Trust members are to vote on whether or not "prefered bidder is the right fit" for club in historic takeover meeting at Rodney Parade.

 This Thursday is arguably the biggest day in the modern history of the club as valid trust members will decide in a historic meeting at Rodney Parade on whether or not ex Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins will be successful in his attempted take over at Newport County. 

Both Colin Everett and club director Paul Marks joined Look Back In Amber for a chat in build up to the all important meeting and subsequent vote on whether or not it thinks Huw Jenkins' bid is the correct one for Newport County.

Colin Everett who has acted as a link between potential bidders and the board set out what exactly will the trust members in attendance on Thursday be voting on "They (Trust members) are being specifically asked to vote for or against the prefered bidder, the prefered bidder being Mr Huw Jenkins based on the proposal that we've put out already in the media that all trust members have had." 

"A number of people have asked questions about [the] process and if there's a second bidder could they also be available on the night that isn't the position, that isn't the process. We are not voting for the process on Thursday we are voting simply do people think that the prefered bidder is the right fit and if so then they know how to cast their vote." He continued 

"It's a big meeting, very important, a big meeting in terms of the number of people who will be there. We are expecting around 350 trust members to be present and also over 100 have appointed a proxy voter if they can't come they have appointed someone on their behalf. So logistically it's a big meeting to manage" Colin explained on how the meeting will look.

"The format will be, Paul is chairing and I'm (Colin) facilitating. Once we've done introductions and explained the background of the process, we will then explain why Huw Jenkins is the prefered bidder, what the board of directors saw in him and his experience and his proposal to pick him as the prefered bidder by unanimous voting at board level. Huw Jenkins will then be invited in and we want to give as much of Thursday night as we can to this slot where he'll talk and listen and answer questions and people can get to know him and hear it for real." 

"Mr Jenkins will then be asked to leave and at that point we conduct the ballot and we will be counting the votes on the night and we will be announcing and publicising the result on the night."

In order for the resolution to pass it must reach a 75% vote in favour Colin explains "The decision was made to set it at what you call and extraordinary resolution rather than what you call an ordinary one, the secret is in the title it does require three quarters of valid votes of people who are present or have voted by proxy for the resolution to be passed." 

"If there is a 75% or more vote in favour then Mr Jenkins becomes owner elect if I can use that term, he is the owner in waiting. I mentioned earlier he would have to go through the EFL acquisitions process which is quite a complex piece of work which is how the EFL regulates club's governance and ensures than owners are fit and proper people and we have no doubt that Mr Jenkins would pass that easily but it does take some weeks to get through that, and then he would become the new owner and would then be very visible and start directing the club in making decisions."

"If the vote isn't in favour of Mr Jenkins coming on board then of course we continue as we are. We are a trust owned club and I think Paul would agree at this point we would be in a position of some uncertainty. Some uncertainty in that it's not the direction that people felt we were going, this new hybrid model and some uncertainty because we would be left questioning ourselves how can we raise sufficient funds for this to be a competitive EFL league two club."        

Both Colin and Paul emphasis the importance of arriving early. Doors open from 6pm with the meeting hopefully getting underway from 7pm at Rodney Parade. They made an appeal "Please arrive no later than 6:30pm. We want to kick off by 7 and we have got a lot of people to register in and give information too"

I hope this has cleared some things up for you in the run up to Thursday and the all important meeting. If you want to listen to the full interview with Paul Marks and Colin Everett click here.

Newport's unbeaten home start comes to a crashing end.

Ahead of a monumental week in the history of Newport County it was on the field matters that took the spotlight at Rodney Parade as we took on Bradford City managed by Wales legend Mark Hughes.

It was County who got off to the better start right from the off as Wildig let the ball run through his legs and go to Will Evans who played in Wildig but he can only fire across goal hitting Matty Platt and going for a corner.

Last season's League Two top scorer Andy Cook looked sharp early on heading a pinpoint cross narrowly over the bar. He scored not long after to get his first goal of the season. Tulloch crosses into the box and Cook was there to head home for the bantams. 

Andy Cook again causing the County defence all sorts of problems as he hooked a shot towards goal but it went over the top of the net. 

