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vrabbit · 07-14-2016, 09:55 PM

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Originally Posted by vrabbit


	Newport County A.F.C. '18-'19 January Update Spoiler The Roster Spoiler Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (71 OVR), Eiichi Suzuki (65 OVR)* Fullbacks: *Jerome Binnom-Williams (75 OVR), Nicolai Fernandes (73 OVR), Moses Odubajo (72 OVR), Mehmet Çelik (68 OVR), Magnus Dahle (65 OVR), Atsushi Nagatsuka (60 OVR). Centre-backs: Luan (75 OVR), Sebastian Vegas (73 OVR), Tyler Blackett (70 OVR), Taylor Moore (68 OVR).** Midfielders/Wingers: Clark Gordon (76 OVR), Rohan Ince (76 OVR), Bondz Moore (73 OVR), Hwang In Beom (73 OVR), Jack Giles (71 OVR), Ben Potter (70 OVR), Youssef Feddal (70 OVR)*, Hikaru Ichigawa (68 OVR), Cristiano Dall'Oglio (67 OVR), Andrea De Girolamo (67 OVR), Taylor Nelson (65 OVR), Juan Pablo (65 OVR), Mark Miller (61 OVR), Satoshi Kagome (56 OVR), Yoshi Ishinomori (56 OVR). Strikers: *Thierry Ambrose (77 OVR), Kjetil Ringdal Støvland (68 OVR), Patrick Miller (67 OVR), Cedric Diomandè Gondo (67 OVR), Aaron Collins (61 OVR).* * Academy Graduates At the club on loan Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond Wide) Martinez (C, 71) Odubajo (72)/Luan (75)/Vegas (73)/B-Williams (75) Ince (76) Giles (71) ------------------ B. Moore (73) Gordon (76) Ambrose (77) ------- Ringdal Støvland (68) ___________________________________ F.A. Cup - 3rd Round Newport County - Reading (4-1) Thuram 37' (B. Moore) Ambrose 61' (pen) McCleary 73' Thuram 83' Thuram 90' (pen) Keown 87' Reading fans will have nightmares about Marcus Thuram for a while. The French striker repeated his hat trick from earlier in the season at Madejski Stadium to lead The Exiles to another victory against Reading this season. The visitors made a number of mistakes in this game and paid costly in each one of them, first letting Thuram chest a ball down inside the box of a corner kick to calmly open up the scoring late in the first half, then committing a hand ball inside their own box in the 60th minute, then Warner Hahn attempting a long clear out on the ground that was intercepted by Thuram and ran back for a 1-on-1 vs Hahn (won by Thuram), then Niall Keown committing a foul inside his own box on Thuram as the last man on defense. Ambrose then, recognizing his countryman was on the verge of the hat-trick, asked Thuram to take the ensuing PK which put the game to rest. Thuram finished with a near-perfect game rating of 9.8. Marcus Thuram just owns Reading. League Match 26 Newport County - Rotherham Utd (1-1)** Smallwood 37' Ambrose 81' (Dall'Oglio) The Exiles' season-long struggles against Rotherham Utd continued as Newport County was once again unable to dominate what on paper is an inferior opponent to earn just one point against a team in the relegation zone. After losing to Rotherham Utd earlier in the season and needing extra time to defeat them in the first round of the COC, Marccelino's squad just wasn't able to create many scoring opportunities (4 shots, 2 on goal) in this home game. _______________________________________________ As a result of Newport County's advancement in the F.A. Cup, their home game against Bolton originally scheduled for 1/26 was re-scheduled to 2/2. _______________________________________________ League Match 27 MK Dons - Newport County (0-2) Thuram 17' (Ince) Gordon 23' (Thuram) A snowy game limited the teams to a combined 5 shots on target but The Exiles were able to be efficient with their opportunities to get three points on the road. On what turned out to be his last game as an Exile, Marcus Thuram made a significant difference one last time scoring one goal and assisting on the other. F.A. Cup - 4th Round Colchester - Newport County (0-1) Gordon 18' Odubajo 61' Clark Gordon made all the difference with a flawlessly-executed free kick in the 18th minute to give The Exiles the victory to advance in the cup. It wasn't the most promising exhibition on offense (4 shots, 3 on target) on Newport County's first game without Thuram but we won't jump to conclusions off of one game. Clark Gordon admires his free kick goal. Top Scorers 1. Ambrose (Newport County) - 22 2. Falatah (Reading) - 13 3. Gray (Burnley) - 12 Assists 1. Gordon (Newport County) - 11 T2. Ambrose (Newport County) - 6 T2. Giles (Newport County) - 6 (4 others with 6 also) Clean Sheets 1. Federici (Leeds United) - 10 T2. Martin (Bolton) - 8 T2. Gerken (Reading) - 8 ... T4. Martinez (Newport County) - 6 Spoiler Marccelino's Dairy: overall it was another good month for us but in a tight race for direct promotion the points lost against Rotherham Utd could be haunting. I will miss Marcus, it was truly a pleasure to watch him grow in his two seasons with the club. It really wasn't our intent to part ways with him but the initial offers for him were coming a good bit above his value and his great form allowed us to negotiate a fee doubling his value which was just too good to pass up; plus, it allowed him to get a significant raise on his new deal with Bury which he deserved. With the way things played out this provides a great opportunity for Kjetil Ringdal Støvland to prove whether he's ready to step into that role so we'll give him first opportunity to show what he can do next to Ambrose. The youngster has put in a lot of work since being promoted in the summer of 2017 so with a starting spot available he definitely deserves the opportunity to show us what he has. With the transfer window now past us we were able to retain some funds to put towards our academy. Our English scout, Adam Adeyemi (3* EXP/2* JUD), has been asked to scout locally; Our Finish scout, Kimmo Räsänen(3/2), was sent to Spain; and our Norwegian scout, Daniel Espejord (3/2), was sent to Brazil. All of them will be away scouting for 6 months. Our academy remains with a short roster that we hope to grow through these scouting trips. CAM - Daniele Martella (60 OVR, 93-94 POT): Our unanimous top-prospect has recently turned 18-years old. Scouts believe his potential is higher than any of our prospects either in the academy or on the senior roster. As a result of that extra time is being spent with him to make sure he's developed at a rapid and efficient pace. He stands at 6'1" and 154lbs. He's likely to be promoted before the season ends as we try to avoid him becoming unhappy in the academy. CDM - Doke Boëtius (63 OVR, 81-87): This 17-year old from Netherlands standing at 6'3" and 169lbs is our next top prospect at the position, joining a crowded group of youngsters at CDM (Dall'Oglio, Ichigawa, Kagome). He'll need to be patient and continue to work hard in the academy for his opportunity. He could become a loan candidate as soon as next season. RB - Willem Van Hout (52 OVR, 79-85): This 16-year old from Belgium is still very raw but exhibits good potential and coaches in the academy are trying to make sure he remains focused on working on developing his game. Doesn't possess the pace the team would like at the position but Marccelino is keeping more of an open mind when it comes to that after watching Nicolai Fernandes play. * Recent addition February Schedule 2/2: vs Bolton 2/5: at Charlton Ath 2/9: vs Nott'm Forest 2/12: at Derby County 2/17: at Brentford(F.A. Cup) 2/24: at Brighton Thanks for reading!

