A Newport State of mind match Fred

Well people seemed to like the first effort, so here is another preview and hoping for a better result.

The Fred title comes from an old parody of Empire State of Mind:

Newport County
Big losers in the Carabao Cup regional draw with a 350-mile round trip to Leyton. Newport are the forgotten Welsh team, with this incarnation dating from 1989 since when they have climbed up from the Hellenic League back into Football League 2 in 2013 under O’s legend Justin Edinburgh. After that, they have knocked around League 2 enlivened by some good results in cups and a couple of tilts at the play-offs. Finished 18th in League 2 last season.

Majority owner since 2023 is Huw Jenkins who was Swansea City’s chairman between 2002 and 2019, their most successful era which included a League Cup win and a European campaign. The supporters trust has a substantial minority stake. Jenkins wants to take a new, club-oriented approach to recruitment and the way the team plays. Eight players were recruited before the manager, usually not a recipe for good things.

The manager is Nélson Jardim a 45-year-old Portuguese in his second managerial role, his first being for Maritimo B . He was assistant manager at Birmingham under Aitor Karanka back in 2020-21. He has worked at Swansea as a fitness coach and academy manager, which helped him get the job at Newport.

There has been huge turnover, with twelve players leaving, the headline being top scorer Will Evans going to Mansfield for £200k, the first transfer fee Newport have received since 2019. Fourteen players have arrived, with Courtney Baker-Richardson, the only one over 24. Most of these guys are unknown quantities: for example, Oliver Greaves is in his first season in League 2 and ninth club at age 24, Hamzad Kargbo was released by QPR at 22, never having played a senior game.

There is experience at the back between Nick Townsend (GK), James Clarke (CB) and Nick O’Loughlin (RB), although they only appear to have one left back, Anthony Glennon in his first year at League 2. 32-year-old Aaron Wildig is available to pull the strings in midfield. Up front it looks like Baker-Richardson and perm any two from seven, if it’s 4-3-3.

They lost their first match out to Cheltenham, 3-2, conceding in the 96th minute. They lined up in a 4-3-3 and are trying to play a possession-based game which stems from the Swansea roots.

Transfers:
In: Anthony Driscoll-Glennon LB (Grimsby Town free), Cieran Brennan CB (Sheffield Wednesday, free), Kai Whitmore CM (Haverfordwest, free), Jacob Carney GK (Sunderland via Castellon, free), Joe Thomas RB (Swansea U21s, free), Oliver Greaves AM (Mickleover, undisclosed), Matt Baker DF (Stoke City and Gallifrey, undisclosed), Bobby Kamwa (Burton, free), Cameron Antwi CM (Cardiff U21, free), Cameron Evans CB (Taunton Town, free), Hamzad Kargbo (QPR U21, free), Michael Spellman LW (Sunderland U21 free), Courtney Baker-Richardson CF (Crewe, undisclosed)

Out: Will Evans, CF (Mansfield Town, £200K), Ryan Delaney CB (Swindon Town, free), Johnny Maxted GK (Brackley, free), Scott Bennett DM (Cheltenham, free), James Waite AM (Weston-Super-Mare, free), Sam Bowen CM (Solihull Moors, free), Omar Bogle CF (Crewe, free), Joe Day GK (Cheltenham, free), Offrande Zanzala (Fylde, free), Declan Drysdale CB (Tranmere, free), Harry Charsley CM (Oldham, free) Harrison Bright RB (Salisbury, free)