Bradford scored 2 in as many minutes to take the game away from County just before the half hour mark goals from Rayhaan Tulloch and another from Andy Cook put Bradford 3-0 up. Some really nice passing into Tulloch for his goal. Andy Cook got the better of Declan Drysdale in a one on one race towards the County goal and smashed past Nick Townsend for his second of the game and of the season as well. 

5 mins later we had a lifeline from who else but Omar Bogle! James Waite with some good play to find the no.9 through the Bradford defence, he rounded keeper Harry Lewis and pull one back for the exiles. 

We ended the first half on the front foot with James Waite in some space shooting goalwards but he dragged his shot wide. 

On the hour mark Coughlan switched things up and made a double change looking for pace up top with Matty Bondswell and Olly Thomas on and it had an immediate impact as Bondswell had the ball on the left hand side and won County a corner.

Things went from bad to worse for us as James Clarke went down off the ball holding his groin area and after some dialogue with the physios he was taken if the pitch. We are stretched at the back as it is and this just makes things even worse for Graham Coughlan but we will have Ryan Delaney back from suspension next weekend. Clarke was replaced by Josh Seberry.

Olly Thomas flicked the ball to the back post where he found Matty Bondswell but he couldn't sort his feet out and sliced wide. This was the closest we came in all second half.  

Right at the death Bradford extended their lead as Andy Cook, who already had 2 goals got his hat trick. Another cross lead to him heading home past Townsend. This time it was a ball from Liam Ridehalgh which the no.9 got on the end of. 

And that was full time. We were really poor today and it doesn't help that we are decimated with Injuries, throughout the squad we are missing key players and it is showing. With a busy October ahead you can only feel bad for Graham and the management team. For more analysis join Look Back In Amber tomorrow from 2pm on Newport City Radio with myself, Stephen Howell and Ian Lamsdale.

 Newport County: Nick Townsend, Adam Lewis, James Clarke (Josh Seberry), Declan Drysdale, Will Evans, Bryn Morris, Omar Bogle, James Waite (Olly Thomas), Scot Bennett, Shane McLoughlin, Aaron Wildig (Matty Bondswell). 

Attendance: 4087 (411) 

MOTM: Will Evans

Newport come from behind to take a point against AFC Wimbledon.

 Newport County battled back from 2-0 down to snatch a point against AFC Wimbledon this afternoon at Rodney Parade. 

Both sides returned to league action following disappointing exits from the league cup in midweek with the Exiles losing via the dreaded penalty kicks to Brentford on Tuesday night and Wimbledon heading out to London rivals Chelsea losing 2-1 but taking the lead at Stamford Bridge. 

Newport County started very much on the front foot with Omar Bogle, who made his first league start of the season this afternoon holding the ball up well and playing the ball into Harry Charsley who had a shot blocked. 

AFC Wimbledon took the lead after only 9 minutes of the game through James Tilley keeping up with the early season form with Wimbledon scoring first in 4 out of the last 5 games before today and County conceding the first goal in 8 out of the last 10 games prior to kick off.

What ever the game plan was going into the game it clearly wasn't working. One thing I noticed in the first half at least is the amount of times our center backs were playing the ball long up the field looking for our forward men but just seemed to give possession back to Wimbledon. 

County did come back into the game more as the first half went on as they started reverting back to playing the ball on the ground which is what we have seen Graham Coughlan's men do so well so far this season. Shane McLoughlin had a great chance to level with a header from a wonderful Aaron Wildig cross. 

As County were on the ascendancy Wimbledon doubled their lead through their top scorer James Tilley who pounced on an error from captain Ryan Delaney and slotted past Nick Townsend to score what felt like an undeserved second.  

Newport were awarded a free kick following a foul on Al-Hamadi, who was subject to a deadline day bid by League One Barnsley. The following play from the free kick lead to holding midfielder Scot Bennett having a go on goal and came the closest anyone for anyone in amber all afternoon as he hit the top of the crossbar from 20 yards out.

Our Striker who is in red hot form for the Exiles scored again! Will Evans halved the deficit on the stroke of half time and gave Graham Coughlan's men a lifeline going into the second 45. 

The man with a wand of a left foot Adam Lewis coming of a week with 2 assists nearly had a goal to cap it all off in the opening seconds of the second half. He found space on the left hand side and drilled the ball into the box but keeper' Alex Bass was quick out and got down well. 

