I make no comment as to my personal views. In terms I'm not saying this is good or bad, this is simply my analysis

Huw Jenkins and his unknown backers now own Newport County. They are not doing it out of altruistic feeling for our little paradise on the banks of the Usk but to turn in a profit. To make that profit they have to make Newport County successful.

Graham Coughlan has worked wonders with the poor hand he was dealt. Only a few weeks ago a packed out Rodney parade saw County beat Wrexham and give Manchester United one Hell of a scare. There was talk of the play-offs, there was realistic hopes of the play-offs. And suddenly performances fell off a cliff. The question is why this sudden turn around.

If Newport County are to be successful then an unpleasant fact needs to be faced. The squad of players we have simply do not have the talent. I believe that Huw Jenkins does intend to spend money and by Newport County standards big money on the playing side of the club. Which leads me to believe two things are very possible and perhaps even probable.

Firstly that most of the present squad will be cleared out. And secondly that Huw Jenkins will want his own man in to manage this change. I also suspect that Graham Coughlan and the players already know this. It would explain not just the five consecutive defeats but also the lack of fight. They all have their bonuses for surviving. They are all demob happy.

In short. I think Graham Coughlan will be fired. I think a new manager will be brought in. I don't think the manager will be Michael Flynn but I think Michael Flynn will have a role within the club, possibly director of football.

To be clear there are other possibilities. Those who think that money won't be spent, may be right. Those who think that Graham Coughlan will remain as manager may be right.

Personal experience. As a barrister sometimes a lay client or a firm of solicitors would sack me. Decide someone else was more suited for a particular job. And it never came as a shock. The almost imperceptible signs were always there well in advance. Graham Coughlan strikes me as a man who has seen those signs.

I agree with a lot of what your posting....I also believe that many are aware of their futures already and the last few weeks displays have IMO proved this.
Play offs were never on the horizon this season even when we were in a position to still compete a few weeks ago...The whole infrastructure of the club isn't in place to move up the pyramid...This may take a few seasons of HJ's tenure.
GC , IMO may be aware of his future too and maybe that's why he seems to come across as he is doing......He is still in charge and has to come across positively in public even if things may be different behind the scenes.
As for MF becoming involved in the club....God I hope not...that ship has sailed...Yes he saved us , led us to play off finals...we are paying for those now with our debts Foxhall let him build up because our finances were ' in a healthy position' according to the BOD at the time.
MF is in it for himself and I believe he thinks he would be too good to come back to the club.. His record since leaving us at Walsall and Swindon has been crap ( even given the much better budgets he had at those two clubs ) ,so why would he lower himself coming to 'skint Newport County ? HJ wouldn't give him a pay rise every 6 months as Foxhall gave him.
I believe HJ will want to bring his 'OWN MANAGER ' into the club...
I can see a few ex Swansea people coming into the club in the summer.....Britton ( as manager ) , Trundle and Robinson as coaches?

I believe/foresee we may have a better budget next season for a new man to build a side and I can also see at least half of the current squad leaving in the summer as I don't think HJ will be overly excited to see us playing the Graham Coughlin style football under his ownership....

Coughlin has achieved what HJ would have wanted from him this season...Safety to build from......Books not as bad as they were the previous two seasons thanks to the FA Cup money to come.
Lets hope the future is bright , with or without GC...
If he stays...it cant be argued that he does deserve another season for doing what he achieved this year or if he goes he can hold his head high and have a plus point on his CV for saving 'little old Newport County' on a shoestring budget...He wont be out of work long if he does depart as there are always clubs needing an honest guy , like I believe he is ,who's team achieve what they do through hard work... It isn't pretty to watch at times but effective to achieve safety

The current situation certainly smacks of something happening in the background. We're not losing tight games, we're being brushed aside with ease every week.

My best guess is that some people were told a month or so ago that their services won't be needed next season, possibly including the manager himself. I can't think of any other reason why performances would have fallen away so badly.

Personally, I'd have liked it if he was given a season to spend some of the money he earnt us with the cup run. I think that's the least he deserves, but I share your view that the new owners probably want their own man.

