NEWPORT COUNTY

Got that wrong

When writing the FV I try and get my facts right and to differentiate between fact and opinion, whilst accepting that facts can be interpreted in many diverse ways.

So apologies are due for accusing a Luton Town player of being responsible for the mark on Michael Collins’ leg last week. Having seen what was going on I instantly jumped to an incorrect assumption. That Tom Newey did it is proof indeed that accidents can happen, be the recipient friend or foe.

Nevertheless I still thought the Hatters were a dirty side.

The Conference

On Tuesday I attended a game in the Conference, Forest Green Rovers v Torquay. It reminded me of what I already knew – the standard of football was poor; the referee was poor. But for all that there were 400 away fans present. One was dressed like Wally, as in “Where’s”, with a bobble hat and woolly scarf. Apparently he travels to every game from Manchester. We’ve all got them. And I mean that in the nicest possible sense.

The best bit of the trip though was the sat nav’s effort. “Turn left into swine-don road”.

But please, please, never again.

Newport

At last I’ve come away from a home game impressed. At last we saw a proper gritty never say die performance when seemingly up against it. If we can keep that and mesh it into our passing game, we should be alright and if we can start scoring goals we should be a bit better than alright. These are sizeable “ifs” and there are issues that need sorting.

In the first half I thought we just shaded it but unlike some wouldn’t say we dominated. We’d passed the ball and to be fair to Newport so had they. We had been expecting something a bit more physical from them.

We again missed chances and the only goal we scored was one of those flukey, but really well taken, free kicks that the keeper expects at least one of the many bodies in the box to get a touch on. When no one does it’s all too late. It’s either a goal or goal-kick. This time it was the former.

The two guiltiest of missing the chances were Danny Hylton and Tyrone Barnett. Both should have scored and both had a massive influence on the game.

Let’s start with Barnett. For me he did his best work helping us defend corners but for the most part looked leggy and not really an attacking threat. More a Stevie Anthrobus or Marvin Robinson than a million pound striker. At the start of the second half he appeared to have regained a bit of a touch and produced a couple of neat layoffs, albeit in areas that were no real danger to the opposition.

Of course he didn’t last long into the second half. His first booking was madness, as if he had not learned anything from last week. My take on it all was that he leapt in studs up, but at the ball. He got there well before his opponent who then went over our loanee’s outstretched body. A booking, possibly. It was not the cleverest of challenges. Given that their man was never in any danger, the reaction of the Welsh team was disgusting as they almost to a man tried to get us down to 10 there and then.

On the day I wasn’t sure about the second yellow that led to the dismissal, but having seen it again I think Barnett was utterly stupid as he made sure his shoulder made contact with the Newport defender. The linesman saw it, and I know many won’t agree with me but I think a yellow was fair. Barnett owes our football club and on his return from suspension he needs to start delivering immediately.

Hylton was something else altogether. His clinical finishing may have deserted him in the last three games but other than that his play was top drawer. When we became a man light the game totally changed with us seeing very little possession. From here on in Hylton played not only his normal role but doubled up as a right back too and was rather good at it. At the death when we needed to manage the game to a successful conclusion, draw the fouls and run the clock down he was supremely professional.

At last we have kept a clean sheet and won a football match. So what was the difference and where did our ability to keep the opposition out come from?

Ryan Clarke was back. I’ve probably underplayed his absence, although I think some have made more of it than has been the case. If it had been George Long who had come way out of his goal when Joe Piggot nearly scored there would have been muttering but because it was Clarkey there was none. The general consensus is that he organises the defenders in front of him so much better. Experience counts. He also made a couple of good saves and stood up to the physical challenge faced at corners. Not bad for one returning in so vital a position.

Then there was the enforced change at centre half. There was no need to worry about Michael Raynes not being match fit. He fought as he does in his rugged traditional style and was a key factor, alongside Clarke, in us no longer looking so vulnerable to high balls into the box.

And if you ever want to see a man with utter determination to make sure nothing gets by look at this week’s captain, Johnny Mullins. Twice he brought the ball out from the back with lengthy lung busting runs to relieve the pressure at a time when the body must have been yelling for a rest. As Tim in his fortnightly call to Jerome suggested, the central pairing we saw on Saturday may be our best. That is difficult to disagree with on what we saw, but how harsh would that be on Jake Wright?

Finally I’ll throw in Danny Rose as the last piece of the defensive solution. As well as timely interceptions he got in some really good tackles and that is something we have been lacking this term. It makes such a difference closing down properly and doing this stuff in the centre of the park. He can be quite creative too and for me should have been given a bit more game time this season than he has actually had. That said Josh Ruffels did a sterling defensive job when he replaced Rose.

A couple of minutes after the sending off, Carlton Morris had replaced Brian Howard which showed that Michael Appleton still wanted one up top. The requirement was to run, harry, be an absolute pesky nuisance and hold the ball up for as long as possible to alleviate the pressure at the other end. That he totally failed to do this could be for one of a number of reasons. Did he have no idea what to do in such a situation as a young inexperienced footballer who has seen very little grizzly league two action? Or couldn’t he be arsed? Or, was left completely bemused and frightened to do anything after he had been booked within two minutes of coming on knowing what had happened to Barnett?

That booking appeared off the scale to me. I thought the Newport man had jumped into him with an arm with much more intent and force than anything Barnett had done. Possibly a straight red I thought but at the very least a yellow. It was a yellow, but not shown to the player we expected.

Leaving the ground, most of the conversations I heard were on the atrocious standard of the referee. I’d hazard a guess the Welsh contingent were having the same discussion but theirs being centred on the penalties they thought they were wrongly denied. I didn’t see enough to give a valid opinion.

We won, that’s the main thing. We did it with ten men and when you take into account that Morris contributed very little that tells you just what herculean efforts the other put in to achieve this.

Quotes

There was a piece in the Sunday Times this week that really gets to the heart of what I have been trying to get over in my views on the Mapp approach and which contains a few quotes I would like to repeat.

“Scorning the philosophers who decried the ruthless way he (last season) reversed over a Liverpool side skewed towards attacking, Mourinho scoffed: “A team without balance is not a team”.”

“When Carlo Ancelotti struggled early on at Real Madrid he fretted, “balance, balance, balance, we have to find balance in our game”.
And, “Rinus Michels, one of the fathers of coaching, said, “It is an art to compose a starting team, finding the balance between creative players and those with destructive powers, and between defence, construction and attack”.”

So there you have it. It’s all about balance. Chris Wilder mostly got it right for away games but never really cracked it at the Kasstad. Is Mapp now getting it or was this performance a one off? One thing is for sure, we had a returning destructive power on the bench for the first time in ages. It gives our manager more options in getting the whole thing right.