Ryan Delaney played a ball into Omar Bogle who controlled it well and drew out Alex Bass far out of his goal and our number 9 had a very simple chip over the top of the keeper to level the game and send Rodney Parade into a frenzy. 

The game lost a little momentum after that second County goal with both teams looking for a goal but created very little in the way of clear cut opportunities. James Tilley was a constant bright spark for the visitors all afternoon with most if not all of their good play coming from the winger who has had a good start to the season with 7 goals including a penalty against Chelsea.

We did see the first glimpse of new forward Olly Thomas who had a 20 minute cameo at the end of the game. He looked good when he came on. I thought he was very good with his running, good turn of pace and good energy. Very similar to what we had with his fellow Bristol City loanee Seb Palmer-Houlden. 

At full time a draw felt like the fair result with both teams having really really good spells of play. Wimbledon just shaded it in terms of shots with 14 but both sides had 4 shots on goal. That point does nothing for both sides as both remain where they were before the start of play. County are in 6th place with Wimbledon a place above on 5. This comes at the end of a busy week for Graham Coughlan and his men with 3 games in 7 days at Rodney Parade. A win and 2 draws albeit one ending in a penalty shootout defeat. I'd say it's been a pretty positive week and something to build upon going into a much more quieter month of September.

For more analysis join myself and Stephen Howell tomorrow at 2pm on Newport City Radio for an all new edition of Look Back In Amber.     

Newport County: Nick Townsend, Adam Lewis, Ryan Delaney, James Clarke, Will Evans, Bryn Morris, Omar Bogle (Olly Thomas), Scot Bennett, Shane McLoughlin, Harry Charsley (Nathan Wood), Aaron Wildig (James Waite) 

Attendance: 4008 (403) 

My man of the match: Will Evans

Matt Baker returns!

One of the key players in the second half of last season returns to the club in the form of Matty Baker, who this time joins on a season long loan! 

He returns to the club on the back of playing 18 times in League Two for the Exiles as they steered clear of relegation to the National League. Matt predominantly featured as a left sided center back in the back 3 which County set up with for so much of last season playing in place of Declan Drysdale who suffered an Injury which kept him out for large parts of the end of the campaign.

Unfortunately he has a knock and is ineligible for tomorrow's game against AFC Wimbledon but will provide cover and depth in a position where we haven't had much luck so far. He joins James Clarke, Ryan Delaney, Declan Drysdale, Josh Seberry and Kyle Jameson (Also currently injured) in competition at the back with a busy schedule on the horizon it was important to get one more defender in before the window closes in half an hour.

Graham Coughlan said on Tuesday night that he was looking to add at least 2 more players before the end of the window which he has managed to achieve with the signings of both Matt and Olly Thomas on loans from Stoke and Bristol City. 

Matt rounds off this summer's business. It's 13 signings in all in Graham Coughlan's side. Jonny Maxted, Kyle Jameson, Ryan Delaney, Matty Bondswell (Loan), Adam Lewis (Loan), Bryn Morris, Josh Seberry, Lewis Payne (Loan), Olly Thomas (Loan), Seb Palmer-Houlden (Loan), Nathan Wood and Shane McLoughlin all joined the club in what was a big window especially with the departures of key players at the end of last season in the likes of  Mickey Demetriou (Crewe), Cameron Norman (MK Dons), Aaron Lewis (Mansfield) and Priestly Farquharson (Walsall). HOwever from early viewings this season we seemed to have recruited very well.

“Matt wanted to come back. In fact, he never wanted to leave,’’ Explained County boss Coughlan. “When you have players like that who are desperate to play for this football club it’s a no-brainer.

 “He gives us good coverage in two or three different positions, and he knows what we are all about. He’s a great addition and the more good men we have in the trenches with us the better chance we have of fighting the war.’’

Welcome back Matt!

Newport County finally add another Striker to squad.

 Graham Coughlan bolsters his Forward line with the addition of Olly Thomas on deadline day, the same day that it was confirmed that Seb Palmer-Houlden will miss the next 3 months of the season due to injury. 

Since last night when it was announced that Olly was recalled from his loan spell at National League South side Yeovil immediately the rumours started that he was going to be the Striker that has eluded Coughlan all summer long. 

