Orient re-union continues as Aiden Palmer signs

For someone who supposedly set up a scouting network for Hibs while he was between jobs, Lingy's little black book seems suspiciously full of players with Leyton Orient on their CV.

Nothing wrong with that of course, just so long as we're not going to restrict ourselves entirely to ex-O's men when it comes to boosting our squad - I'd hate to think that we might end up doing something heinous like re-employing Luke Guttridge.

The arrival of left-back Aiden Palmer, formerly of Orient, Bishops Stortford, and, er, Edmonton Shankstarz, will no doubt cause much grumbling from those who believe we shouldn't be signing someone who was jailed last year for his involvement in a "bloody street battle". But personally I don't think you can deny anyone a second, or third, or 500th chance at turning their life around. What kind of society would we be if we just wrote people off when they did something wrong? Not a very nice one, that's what.

What concerns me most is whether Palmer will be able to step into the sizeable shoes of Tonks on the left side of our defence. After a quick glance at the Orient messageboard, it would seem that the answer is an emphatic maybe:

"He was awful"

"Watched him twice over the Christmas, New Year holidays when Braintree played Bishops Stortford and he was a class above everybody else.
"He'll do OK at Cambridge, there's a decent little full back in there somewhere."

"Palmer will do alright there. Did have a decent run a few years back but seemed to lose it."

"Never rated him."

So there we go. While it's not the kind of ringing endorsement they gave Saah, on the other hand he doesn't sound like a complete Trevor Robinson. It's also unlikely the Orient fans appreciate the complete rubbishness of Conference football, which allows even the most average of players to make a name for themselves. And if our new man applies himself properly, it sounds like he has the talent to do the bizzle, fo shizzle.