County to be exiled by Super U's at Fortress Weston 21:23 - Feb 2 with 2331 views | durham_exile | The Exiles are in Town on Saturday. No not Wessex, Durham et al, but Mike Flynn’s high-flying Newport County Exiles. Now Football has been overshadowed this week by the news of Vic Keeble’s sad passing at the age of 87. He will be missed by many and will rightly be the subject of a minute’s applause on Saturday. Returning to more mundane news, in a week of frenetic transfer and loan activity JM’s Super U’s have added to their ranks after clearing a couple of players from the pay bill. Liam Mandeville 21 has joined on loan from Doncaster Rovers Olamide Shodipo a winger from QPR has joined on loan Highly rated Ben Stevenson, signed by Wolves for £500K from Coventry has been loaned to Colchester and ironically can play against the Sky Blues in a 12 days’ time. Aaron Barnes, signed permanently from Charlton, has immediately been loaned to Torquay by Colchester until the end of the season. He made an impressive debut for the Gulls last week. Cameron James has been loaned to Chelmsford City until the end of the season. James was one of our mainstays last season, but his chances have been limited so far, this season. No bids were received for Sammie Szmodics however after the speculation (mainly newspaper driven) about a bid of £1m from the Cherries. This unwanted attention has led to a drop-in form from the U’s youngster and incredibly an unknown bid for another Super U was made instead. Although secret, I suspect that the bid was for Brennan Dickenson, who is likely to return to the first team for the Coventry game. Luke Prosser is surely ready for a regular return to the first team but who can he play alongside, and can he displace Kane Vincent-Young. Ryan Inniss remains doubtful following his shoulder injury which has definitely adversely affected the defence, which previously seemed impregnable. So, who can JM play against the Exiles. Until Dickenson returns he must surely integrate the new signings with some of the reliable regulars. Sam Walker remains the number one but does JM go with three or four at the back. His preferred trio is still Eastman Inniss and Kent, but the return of Prosser gives an option (until Inniss is fully fit) of Eastman, Prosser and Kent. Ryan Jackson has the ability to play either full back or wing back. Midfield is even more tricky with Tom Lapslie aka Marmite, Brandon Comley who having signed permanently has been “snubbed” by JM. Sean Murray has struggled of late following his spell out with an injury whilst Doug “sicknote” Loft remains unavailable. Drey Wright despite his recent goal cannot be justified in the starting XI at present and must be benched. The two midfield arrivals in Shodipo and Stevenson cannot be ignored and there is a strong case for both to be given starts. Sammie Szmodics is either an attacking midfielder or a striker, but in the current climate must play behind the strike force. This is JM’s biggest conundrum with Mikael Mandron, Kurtis Guthrie, Courtney Senior, Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe and now Mandeville all champing at the bit. So, what do we make of all this: JM could consider the following: Walker Jackson Eastman Kent Vincent-Young Lapslie Stevenson Shodipo Szmodics Mandeville Guthrie Or: Walker Eastman Kent Prosser Jackson Comley Stevenson Shodipo Szmodics Ogedi-Uzokwe Senior Or: Walker Jackson Eastman Kent Prosser Murray Stevenson Shodipo Szmodics Mandeville Guthrie I think that he will instead go with the following line up against Newport County: 3,4,1,2 including three of the new signings who will offer quality in an attempt to secure our first win of 2018. Walker Eastman Kent Prosser Jackson Lapslie Stevenson Shodipo Szmodics Mandeville Guthrie Subs: Gilmartin Vincent-Young Comley Murray Ogedi-Uzokwe Senior Wright The weather in Colchester tomorrow is set for 5 degrees Celsius with light rain. Attendance should be up to see the new players performing on their debuts whilst also hoping for a super U’s victory. Now let us forget about all the hype about Newport rolling over because of their forthcoming FA Cup replay against Spurs at Wembley. Flynn knows that he has £1m in the bank and realistically has no chance of victory and so he will do what he can to rectify the situation following a poor showing at Lincoln City. JM must guard against any complacency. Tomorrow is all about the three points. Enjoy the game. Up the U’s | |
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County to be exiled by Super U's at Fortress Weston on 12:03 - Feb 4 with 703 views | durham_exile |
County to be exiled by Super U's at Fortress Weston on 08:17 - Feb 4 by noah4x4 | See what you did there Durham....but was a tap in (and his name is spent with a v not ph). Credit to Senior though foir a great run. But Stevenson made a huge difference. Coventy fans will be in tears in a couple of weeks. It was a tough set of decisions for McGreal. But Junior, Senior and Stevenson must start at Carlisle with Szmodics, Guthrie and Murray on bench. Szmodics looked interested again after a month of lethagy. The competition for places is healthy. |
Noah, allow me some journalistic licence with Stevenson, it is a headline writer's dream name when a goal goes in! I have not seen Junior play and so I doubt whether JM will start him at Brunton Park but he certainly deserves more than the 2 minutes that JM used to afford Macca Bonne. Insufficient time to influence anything helps neither team nor player. I would like to see all three of the new signings from last week play at Carlisle but our new winger arrived injured from QPR! Aaron Barnes (hattrick for loan club Torquay) looks a good prospect. JM now needs to achieve a good run of victories and more dynamic team selections must be the order of the day: Something like: Walker Eastman Kent Prosser Jackson Comley Stevenson Vincent-Young Senior Mandeville Guthrie Junior must also get at least 30 minutes game time Up the U's | |
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County to be exiled by Super U's at Fortress Weston on 15:05 - Feb 4 with 681 views | Daniel | Don't rule out Mandron Durham. Based on yesterday's game, I'd be dropping Guthrie to the bench. Mandron offers so much more than just goals, it's a shame him and Guthrie aren't creating a killer partnership.
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County to be exiled by Super U's at Fortress Weston on 15:35 - Feb 4 with 675 views | durham_exile |
County to be exiled by Super U's at Fortress Weston on 15:05 - Feb 4 by Daniel | Don't rule out Mandron Durham. Based on yesterday's game, I'd be dropping Guthrie to the bench. Mandron offers so much more than just goals, it's a shame him and Guthrie aren't creating a killer partnership.
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Daniel, I know that Mandron is highly rated by JM. However when I have seen him play although holding the ball up well he lacks the killer edge. Like you I am disappointed that Guthrie has not returned to the blistering form he showed before his injury. Hopefully JM will make the right team selection for the Carlisle game. Up the U's | |
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County to be exiled by Super U's at Fortress Weston on 18:38 - Feb 4 with 650 views | wessex_exile |
County to be exiled by Super U's at Fortress Weston on 15:35 - Feb 4 by durham_exile | Daniel, I know that Mandron is highly rated by JM. However when I have seen him play although holding the ball up well he lacks the killer edge. Like you I am disappointed that Guthrie has not returned to the blistering form he showed before his injury. Hopefully JM will make the right team selection for the Carlisle game. Up the U's |
I think we have to give Guthrie more time to get back to full match sharpness, he's been out for a long time. That being said, at the moment it looks like those opportunities need to come from the bench when the opposition start to flag. | |
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