WHAT an incredible week! In four days we have performed brilliantly, and contrived to win in the best possible way, and lose in the worst possible way.

For drama, you couldn’t beat the 90 minutes we saw at Leyton Orient on Saturday. There were plots and sub-plots, drama and intrigue everywhere you looked, on the pitch and off it.

Poor Russell Slade appears to be a dead man walking, surrounded by decision makers talking Italian!

Magnus Okuonghae wanted to be first in the showers, and was sent off after 40 minutes. Frankie Kent came on to mark Darius Henderson which is a bit like trying to mark an immovable object! It’s rarely possible to get round him, over him, or under him, but he was snuffed out so that he was ineffective.

Special mention for Alex Gilbey and Sam Walker.  There is a wonderful simplicity about Alex’s passing.  He finds space by turning away from trouble with real quality and always picks the right pass. Defensively he works like mad.  

Sam’s kicking was a bit nervy, although he did pick me out perfectly with a goal kick in the first half. Unfortunately, I was in Row D of the Main Stand. Forgiveable, as his keeping was otherwise immaculate.

There is no bad way to win, but some are better than others, and the win at Orient was one of the best. Cue Sheffield United, and the reverse situation.

2-0 up with 8 minutes left, with the crowd saluting Freddie Sears, reborn as the amazing wonderkid who burst into the West Ham first team a few years ago. Maybe we thought we had it won.

Maybe the danger signs were there, but were only recognisable after the event.  Maybe the sight of a player taking on three players and losing the ball in the wrong area of the pitch, or shooting from 25 yards when better options are available, were the warning signs.  

No doubt we could have tracked better and defended the penalty area better instead of getting pulled wide. Maybe an old head out there would have sensed that we were in danger of not managing the final 10 minutes very well.

Or maybe the young lads had been so hyped-up and adrenalin-fuelled after the Orient victory that they’d had difficulty sleeping and recharging, and it eventually it caught up with them. Maybe it was sheer physical exhaustion. Lots of maybe’s!

The conclusion is that we organised ourselves defensively for 170 of the last 180 minutes, but then, on the point of exhaustion, we got got hit by a whirlwind, which happened so quick that we didn’t have time to think and regroup. Sheffield United will never be so lucky again, which is no doubt why they were blasted by their manager after their narrow escape from defeat.

Whatever the case, it was overall a marvellous performance, with Sears, Gilbey, Moncur, Eastman, Kent and Szmodics all close to sensational.

The gentleman of the press and radio were left to ask depressing questions they didn’t want to be asking. I wanted to ask the biggest question of whether players had held up their hands without being told, but really that is a matter for behind closed doors.

Ultimately, we did enough to win, but also enough to lose. End of story. On to Bradford City which will be a whole new story.