Manager change - Graham Coughlan gone

Newport County can confirm that manager Graham Coughlan has left his post at the club by mutual consent.

Chairman Huw Jenkins confirmed: “I have total respect for Graham and found this decision particularly difficult to make considering all the hard work he has put in to help stabilise the club over the last 18 months.

“It goes without saying that I wish Graham every success in his future managerial career.

“However, moving forward I must take the club and the team in a different direction and stay true to my own beliefs which I feel over time will bring sustained success to Newport County and hopefully change the club’s outlook for many years ahead.’’

The club would like to wish Graham good luck for the future and will endeavour to keep supporters updated on the appointment of a new head coach ahead of the forthcoming campaign.

Wow, that's decisive. Thank you Graham for all your efforts for the County. You deserved better.

Now we know why things have been so quite since HJ last statement.

Wish you all the best GC for the future.

Yes, good luck Graham. The game against Man U will be remembered always. I will be looking out for where your career takes you next.

flat4 wrote:Now we know why things have been so quite since HJ last statement.

Wish you all the best GC for the future.

I'm hoping that HJ has someone ready to step in immediately with the players he has chosen to sign.

Amberexile wrote:

flat4 wrote:Now we know why things have been so quite since HJ last statement.

Wish you all the best GC for the future.

I'm hoping that HJ has someone ready to step in immediately with the players he has chosen to sign.

Has HJ been working with another Manager /Coach to sign players?

Risca_Exile wrote:

Amberexile wrote:

flat4 wrote:Now we know why things have been so quite since HJ last statement.

Wish you all the best GC for the future.

I'm hoping that HJ has someone ready to step in immediately with the players he has chosen to sign.

Has HJ been working with another Manager /Coach to sign players?

I hope not, that would seem very disrespectful while GC was still in the job and expecting to sign the players he wanted.

Not in the least bit surprised.

Graham Coughlan will walk into another job and will pick up 18 months pay. No doubt he'll cry all the way to the bank. But I think he leaves with the thanks of us all.

Brave decision by Huw Jenkins. If Graham thrives at another League 2 club and our new man fails he will take some stick.

County 'til I die, etc, etc.

I would be surprised if Cameron Toshack isn't very high up on Jenkins' wishlist. He brought Dan James, Connor Roberts, Ollie McBurnie and Joe Rodon  through the Swansea academy, where the team played a possession-led game. He always came across very well when a pundit on SwansTv, speaking thoughtfully and offering good insight. Also very personable, not old school like his dad.

Did well in a short spell at Paphos and as assistant manager to Marsch when Leeds were in the Premier League. This seems to me such an obvious match I'd be surprised if it doesn't happen.

As long as Huw and the Swansea owners don't let any bad feelings over Huw's departure from the Swans get in the way of a business like relationship I can see a mutually beneficial relationship developing between the two clubs. Swansea have a number of academy players who are ready to step into the men's game, especially Josh Thomas and Filip Lissah. A season long loan at County for both should benefit all parties.

Amberexile wrote:

Risca_Exile wrote:

Amberexile wrote:

flat4 wrote:Now we know why things have been so quite since HJ last statement.

Wish you all the best GC for the future.

I'm hoping that HJ has someone ready to step in immediately with the players he has chosen to sign.

Has HJ been working with another Manager /Coach to sign players?

I hope not, that would seem very disrespectful while GC was still in the job and expecting to sign the players he wanted.

no different from the time the board had a meeting with Sheridan on the way to Carlisle when Terry butcher was still manager .

New pod out now with our analysis.

Owlsabout wrote:

Amberexile wrote:

Risca_Exile wrote:

Amberexile wrote:

flat4 wrote:Now we know why things have been so quite since HJ last statement.

Wish you all the best GC for the future.

I'm hoping that HJ has someone ready to step in immediately with the players he has chosen to sign.

Has HJ been working with another Manager /Coach to sign players?

I hope not, that would seem very disrespectful while GC was still in the job and expecting to sign the players he wanted.

no different from the time the board had a meeting  with Sheridan  on the way to Carlisle  when Terry butcher  was still manager  .

Agreed. That was disrespectful as well.
I'd have hoped GC had earned more respect while manager than Butcher did.

