Newport County Struggling to Adapt To David Hughes Era

Manager David Hughes of Newport County. Pic. Alamy

Following a very encouraging start to the David Hughes era, Newport County have hit the skids, as Ian Mitchelmore reports.

Newport County have now suffered five consecutive defeats in all competitions.

Of those losses, four came in the league, and it has perhaps been telling that each of those were against sides all currently in the top half of the, albeit early knockings, League Two table.

On Saturday lunchtime, County - currently down in 20th spot - host Bristol Rovers.

But what do the stats say of their start to the season? Let's take a closer look.

The Exiles have netted five times in six league matches so far, underperforming their xG by 2.12, according to Opta.

Only Accrington Stanley and Cheltenham (50 each) have had fewer than Newport's tally of 52 shots so far in League Two while they have the joint-fewest number of high turnovers (23) in the division.

Hughes' men have made the fewest number of final third passes (503) and the fewest number of successful passes in the final third (247) across the fourth tier.

At the business end of the pitch, only two players throughout the division are underperforming more than last season's top scorer Bobby Kamwa's ‘goals versus xG’ rate of -1.49 - although, in fairness to the 25-year-old, it is largely due to his penalty miss in the 2-1 defeat against MK Dons at Rodney Parade.

So it's clear to see Newport are having some early teething problems in attack.

Hughes undoubtedly wants more control in matches, and with his side having just 42.4% of possession on average so far, the third-lowest of any team in League Two, it's blindingly obvious improvement will be needed when it comes to retaining the ball and then being productive with it.

Naturally, the inability to dominate can bring an increased volume of pressure on summer signing Nik Tzanev and his backline.

At least the goalkeeper is over performing when it comes to xG of shots on target faced - with the New Zealand international’s rate of preventing such goals being the second-best in the league, thanks in part to a fine spot-kick save during what ultimately proved to be a frustrating 2-1 loss at Grimsby.

From a defensive perspective, Newport have already leaked nine goals - with only the current bottom three (Crawley, Shrewsbury and Cheltenham) letting in more, and their xG conceded (9.72) is the fourth-highest in the league.

Encouragingly, Newport are one of just three sides who are yet to make an error leading to a shot. But that positive statistic can swiftly be countered by the fact they have already conceded three penalties, the joint-most along with Chesterfield.

So where is it going wrong?

The heavy volume of changes certainly won't help when it comes to continuity.

To that end, only eight of the 15 players who featured in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Cambridge were at the club prior to Hughes' arrival in the summer - so new arrivals can be forgiven for needing time to bed in, while those who were already at the club are working to new methods following Nelson Jardim's exit.

The club did at least manage to add Leicester pair Sammy Braybrooke and Nathan Opoku to their ranks on transfer deadline day.

Midfielder Braybrooke, 21, gained experience with Scottish Premiership side Dundee last season while Ghana-born striker Opoku, 24, will bring a "spark" to Newport's frontline, according to Hughes. Both players will be with the Exiles for the remainder of the calendar year.

Hughes' frustration after his side's latest setback against Cambridge was telling, with the 47-year-old vowing to have "honest, frank discussions" with his squad.

And while it's still early days in the grand scheme of the ex-Manchester United youth coach's tenure as boss, he will be only too aware that there will need to be swift signs of improvement.