"At Severn’s mouth …
Scenes dear to memory …
The voice of Ebbw in his lovely park."
(Davies)
We welcome The Exiles to Bescot in search of our first League 2 home win, while they look for their first League 2 away success. Fortunately they weren’t able to persuade Wilfried Bony to join their squad competitively - he was only training with them to maintain his fitness prior to a European move. Bony’s departure contrasts spectacularly with the career of manager Michael Flynn, who has appeared as a player for Newport County in four separate spells before taking over the reins in March 2017 following the sacking of Graham Westley, when County were 11 points adrift at the bottom of League 2. The “Great Escape” that he managed to achieve ranks with Dean Smith’s efforts with ourselves, and Flynn also did the club a power of good with their F.A. Cup exploits - wins against Leeds United, Middlesbrough and Leicester City and a creditable draw against Tottenham Hotspur in successive seasons. Remember what a cup run was like? This season’s form so far:-
Aug 3 Mansfield Town (H) Drew 2-2
Aug 10 Cambridge United (A) Drew 0-0
Aug 13 Gillingham (A - EFL Cup) Drew 2-2 (But won 4-1 on penalties)
Aug 17 Plymouth Argyle (H) Won 1-0
The League 2 table at this early stage is naturally very compressed, so much so that even from our lowly 15th place we are only 3 points behind the leaders - Swindon Town, Exeter City and Forest Green Rovers are joint top with 7 points - so rapid movement up (or down) the table can be expected. Darrell Clarke will still be considering his most effective tactics and team selection for this one and so far we haven’t seen the much-vaunted marque/marquee striker mentioned so often, so it appears that our strikeforce will come from a mixture of Adebayo, Gordon and Lavery (who at least showed his fitness levels by completing the game at Crewe Alexandra). Midfield could prove problematic, and much will depend on Guthrie’s fitness after his recent injury. Kory Roberts is said not to be in contention as yet, and Liam Roberts looks to be first choice custodian. As always, “wait and see”…
Prediction? Can’t see this being a high-scoring game (just watch, it’ll end up 5-4!!), so in a spirit of optimism let’s go for a grinding 1-0 home win, with Lavery showing us how it should be done.
UTS
1 Like
bad feeling about tomorrow, can see us losing. hopefully 2-0 to the saddlers though
This is a big game. Not in terms of where we finish but in terms of how close the squad really is to gelling. I don’t buy any manager giving excuses and their own time periods for judgement. 10-12 games might be how long Clarke thinks we need to write off but to me that’s a failure of his own organisation. He’s had months to put a team together and chose who he got rid of and who he recruited, with a decent budget according to our new owner.
I feel this game will tell us a lot about the actual position of this squad.
2 Likes
Jealous of Newport and their cup runs in recent times, just seen they’ve drawn West Ham in next round of league cup.
Michael Flynn done an outstanding job. When he took over they were all but relegated to non league. Saved them, took them to play off final and FA cup 5th round last season. Also got a replay with Spurs at Wembley in the 17/18 edition so they must have a decent budget to play with.
Can see it being same as Forest Green, 1-1 as that’s how the squad is built atm and doubt a new striker will be signed today.
Fortunately, I have a prior engagement tomorrow.
I just can’t see us doing anything against them, they seem to have been a bogey team for as long as I’ve been alive.
This will be a tough tough game in my opinion. I think it will be a draw… Which is not the worst result as long as I can see the team progressing and having a real go with more attacking intent. Let’s create a great atmosphere for our team to play in. Keep the faith onwards and upwards. UTS
3 Likes
This is a tough tough game, I’d like to see a win would be happy with a point again. (I seem to say that every week). They’ve got a decent squad that’s been together a while and knows how to win in this league. Another side that has decent wingers and will whip it in the box all game.
Can’t see this being a classic, I foresee a 1-1 draw. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.
1 Like
Crowd 4119… 275 from Newport.
1-1
Until we add 2/3 more signings I won’t be expecting to much performance wise.
Attendance will struggle to break 4K, the last 3 games won’t of helped.
UTS
1 Like
I think 5-3-2 is fine away from home and will bring us alot of points once we gel as a team and confidence builds…
But tomorrow I would like to see 4-3-1-2
Roberts,
Norman, Clarke, scarr, pring,
Guthrie (if fit), sinclair, kinnsella,
Hardy (in the hole)
Adeybayo, lavery,
2 Likes
Tough game this, 1-1 at best. Can see us losing 2-0 though.
1 Like
3-0,a hatrick for Adeybayo,1 disallowed goal from Lavery, 2 asthma attacks for Clarke,a booking for Norman & Sinclair,Chunkie doing a streak at 20:12, attendance 4,321.Sorry,but that’s as precise as I can be…
1 Like
I just hope it’s a warm night 
I can’t see us losing it but then again I can’t see us winning either so a 0-0 for me
I think seeing you prancing across the pitch wearing nothing but a proud smile will warm people up if it’s cold mate…
1 Like
And if it’s really cold,most of your man junk will migrate to a warmer place…
1 Like
Having attended 2 out of the 3 league games my feelings are similar to others who have already posted. Heart tells me 2-0 to us.
Head tells me 0-2 to the visitors, they are a very useful team and will prove difficult opposition much like Crawley did. For me my thought process is much like @el_nombre on this, our manager making excuses will only wash for so long and our lack of hurry to bring in the striker we’ve been talking about for so long when we are so blunt up front frustrates the hell out of me.
1-0 for me and I would be very happy with that. They have proved they are a good team at this level. No doubt the manager will surprise us with a selection two as he seeks a winning combination. I just hope he is a llttle more adventurous with his attacking options.To those who are frustrated or impatient I think you may have some time to wait until we get a settled squad. It is clear to me the Manager is still sorting out who and who will not be able to do a job for us which isn’t surprising when you take into account all the signings he has made with definitely one to come and maybe more.
1 Like
I agree pal, crewe aside, we’ve had many positives in the first few games, and with time and patience DC Will get us out of this league. Just think we’re 2 maybe 3 signings away from being a top team in this league