As I mentioned Olly started the season at Yeovil. He played for the glovers as they beat us 2-0 in pre season so has experience playing against this Newport side. The 18 year old had featured in all 6 of their games so far this season getting 2 goals in return and will look to add to those numbers 2 divisions higher from where he started the campaign. 

Fellow Bristol City Loanee Seb Palmer-Houlden who has started the season well has picked up a hamstring injury in the penalty shoot out defeat to Brentford on Tuesday night which made the attacking options even more thin than what they already were.

He joins Omar Bogle, Will Evans, Kiban Rai, Offrande Zanzala and Seb Palmer-Houlden a options for Graham up top. I would like to see us get at least one more as 2 of these 5 are out with major injuries.  

Upon signing the Bristol City forward Graham Coughlan said:“We were obviously disappointed to lose Seb,’’ he explained. “We needed to replace him and thankfully we have a great relationship with Bristol City, Seb’s parent club, who were keen to help.

 “Olly brings a lot of the same qualities as Seb – the presence, link-up play and pressing – together with his own individual strengths.

“He’s a great addition to the squad and we are all looking forward to working with him.’’

Welcome Olly!

Newport complete turn around to move into the play off places.

It was quite an even first half as County looked to make it 3 wins from 3 competitive league games at Rodney Parade something not done since April 2021 under Michael Flynn. 

But it was Graham Coughlan's men who started off the better as captain Ryan Delaney had a very early header saved by Jack Rose

It was the aforementioned Sutton keeper who was living very dangerously in his own box as he tried to play out from the back but our forwards pressed him in his own area and lost the ball with Will Evans and SPH on the prowl the ball fortunately for Sutton ended up at the feet of one of their defenders.

This kicked off a few action packed minutes with Will Evans running onto a Ryan Delaney flick but he is deemed offside by the officials. Then only a few seconds later James Clarke headed wide of the Sutton goal. 

Adam Lewis had the best chance of the game so far after he got the ball on the left hand side of the penalty area only for him to fire a few yards over the bar. 

Craig Clay got the ball after nice play from Patrick but blazed very high over the bar. 

County felt like they should've had a penalty towards the end of the first half as the man in form Will Evans goes through on goal but the Sutton keeper ends up coming out quickly and looked to have fouled his but nothing was given by the referee. 

That was the last major chance in what was quite a dull first half. The way Sutton played nullified County's usual high energetic play style by going very direct in into the forward pair of Scott Kashket and Lee Angol and they also utilised play direct into channels with wide men Omari Patrick especially and Josh Coley and drew County into their way of playing.

What ever Sutton's vocal manager Matt Gray said at half time it had it's desired impact almost straight away as they came out with a lot of intent at the start of the second half. Robert Milsom had a shot which deflected behind for a corner. Then the man who impressed me in the first half Omari Patrick put the visitors ahead with a really neat finish. 

County were nearly level immediately. Seb Palmer-Houlden headed into the path of Will Evans who took a shot but found the shot saved on the line by Sutton keeper Jack Rose. 

Bryn Morris came close as he had a floating shot that floated just over the bar. 

It was then time for the introduction of last season's top scorer Omar Bogle who was making his first appearance of the campaign following an injury which has kept him out so far.  

Within 4 minutes of him coming on we were level! Adam Lewis put a great ball into the box which was turned in by Joe Kizzi the Sutton right back in a goal which reminded me of Robin Van Persie's diving header from the 2014 world cup for The Netherlands. 

The next chance of the game lead to the next goal and again it came from a cross this time from the other side of the pitch. Shane McLoughlin crossed into the box and midfielder Harry Charsley converted for his 2nd goal of the season and the turn around which looked all but impossible came true. 

Matt Gray responded to going behind by making a quadruple change and a change in formation which to me had very little impact on the rest of the game. Ex County man Ryan Jackson made a cameo at Rodney Parade and was amongst the quartet coming on and got a great reception from the Amber Army. 

The man in form got yet another! Will Evans got his 6th league goal of the season with a very good finish to secure all three points and the 3rd successive win at Rodney Parade at the start of the campaign. 

