Newport County sacked manager David Hughes after this weekend’s 1-0 defeat away to fellow League Two strugglers Shrewsbury Town, which proved to be the final nail in the coffin after a barren run for the Exiles, who have won just three of their 16 games in the fourth tier this season.
That run includes losing their last seven games at Rodney Parade, and the fans have begun to turn on chairman Huw Jenkins and a recruitment policy which has arguably set a manager up to fail in his first senior role.
They had a promising start to the campaign, beating Barnet on penalties in the first round of the Carabao Cup and picking up four points from their first two league games.
It is the mere seven points they have collected since that has cost Hughes his job, and whoever they appoint next has some job on their hands to keep County in the football league, as the underlying numbers make for grim viewing.
They are letting in nearly two goals per game, have only kept two clean sheets in 16 games and rank bottom for corners won and possession won in the final third per game.
Who are the top five candidates I believe could keep Newport County in the EFL?
Michael Flynn
I think the most obvious and popular option is Michael Flynn, the man who led the Exiles to a playoff final in 2021 and had them agonizingly close to League One football – a far cry from the rock bottom of the fourth tier where they sit now.
Newport have had four different managers since Flynn departed in October 2021, and the stats show a consistent decline year on year after his exit.
Over his four years in South Wales, Newport finished in the play-offs twice with a win percentage of 42% – the best of any of their permanent managers over the last ten years.
Better still, Flynn is out of work after he left fellow strugglers Cheltenham Town early in the season, and so a return could make a lot of sense for both parties.
Mike Dodds
This one may be slightly ambitious, given his last job was in League One with Wycombe Wanderers, but it is fair to say that they did not enjoy the best time together at Adams Park, and Wycombe slowly fell off from the heights they had reached before Matt Bloomfield ditched them for Luton Town.
Dodds also fits the bill of what Huw Edwards is looking for as he is a young and upcoming coach who had a good pedigree before leaving Sunderland, he also had a win percentage of 41% with the Chairboys last season, albeit that declined heading into this campaign.
Dodds therefore, could be a bit of a risk for a struggling side as he is still fairly unproven at any level and Newport definitely need somebody who is going to turn results around and fast.
But with Huw Jenkins you never know…
Steve Evans
Again, this is a very ambitious shout, given Evans’ pedigree and the time he has taken out of the game since leaving Rotherham to undergo a fitness journey which, in credit to him, has been almost as impressive as the work he did at Stevenage.
It is for the work he did with Boro that I believe if Newport could persuade him to start a project at Rodney Parade, he is the absolute best appointment they could make.
He is as proven as anybody at making sides unbelievably hard to beat and ‘grinding’ results out consistently, as well as making great entertainment with his questionable celebratory ‘fist bumps’.
If Newport could land this, I’d probably back them for a play-off push, let alone survival, such is the impact that not so ‘big Steve’ can have.
Rob Elliot
Slightly more realistic now, and despite his torrid spell at Crawley Town, I still rate Elliot very highly as a coach due to his work at Gateshead, where he had an incredible 57%-win percentage.
That, as well as my view that the only man who could ever work successfully under WAGMI at Crawley is Scott Lindsay, therefore I cannot really blame Elliot for his struggles there.
With a young squad having been assembled over the summer at Newport, I believe a young coach could work, but the reality is that Elliot has experience in the men’s game and has probably learnt a few lessons from the spell at the Red Devils.
In comparison to David Hughes, who was thrown into his first professional men’s job over the summer and probably had barely any say over the players who were brought in.
Elliot is someone I believe should be looked at by Newport.
Garry Monk
Currently placed at 8/1 in the betting, it looks like Monk is one of the early favourites to replace the departing Hughes.
There is certainly worse options out there for Newport County, and he is one of the most experienced in the list with former jobs including Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City and Leeds United.
His time at Cambridge was far from promising; a win percentage of 18% was ultimately the reason they find themselves in League Two this season, and Monk’s stock has taken a major hit as a result.
However, as far as impact goes, someone of his calibre could probably have the ‘new manager bounce’ effect on the Exiles and potentially build some momentum for them heading into a busy Christmas period.
It is crucial for their football league status that they get this next appointment right.