^^^ Previous update

Newport County A.F.C.

'18-'19 February Update

The Roster

Spoiler

Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond Wide)

Martinez (C, 72)

Odubajo (72)/Luan (75)/Vegas (73)/B-Williams (75)

Ince (76)

Giles (71) ------------------ B. Moore (73)

Gordon (76)

Ambrose (77) ------- Ringdal Støvland (68)
___________________________________

League Match 28
Newport County - Bolton (0-0)

Giles 15' (Bruised elbow, out 5 days)

The Exiles won possession (54%) and took 10 shots (4 on goal) but had nothing to show for after this game other than a solid defense that allowed them to earn a point, although it's more like losing two points considering the opponent has been a mid-table team at best.

League Match 29
Charlton Ath - Newport County (1-3)
Mayada 20'
In Beom 23' (P. Miller)
Fernandes 73' (Feddal)
Potter 78' (Feddal)

The B-team snapped The Exiles out of its scoring funk, scoring two goals in a five-minute span in the second half to give Newport County a comfortable win at The Valley. The statistics were very similar to the previous game (53% possession, 10 shots, 6 on goal) but the result was much better.

League Match 30
Newport County - Nott'm Forest (0-3)
Assombalonga 7'
Ward 69'
Assombalonga 85'

Britt Assombalonga practically beat The Exiles all by himself, scoring a couple of goals and netting an assist in between to lead Forest to an impressive road victory at Rodney Parade. Newport County seems to be a in scoring funk ever since selling Marcus Thuram and on games in which they give up multiple goals it's a flaw that gets highlighted. Luckily for them both Burnley and QPR also lost their respective games.

League Match 31
Derby County - Newport County (2-1)
Martin 5'
Ambrose 11'
Hendrick 43'

Hendrick 69'

Oh-oh, it might be time to officially declare trouble at Newport County. For only the second time this season (the first being back-to-back losses to Cardiff City and QPR in September) The Exiles lost consecutive games after they failed to take advantage of having an extra man for the last 20 minutes of this game. Marccelino's squad had won the match-up earlier this season, but then again Thuram scored a poker in that one to make the difference in a 6-2 result.

This hard foul by Hendrick left Derby County with 10 men but Newport County was unable to take advantage of that.