Omar nearly capped his return with a goal and he pounced on a mistake from the Sutton backline and sprinted all the way down to the other end of the pitch along side Adam Lewis but decided to shoot on goal rather than pass to Lewis but unfortunately he was denied by Jack Rose.

That was that for an afternoon with another turnaround similar to the one we seen against Charlton in the league cup. We move into the Brentford game on Tuesday in the league cup full of confidence and believe as we are on a run now of 3 home wins in a row which hasn't been seen for over a year.

For a more in depth review tune into Look Back In Amber tomorrow afternoon on Newport City Radio from 2pm with Myself, Ian Lamsdale and Stephen Howell.

 Newport County: Nick Townsend, Adam Lewis, Ryan Delaney, James Clarke, Will Evans, Bryn Morris, Scot Bennett (Omar Bogle), Shane McLoughlin, Harry Charsley, Aaron Wildig ( James Waite), Seb Palmer-Houlden (Josh Seberry)

Attendance: 3740

Newport County put Doncaster to the sword at Rodney Parade.

Newport County started as they mean to go on at Rodney Parade as they emphatically put 4 goals past Doncaster Rovers. 

Graham Coughlin made two changes to the team that beat Charlton on Tuesday night with both changes coming at full back with Adam Lewis and Shane McLoughlin came into the starting 11 in place of James Waite and Josh Seberry.

They carried on from where they left off against Charlton and made a very bright start with an early chance as Aaron Wildig floated a really good ball into the box which Ian Lawlor punched away. 

Within 6 minutes County were ahead as Seb Palmer-Houlden did ever so well to dispossess Joseph Olowu on the bar line and he tucked home to make it 3 goals in consecutive games at Rodney Parade. 

Seb nearly made it 4 in 3 at Rodney Parade as midfielder Scot Bennett dispossessed a Doncaster player and played him through but he fired wide of goal. 

It was 2-0 only a few minutes later however as Shane Mcloughlin has a shot which was saved but into the path of Will Evans who shows great instinct to score his first league goal of the season. 

It was soon 3 after a scramble in the Donny penalty area and veteran defender Richard Wood who Graham Coughlan yesterday said he tried to sign over the summer put the ball in his own net to put us 3-0 up within 25 minutes. 

The poor start for his side prompted Rovers manager Grant McCann into a double change only half an hour into the match which didn't really have that much impact on the game as wave after wave of attack from Newport County followed until half time as County looked the most dangerous that i've seen them in a long time. 6 shots on target in that first half with 3 goals (1 albeit an own goal.) We were very clinical in the first half. It could and almost should've been 5 or 6 at the break we had further chances through SPH, Bryn Morris and Shane McLoughlin. 

It only took Will Evans 5 second half minutes to get his second of the afternoon as he was played in by Shane McLoughlin and the forward slots it in the bottom left corner and matches his goal tally in the league already after just 2 games. 

This prompted Doncaster into 2 more changes and saw new boy Mo Faal who impressed me and Tommy Rowe come on in what looked like another formation change from Grant McCann. 

The game fizzled out in the half an hour of the game with Doncaster having the better of the play but they didn't really test keeper Nick Townsend that much. Most of the Doncaster play came around the center circle as they tried to get back the County defence. 

We seen a couple of debuts towards the end as new summer signings Nathan Wood and Lewis Payne entered the pitch for a small cameo at the end of the game. 

I feel like this was one of the best County performances in a long long while we looked like we would score everytime we went forward especially in the first half. Our pressing and counter pressing forced Donny into a number of errors and one even lead to the opener from SPH. It will be tough to repeat the same performance levels on Tuesday against Crewe after a lot of the players have played 3 games of football in 7 days but what today does is it lays down a marker for Graham Coughlan and his side who have been written of by a number of people before a single ball was kicked.

For further analysis on the game listen to Look Back In Amber tomorrow from 2pm on Newport city radio with myself and Stephen Howell.

Newport County: Nick Townsend, Adam Lewis, Ryan Delaney, Will Evans (Nathan Wood), Bryn Morris, Scot Bennett, Shane McLoughlin (Lewis Payne), Harry Charsley (Matty Bondswell), Kyle Jameson, Aaron Wildig (James Waite), Seb Palmer-Houlden (Kiban Rai)

Attendance: 3989 (358)

Personal MOTM: Seb Palmer-Houlden