Immediately following the meeting of the Trust that Huw Jenkins attended, I felt that GC's days were numbered. I publically expressed that at the time. This is was because I thought that HJ wanted to be very much a hands-on owner and run the club his way. I thought that 'his way' did not include the style of play GC favoured. I think a variety of circumstances has dictated the speed that that happened - not least being GC's popularity amongst the fans and the mid season sustained relative run of success. The team's performance over the last few weeks and probably until the end of the season may have played into his hands if he does want to change the manager. I think the connected issue for player retention is that the new manager will almost certainly want to play a different style to GC. I think that will then come down to three things. The first is which players will have to be released because they're not good enough, the loanees returning to the parent clubs and which players of the existing squad could fit the new manager's style. All this will be tempered by what money HJ makes available.

Flynn as Director of Football would only open us up to Elite once again, no thanks.

GC certainly needs, and deserves, the opportunity to show what he can do with a competitive budget. I guess if he was to be removed then the resulting payoff would possibly serve to reduce the playing budget. We also need to recognise that not just one would go, but possibly two.

With all this wild speculation now gathering some momentum it would be helpful if HJ could kill this off now, that is if there is no underlying truth!

On this topic, I see the 2 most poignent questions as firstly: How much will HJ add to the playing budget from this year cup revenues, next season, if any? Of course it must follow the more he does put in, the less money he will have to 'pay off' GC his assistant and Finn.
Secondly over what timescale are his plans on increasing players budget, after his often publically stated first priorities of increasing commercial revenue and turnover in general, plus securing a long term lease agreement to play at RP. Believe that won't happen next season, and he will show greater patience than most who have posted on this topic.
As for his 'unnamed backers' I'm not convinced he currently has any. Maybe they are 'imaginary friends'.

I don't disagree with any of the above posters.

Ultimately as the owner of the club Jenkins can do what he wants. I would be interested in the terms of transfer of the club to Jenkins and whether the terms mean that the Supporters Trust have commitments to giving money to the club over the coming years because I have concerns over that were it to be the case.

I think if the above scenario is correct then it is a regrettable turn of events. Decency in business may be an outdated concept, but I believe when you are dealing with people then you should act with some decency. Coughlan achieved what was required of him this season - build a side on a shoestring budget that was competitive in the League. He should have been given an opportunity to show that he could improve the squad and improve the performances next season. That seems a decent thing to allow him to do. Could he have been able to build a squad that would be genuine play-off contenders? Possibly. Would the team be playing a style similar to the 'Swansea way'? Highly unlikely, but surely you don't turn down possible success for aesthetic reasons concerning style of play? A new Manager, with a passing style of play is a gamble, perhaps a bigger gamble than allowing Coughlan to rebuild and then finding him not up to the job (in that he has proved himself this season with potentially a smaller budget than he is likely to get next season). A new Manager will bring new staff, new players, possibly look to make changes to the Academy - loads of staff paid off, or running their contracts down, perhaps more unrest from a morale point of view. A costly exercise with no guarantee of success. And who will Jenkins look to make a bigger contribution to this rebuild? Us. The fans. The Supporters Trust. And failing that - outside investors...

We have laughed at teams with a rich owner, willing to splash the cash to achieve success. We have gifted our club to an owner who isn't particularly rich (he did okay out of the sale of Swansea to American owners) but with previous experience of running a lower league side with success. He believes in a style of football that since he left Swansea many Managers have struggled to implement with any success. This is not a calculated gamble. If it was easily achieved then all EFL sides would be doing it. This is a serious gamble, perhaps so that Mr Jenkins can prove that 'he's still got it'...

I've been in denial but I think he'll get the boot IF we don't pick up any more points this season and I don't think we will. Huw definitely wants his own man in and whilst I firmly believe GC deserves the chance to put together a team on less of a shoestring it's the perfect moment for Huw to wave goodbye at the end of the season. Don't forget you might have Steve Cottrell and/or The Cowleys available....

I don’t know what the outcome will be. I do know that I was certain we would get relegated this season and I think the manager has worked miracles this season and deserves to keep his job and have a go with proper backing.

However, my slight criticism is that when we were within reach of the playoffs his outward attitude when asked was to downplay everything and to me maybe that gave the players a get out of jail card. Look, I don’t think we were good enough for that and he probably doesn’t either but I think to say “it’s not going to be easy but we’ll give it our best shot” would be a better outlook.

That’s a minor criticism but I do worry that if we limp to the end of the season with no wins in something like 10 games then HJ might well decide he needs someone else at the helm which I think would be a shame given where we were a few weeks back.

Stan A. Einstein wrote: April 10th, 2024, 10:29 am
And suddenly performances fell off a cliff. The question is why this sudden turn ...........

Huw Jenkins will want his own man in.........