F.A. Cup - Round of 16
Brentford - Newport County (1-2)
Gordon 12' (Giles)
Jota 17'
Ringdal Støvland 90+' (Giles)

Whoa Nelly! The Exiles are far from breaking out of their struggling form and on this day the result could had been much different but the team's academy products came to the rescue with a lot of heart and deep in stoppage time (on what would be the last play of the game) Jack Giles dribbled down the right wing, cut into the box, and made a risky pass backwards to the top of the box where Kjetil Ringdal Støvland, the Norwegian academy-graduate replacing Thuram, fired a bullet down and to the goalkeeper's left to give Newport County a thrilling victory at a much needed time.

League Match 32
Brighton - Newport County (0-2)
Giles 70'
Ambrose 89' (pen)

The Exiles played their best game this month at Falmer Stadium to hopefully put an end to their poor form. Brighton created a good number of opportunities (8 shots) but Newport County's defense made it difficult for them to find the goal (2 shots on target) while the visiting offense looked like the Newport County of earlier in the season firing 14 shots (11 on goal).

Top Scorers
1. Ambrose (Newport County) - 24
T2. Falatah (Reading) - 14
T2. Makienok (Brentford) - 14

Assists
1. Gordon (Newport County) - 11
2. Grimes (Burnley) - 7
T3. Ambrose (Newport County) - 6
T3. Giles (Newport County) - 6
(7 others with 6 also)

Clean Sheets
1. Federici (Leeds United) - 10
T2. Martin (Bolton) - 9
T2. Hahn (Reading) - 9
...
T3. Martinez (Newport County) - 8

Analysis: Newport County is in a funk and the press is having their way with them as their struggles coincide with the departure of their best striker, allowing the press to refer to The Exiles as being under The Marcus Thuram Curse. When broken down it's unfair to pin Newport County's poor form on Thuram's sale but in all fairness it's difficult to explain how a team that had been so good all season is suddenly finding it so difficult to score following the French striker's departure. The youngster Ringdal Støvland hasn't had much luck scoring outside of his heroic goal in the F.A. Cup but his form hasn't been bad and it wouldn't be shocking to see him break out for a few goals before season's end.

Without a doubt Giovanni Marccelino's tactics and motivational skills will be put to the test in the last three months of the season because it seems unlikely Newport County will be able to clinch direct promotion before season's end, a spot in the playoffs is hardly assured at this point, and if the club does reach the playoffs it'll need to be in much better form to be the winner. A match-up against Manchester City in the F.A. Cup quarter finals will be another great challenge for the Italian head coach who has made it no secret he wants to contend for the cup. This match-up just isn't coming at a great time for The Exiles.

Spoiler

We can report that following the scouting assignments placed in England, Spain, and Brazil, Newport County has made additions to its youth squad:

CAM - Daniele Martella (60 OVR, 93-94 POT): Our unanimous top-prospect has recently turned 18-years old. Scouts believe his potential is higher than any of our prospects either in the academy or on the senior roster. As a result of that extra time is being spent with him to make sure he's developed at a rapid and efficient pace. He stands at 6'1" and 154lbs. He's likely to be promoted before the season ends as we try to avoid him becoming unhappy in the academy.

CDM - Doke Boëtius (63 OVR, 81-87): This 17-year old from Netherlands standing at 6'3" and 169lbs is our next top prospect at the position, joining a crowded group of youngsters at CDM (Dall'Oglio, Ichigawa, Kagome). He'll need to be patient and continue to work hard in the academy for his opportunity. He could become a loan candidate as soon as next season.

CB - Tom Maguire (48 OVR, 71-94)*: 17-year old from England following on the footsteps of Tafari Hunt and Bondz Laslie, but will Maguire be able to become a better prospect than his new English teammates? Time will tell.

CDM - Daniel Amaral (49 OVR), 70-94)*: 15-year old from Brazil whose signing has received some criticism since the club seems to be loaded at his position. However, Newport County is still very far from being the kind of team that can pass on talent so we'll just have to follow how Amaral develops.

RB - Willem Van Hout (53 OVR, 79-85): This 16-year old from Belgium is still very raw but exhibits good potential and coaches in the academy are trying to make sure he remains focused on working on developing his game. Doesn't possess the pace the team would like at the position but Marccelino is keeping more of an open mind when it comes to that after watching Nicolai Fernandes play.
* Recent addition

March Schedule

3/9: vs Reading
3/16: vs Manchester City (F.A. Cup)
3/19: vs Huddersfield
3/23: at Blackburn Rovers
3/30: at Sheffield Wed

The schedule doesn't care whether The Exiles are in good or bad form and it brings very difficult games for Newport County outside of them hosting the team at the bottom of the table. March has a chance to make or break Marccelino's squad.

Thanks for reading!