Mike Flynn reckons he would feel like retiring if his Newport County team knock Tottenham out of the FA Cup – but he would still rather promotion from League Two.
The County manager takes his team to Wembley for their fourth round replay on Wednesday night, aware that a shock result would be seismic in terms of rocking football’s axis.
But given the choice between stunning Spurs or leading the club into League One, Flynn would take jam tomorrow, particularly since the club have lost to both Lincoln and Colchester since drawing their initial Cup tie 1-1 at Rodney Parade.
Asked how he would feel if Newport were to win against the Premier League giants, Flynn said: “I’m retiring!
“If we pulled it off it would be the biggest result in the club’s history. With all the finances, the way that modern football is and the amount of money the big boys can spend on players and their squad depth, this would be the biggest.
“But on a selfish level, I would probably take promotion. It would be an unbelievable achievement, going from the last kick of the game last season and nearly being relegated out of the Football League, to then the following season get promoted.
“It’s not very often that happens. My honest answer would be I’d take what is best financially for the football club in the long term.”
Flynn revealed he has apologised to Mauricio Pochettino after dossier targeting Spurs’ weaknesses was made public.
Newport were eight minutes from a famous win before Harry Kane equalised, but the aftermath of the game was dominated by the
leaked analysis which exposed the Spurs areas County were keen to exploit.
“I’ve dealt with the leak of the so-called secret dossier manager to manager,’ Flynn said.
“Things have a habit of coming out and it happens in football. It’s the way it is, nothing is private these days, but there was no malice in it.
“I apologised on our behalf to Mauricio for it getting out. It was helpful in preparing for the first game against Spurs because we needed all the help we could get.
“We exchanged numbers before the game. He shook my hand and gave me his details, which shows the class of him.
“We’ve exchanged a couple of messages back and fore since then. There is no issue here and he has bigger things
to worry about.”
Newport’s dossier suggested Eric Dier was one-paced, Mousa Dembele gave away needless free-kicks and Dele Alli did not work hard to win possession back.
Michel Vorm was also singled out for his reluctance to collect crosses, which was made evident when the Dutch goalkeeper was left stranded on his line as Padraig Amond put County ahead in the first half.
“There were a lot of good things in there also,” smiled Flynn. “Look, it’s something we do on every team and we did it on Lincoln and Colchester in our last two matches.
“It is a report that is done week in, week out by our scouts and it is a good tool.
“We’ve had other reports on Spurs done from their games against Liverpool and Manchester United.
“It gives you a lot of information, but it is what you do with it that is important.”
Newport have lost twice since the original tie, while Spurs have beaten United and drawn at Liverpool after dominating the second half.
Against United, Christian Eriksen scored in the 11th second – the second fastest goal in Premier League history.
“I turned the game off after 12 seconds!” Flynn said. “I didn’t want to watch any more of that, so I watched the Liverpool game instead.
“They’ve just played United and Liverpool and they’ve got Arsenal on the weekend, so I’m hoping Mauricio makes a few changes.
“They should still have enough to turn us over, but you never know – and that’s the beauty of the FA Cup.
“We are dreaming now, because dreams do come true occasionally.”
While Pochettino decides which of his stars to rest ahead of Saturday’s North London derby, Flynn has had a more unconventional build-up to the replay.
On Monday, Newport announced the departure of midfielder Sean Rigg by ‘mutual consent’.
“Sean has left the club to pursue his dream as a tattoo artist,” Flynn revealed.
“Even last week I asked Sean to stay – and I’ve also spoken to his father and his agent – but he made his mind up a while back.
“He fell out of love with the game and is thinking about the future.”
