By Paul Jones
Newport County boss Michael Flynn is hoping his sleepless night are over now the transfer window has closed.
But he won’t be able to sleep like a baby until his team gets back to winning ways this month after failing to win in any of their last nine outings. The last team they beat was Grimsby Town on 8 December, their opponents today.
“I signed off on transfer deadline day at 11.02pm and I was fast asleep at 11.05. It has been by far the most frustrating transfer window I’ve ever been involved in,” said Flynn.
“I missed out on two players I really wanted to bring back – one fell through because of a paper work issue at the other end.
“I had players lined-up who were supposed to be coming in the next day, but then there was a COVID outbreak and that had to change.
“I had permission to talk to some players who wanted a move, but then changed their mind, and others who were only interested in permanent moves rather than loans. It was all very frustrating.”
Owen Windsor came in and then went back to West Brom, midfielders Luke Gambin and Anthony Haritgan arrived and have played, Aaron Lewis returned from Lincoln and at the eleventh hour a deal to bring in experienced striker Nicky Maynard was clinched.
“Getting Nicky in was something I had been working on all month and I was delighted to get him in the end. We’ve already seen the quality of his movement and finishing in training and it just depend on whether or not we can get him up to speed for the Grimsby game,” added Flynn.
Lowly Grimsby Town are the visitors to Rodney Parade today for a game that will be played the day after the Dragons play Connacht in a professional rugby match. That could be critical in the final outcome.
The deterioration of the playing surfaces in the last few months has impact on Newport’s performances and they have slipped from top of the table to seventh, leaving them five points off league leaders Cambridge United with two games in hand.
“The story of the last month has been mistake after mistake. We’ve shot ourselves in the foot in most of the games we’ve lost,” said Flynn.
⚡️⚡️
@officialgtfc
@SkyBetLeagueTwo
⏰3pm
️Rodney Parade
https://t.co/VYSXbGqdDk#OneClubOneCounty pic.twitter.com/OiffUrrq2L— Newport County AFC (@NewportCounty) February 6, 2021
“We are still in a fantastic position, but we want to get back on track as soon a possible. We are still in a terrific position and I’d have taken this at the start of the season.
“When we were top of the table I wasn’t getting carried away in what is an unprecedented season. And after the recent run I’m not too down.
“I just hope we can get back to the form we showed at the start of the season because that would get us promoted. It is going to be difficult against Grimsby because the pitch will be poor, they have a few new signings and a new manager.
“This is where we will see the fighting spirit of every team in every division and there will be some surprise results.”