easy in either case.

No doubt Sky will try and big this up as a local derby and it is a short trip through the Blackwall Tunnel for Orient. But I can't say that I have ever thought of Orient as major rivals. We have never been in a division together for all that long.

Orient have undergone some strengthening through loans and Scott McGleish is a player who knows how to operate at this level and may relish a goal at the club where his involvement was limited to cameos as a late substitute.

Although a 1-1 is not an impossible outcome, I think that we probably have enough in the locker to beat Orient. The television cameras used to be a bit of a bogey for us, but not for some time. Incidentally, the £30,000 fee we will receive is not great compensation for the loss of 'walk up' sales on a cold winter's night.

Philppa Nicholson will be leaving chambers earlier than usual (I nearly said 'drop her briefs') to get to the game. The legal eagle will bring the zest and confidence to her report that she deploys in court, in so far as one can on obscure commercial cases.

Talking of the law, Norwich have emphatically denied that they are in any danger of going into administration and have indicated that they will issue legal proceedings against the Sunday newspaper that made such a claim.

Leeds have now decided to concentrate on the cups (they still have to go to Carlisle in the JPT) and are showing signs of faltering in the league, but with Norwich they must be (and are) odds on favourites for automatic promotion. BTW, Northwich Victoria's win over us did them no good as it looks as if they are going to be relegated again for failing to pay football debts.

If you are going, enjoy the game and wrap up warm.