1912 Exiles wrote:New pod out now with our analysis.

https://x.com/1912Exiles/status/1803794095975940496

Interesting stuff. I would say Leon Britton is a less likely manager. He's not currently involved with the Swans in a coaching capacity as far as I'm aware and I'm not sure if he even has managerial ambitions. As a pundit on SwansTv he's a bit vanilla. No great insight, just a bit bland. Shame as he's such a legend for Swans fans.

If Toshack's wage demands were excessive then a cheaper Swansea option would be Angel Rangel. That would be a gamble as he currently manages Pontardawe I believe. That would nicely mirror the Martinez appointment, but would be a bit of a shot in the dark. But Martinez was appointed by Huw just on the strength of the conversations between the two when Martinez was a player at Swansea, so Huw certainly has a nose (I could just stop the sentence there) for managers.

A further Swansea link would be Alan Tate, who's assisted Steve Cooper at Swansea and Forest. Will probably join Cooper again at Leicester, but if he's keen on being no 1 then Newport could be a good move for him. I would be surprised if Huw didn't appoint someone from his Swansea days to be honest.

I hear Michael Laudrup is out of a job...

Looks like we've lost our captain as a consequence as well

To misquote Oscar Wilde...to lose you manager could be considered mis-fortune; to lose your manager and your captain, on the same day, looks like carelessness.  

On reflection this is what I’m expecting:-
A new coach and players announced by HJ in the next few days.
If that does happen, GC has been treated shoddily imo
If that doesn’t happen then again imo HJ has acted recklessly.

My bet is on the first option.

Amberexile wrote:Looks like we've lost our captain as a consequence as well

Why do you think Delaney's decision has anything to do with the management change? It'll have been based on the money offered and pretty much nothing else.

lowandhard wrote:On reflection this is what I’m expecting:-
A new coach and players announced by HJ in the next few days.
If that does happen, GC has been treated shoddily imo
If that doesn’t happen then again imo HJ has acted recklessly.

My bet is on the first option.

There's absolutely zero chance Coughlan's getting sacked without a replacement already being lined up. It's 2024, every club should have contingency planning for the manager leaving and there's nothing "shoddy" about it.

Coughlan did an excellent job with the budget we had last season, but who controls the budget is different and how the club decides who it's signing is different, and if Chairman, Head of Recruitment and (was) manager have different ideas in that space then it's not going to work. Seems fairly clear given the timing that they do, and it's about the recruitment policies (most likely how much budget to put towards specific types of player).

Can't be anything to do with the results or he'd have gone in May off 8 defeats in a row.

So, now we get to see if it's one of the numerous Swansea coaches and a possession-based, passing approach with a focus on developing younger talent (yeah my "Rowberry Experiment" klaxon is going off too), or something else.

Until something seriously wrong happens, the Chairman has enough goodwill from his previous success for me.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:Not in the least bit surprised.

Graham Coughlan will walk into another job and will pick up 18 months pay. No doubt he'll cry all the way to the bank. But I think he leaves with the thanks of us all.

Brave decision by Huw Jenkins. If Graham thrives at another League 2 club and our new man fails he will take some stick.

County 'til I die, etc, etc.

Very good chance of it with a decent budget. Proven at this level before...

sjg99 wrote:

Amberexile wrote:Looks like we've lost our captain as a consequence as well

Why do you think Delaney's decision has anything to do with the management change? It'll have been based on the money offered and pretty much nothing else.

Because I believe if GC was in control of recruitment and budget he would have made an offer sufficient to retain Delaney.

I thought he would have gone at the end of last season, and probably should have. Which suggests HJ hadn't really a plan at that time for replacing Coughlan. It looks like he now has that plan in place. Expect a name tomorrow (today now) and some signings soon after.

Coughlan grew on me. His first (part) season was all about survival and last season turned out to be managing resources with a horrendous injury list. I remain unconvinced that Coughlan wasn't over working the squad in training leading to the injury problems. But he dealt with his hand as well as can be expected and showed great gallows humour when it was at it's worst.

We move on...

sjg99 wrote:

Amberexile wrote:Looks like we've lost our captain as a consequence as well

Why do you think Delaney's decision has anything to do with the management change? It'll have been based on the money offered and pretty much nothing else.

Delaney was always going to leave for another club, as soon as he received an alternative offer.