t can hardly be argued that the start of the season has been a huge success; the club keeps extending it's own record for unbeaten matches, clean sheets come along more frequently than Romesh Ranganathan appears on TV and there's a resilience in the side that has continued from the desperation of the run of fixtures that saw County reach the play-off finals.
As I wrote about a few weeks back, the pragmatic style of play adopted this season - substance over style - is bringing vast rewards...second in the table with a positive goal difference (it's been a while since that's been the case) can hardly be sniffed at. But where it's all fun and games while that remains the case, we must consider the consequences if it all starts to go wrong.
At the end of last season, many fans were worried about whether or not the rollercoaster ride and relative success could be recreated. Many players were either out of contract or prone to injury and while TV money from yet more remarkable cup campaigns helped the coffers, financial restrictions would hinder what many wanted to happen over the summer. In fact, I spoke to many who believed that 2018-19 was a vast overachievement and were preparing for "mid-table mediocraty".
But unfortunately, that's merely the tip of the iceberg...
Michael Flynn, as has been highlighted in numerous outlets nationwide, has been a revelation for County and a revelation for management. And while he has done incredible things in South Wales in a relatively short space of time, this has unfortunately put him in the shop window for other clubs higher up the pyramid.
He was, at one time, the bookies' favourite for the Shrewsbury job after Paul Hirst was sacked from his second stint at the club and at the time of writing this, sits top of the odds for the recently-vacated hot seast at Lincoln City after the Cowley brothers were poached from Championship strugglers Huddersfield Town.
At this point, his stock has risen to such a height that whenever an EFL club parts with their manager, Flynn's name will always be mentioned in the subsequent conversation to replace them. He has showcased he can manage a team in different ways according to what he has at his disposal; the cavalier attitude shown when he had flare players such as Antoine Semenyo in his ranks is a far cry from the solidity that comes with the Ryan Haynes signing (amongst others).
When we couple this with the fact that Flynn himself has admitted that his ambition lays higher than Newport County, it is surely only a matter of time - and the right set of circumstances - before the Exiles' messiah rides off into the sunset having done all he can do. And who knows what happens afterwards? Could it get better under new stewardship? At this point, I highly doubt it...Flynn is the perfect fit, anyone else would surely be a downgrade.
So let's enjoy this lofty position, as we did last season, because it's certainly deserved and in the background, the clock may be ticking...
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