After Tuesday's interesting and welcome three points, yet slightly disappointing result GD wise we welcome Newport County to our ground on Saturday and by the sounds of things there'll be a smattering of police, dogs and black maria vans sat at every corner of town and along the A49. I believe Shrewsbury have beaten Newport in their last four meetings, with Newports last win being April 1962 (We beat them a week later??). Interesting facts: Newport County were originally nicknamed "The Ironsides" due to Newport being home to Lysaght's Orb Works steel works Thanks to Wiki for this In June 1989 the club was reformed by 400 supporters. The club took on the name "Newport A.F.C." and adopted the nickname "The Exiles", as a result of the need to play the 1989–90 season home matches in the north Gloucestershire town of Moreton-in-Marsh, around 80 miles northeast of Newport. Newport Council had considered the new company to be a continuation of the old and refused permission to use Somerton Park on the grounds of unpaid rent. Famous people include Josie D'arby, Desmond Llewelyn (Bond actor), Micheal Sheen, Tony Pulis, Darren Cambell (sprinter) and Goldie Lookin Chain. Newport have won 25%, drawn 38% and lost 38% of their games this season. In the last six games they have w, d, l, 2-3-1. This shows that they are doing better, beating Northampton on Saturday 3-2 after being ahead by three goals. They do however have a GD of -2 compared to out +5. Newports top scorer is Zebroski with two goals. Midfielder Byrne has four yellow cards. On-loan keeper Joe Day helped Newport to an unbeaten in five games. On-loan striker Joe Pigott from Charlton came off the bench this week too. Shrewsbury don't have too many injury concerns and perhaps we might see some of our 'fringe' players such as Lawrence and Vernon (Who'd have thought that a couple of months back!) get a start. What formation and squad walks out on Saturday is a mystery as I thought there might have been a change made midweek. Perhaps this will come on Saturday? We seemed to play better with Clark sat behind Collins, with JLAA and Mangan out wide. I'd rather see Mangan up front than on the wing and JLAA seems to play better as a left sided forward. Whoever starts and what system we play we needed to get accurate shots on target and into the back of their net as soon as possible and make them play our game rather than suffer with a broken system that ends with five passes across the back and a hoof (albeit an accurate one) to an available player on the forward line. If Vernon starts I hope he can reduce his offsides!
Matster, Great post - I am really looking forward to this one. Perhaps Newport will pose a bit more of a threat than Carlisle will and that should stretch the game out a bit and could help our misfiring forwards. I predict a 2-0 win for Town with a Collins header and an Akpro penalty. It is great to see Grandison galloping down the wing again and even trying a few tentative step-overs - we have missed that over the last year or so.
A very entertaining but ultimately frustrating afternoon. Newport were easily the best side we have seen at the New Meadow so far this season and set the tone in the first half by pressing high up the field. We have already seen Woods, Wesolowski and Clarke outmuscled a couple of times this season so it was somewhat of a puzzle why all three started this game. Akpro looked by far our biggest threat but was subbed at half time (was he injured?). Vernon battled well and played some nice balls through but does not look like getting into too many goalscoring positions. He was lucky to stay on the pitch in the first half after several clumsy lunges. We were more in it the second half with Griffith (though looking a bit off the pace) giving us a better shape in midfield but the introduction of Collins and Vincent made us look much more dangerous. To me Collins overall play is a cut above our other strikers and I would always start with him when fit. To us in Block 13 we thought someone (Vincent?) had bundled the ball just over the line by a few inches near the end but it was not given. Grandison come very close and our midfielders again were blasting the ball over the bar when placement was called for. I think there is more to our recent run of form (four points and only one goal from the last four games) than just a blip. We are playing in front of teams rather than getting behind them at pace and Vincent must surely have a run in the team to give us more width. Our midfield is outnumbered when we play 4-4-2 so I would go back to 3-5-2 and put Grandison in the middle of the back three and bring in Gayle and Demetriou. Ellis is a sturdy defender but his poor distribution meant we kept giving the ball away cheaply. Having the extra man in midfield means we can get our passing game going more and play the percentage ball into the box rather than trying to hit Hail Mary passes as we were today. Overall MM has much to ponder and we certainly don't look like a top three team at the moment. To my mind after our dreadful season last year even to get into the play-offs would be an achievement but there is still the feeling that this particular group of players could do better.
a great post matster, deserved more response. today Newport left the meadow with a valuable point and a draw was not unexpected. of 9 games played by Newport 7 have been played against the top clubs in the league. it is disappointing of town's 9 games only 2 against top clubs have been played. cobblers and wombles. 7 played against lower clubs where town have not had too much success. we appear to be creating so many chances without scoring goals. ignoring the distraction of Norwich, town now face southend and Plymouth away, followed by chelt h,york a, bury h and pompey h. we are still in 6th position because of the lack of effort by our fellow movers and shakers in this league, others are catching us up. bury one of our next few games, I remind you thumped leaders burton today, the next 6 games may prove if we are serious promo contenders let alone able to hang on to top 7 status. to quote the great Bard "Town have wasted Time and now does time waste them" I hope I am wrong but unless MMM Mickey Melons Marvels start producing the goods up front, some very awkward questions may be coming his way by November!
Surprisingly, a much more entertaining game than Tuesday even though much of our play was inept. Distribution of the ball was often woeful today with most having an off day. Vincent has to start next game and Lawrence (wasn't that Wesolwski's 5th bookimg today?). Collins OUGHT to be out first choice striker but, in the period he was on the field today, it probably shows why he has been left out. Maybe trying too hard---shooting when he should pass and still missing good opportunities. One free header over the bar and another mis-timed which presented the opportunity for Vincent (he, himself, admitted it did not cross the line). I agree about the 3 at the back with Grandison in the middle but MM seems to be at odds with most people who want him to do this. For some reason Ellis must be his favourite and again he came up with some crass mistakes today.
KDS, Football is all about opinions and I respect yours but must disagree with you about Collins - he showed a good touch when he came on and linked the line well and I can only remember one wasteful shot. Vernon is limited and Mangan is a flash in the pan type of player though, to be fair, is rather wasted on the wing. I like Akpro's work ethic and he could be the one on the left side to make chances for others. We do need a bit more stability within the team at present to forge some partnerships and, as you say, surely three at the back is the way to go because our best performances this season (Leicester, Luton) have come playing that way.
GHMM, a very good summary of the game and reflect my thoughts. Regarding Collins, he can be selfish which is often a trait of Strikers but there were a couple of times he collected the ball and shot rather than passing to someone who had more space. Vincent seemed to be our most dangerous threat and I hope that next league game that he gets to start on the wing. Mangan is wasted out wide, he is good and tricky to deal with but too often he left it too late to pass on the ball. He should be up there at the front of the squad as a ball poacher. JLAA seems to play better out wide forward and it mystified us that he was subbed on Saturday.