In short. I think Graham Coughlan will be fired. I think a new manager will be brought in..............The almost imperceptible signs were always there well in advance. Graham Coughlan strikes me as a man who has seen those signs.

Sorry to quote myself but but I think it highly likely that Graham Coughlan will be fired. I also believe that he has known this for some time. That is the only rational explanation I can see for this dismal run.

I'd be interested if anyone has any other explanation.

I'd fire him tonight. County have four months preparation for next season. That starts with a philosophy of play and a Manager to deliver it.

I saw few players who wanted to play for the shirt today...

Stan A. Einstein wrote: April 20th, 2024, 5:08 pm

Stan A. Einstein wrote: April 10th, 2024, 10:29 am
And suddenly performances fell off a cliff. The question is why this sudden turn ...........

Huw Jenkins will want his own man in.........

In short. I think Graham Coughlan will be fired. I think a new manager will be brought in..............The almost imperceptible signs were always there well in advance. Graham Coughlan strikes me as a man who has seen those signs.

Sorry to quote myself but but I think it highly likely that Graham Coughlan will be fired. I also believe that he has known this for some time. That is the only rational explanation I can see for this dismal run.

I'd be interested if anyone has any other explanation.

Evening Brendan. I didn’t hear the interview myself but apparently RW was interviewing HJ before the game. He stated that he had no plans to replace him before next season starts apparently. Rob Phillips commented upon this on the match day commentary today. No idea how this will pan out with GC. What is certain imo, we need a massive influx of players for next season.

pembsexile wrote: April 20th, 2024, 5:39 pm

Stan A. Einstein wrote: April 20th, 2024, 5:08 pm

Stan A. Einstein wrote: April 10th, 2024, 10:29 am
And suddenly performances fell off a cliff. The question is why this sudden turn ...........

Huw Jenkins will want his own man in.........

In short. I think Graham Coughlan will be fired. I think a new manager will be brought in..............The almost imperceptible signs were always there well in advance. Graham Coughlan strikes me as a man who has seen those signs.

Sorry to quote myself but but I think it highly likely that Graham Coughlan will be fired. I also believe that he has known this for some time. That is the only rational explanation I can see for this dismal run.

I'd be interested if anyone has any other explanation.

Evening Brendan. I didn’t hear the interview myself but apparently RW was interviewing HJ before the game. He stated that he had no plans to replace him before next season starts apparently. Rob Phillips commented upon this on the match day commentary today. No idea how this will pan out with GC. What is certain imo, we need a massive influx of players for next season.

Would put it as a wish rather than a need for a massive influx of players for next season. Unfortunately the reality is we simply don't have the resources for such.

pembsexile wrote: April 20th, 2024, 5:39 pm

Evening Brendan. I didn’t hear the interview myself but apparently RW was interviewing HJ before the game. He stated that he had no plans to replace him before next season starts apparently. Rob Phillips commented upon this on the match day commentary today. No idea how this will pan out with GC. What is certain imo, we need a massive influx of players for next season.

Evening Mike,

Graham Coughlan has done a wonderful job on very limited resources. Sadly his tiny squad has been ravaged by injuries, which has led to a few disappointing results. I'm really looking forward to working with Graham to build a team which can really challenge next season. Equals Graham Coughlan staying.

I have no plans to replace him before the start of next season equals 'plausible deniability. I was 80% certain Graham Coughlan was for the chop. 90% now.

Not the decision I would have made. But football is a ruthless business.

Stan A. Einstein wrote: April 20th, 2024, 10:44 pm

pembsexile wrote: April 20th, 2024, 5:39 pm

Evening Brendan. I didn’t hear the interview myself but apparently RW was interviewing HJ before the game. He stated that he had no plans to replace him before next season starts apparently. Rob Phillips commented upon this on the match day commentary today. No idea how this will pan out with GC. What is certain imo, we need a massive influx of players for next season.

Evening Mike,

Graham Coughlan has done a wonderful job on very limited resources. Sadly his tiny squad has been ravaged by injuries, which has led to a few disappointing results. I'm really looking forward to working with Graham to build a team which can really challenge next season. Equals Graham Coughlan staying.

I have no plans to replace him before the start of next season equals 'plausible deniability. I was 80% certain Graham Coughlan was for the chop. 90% now.

Not the decision I would have made. But football is a ruthless business.

Still foresee the possibility of Coughlin, Dunne, possibly even Finn, still being in post at the beginning of next season, and Jenkins assessing there positions come Nov/Dec. If nothing else it will be reducing the compensation payouts.