AFTER four successive defeats the honeymoon period is over for Newport County AFC manager Warren Feeney.

The former Northern Irish international inspired County to six wins in his first 11 League Two matches after replacing John Sheridan in January.

But a small minority of supporters were calling for him to be sacked (in comments posted on the Argus website) after Saturday’s 1-0 reverse at fellow strugglers Yeovil Town, which I find hard to understand.

Sheridan got the Exiles out of a big hole following the brief and ultimately unsuccessful reign of Terry Butcher.

But he left with the job half done and the team by no means safe from relegation.

Feeney has won 21 points as manager – more than half of the season’s tally of 41 so far – and has done more than anyone off the field to ensure that the club will be playing League Two football next season.

The manager insists that five more points are needed to be certain of avoiding the drop and some fans are understandably nervously looking over their shoulders but, realistically, County are safe.

It would take an end to the campaign reminiscent of Carlos Brathwaite’s battering of Ben Stokes’ bowling in Sunday’s T20 World Cup final for either Dagenham & Redbridge or York City to get out of trouble now.

Surely then, the final six games have to be about building towards next season and ensuring there is no repeat of the rollercoaster ride we’ve all been on for the last nine months.

That’s why it makes no sense to me when the knee-jerk reaction to a bad run from some people is to get rid of Feeney, get rid of the players and get rid of the board of directors.

Ripping it up and starting again didn’t exactly work wonders last summer did it?

After last season’s play-off chase limped to an unsatisfactory conclusion under Jimmy Dack there were wholesale changes.

Dack was replaced and 15 players left the club, landing Butcher with the mammoth task of trying to assemble a competitive squad on a shoestring budget.

The former England captain was on to a loser from the start and the results in August and September and the manner of some of the defeats suggested County were hurtling towards a return to the Conference.

County can’t risk a repeat this summer. With the same upheaval they may not be lucky enough to have two such poor sides as the Daggers and the Minstermen to fill the bottom two places next year.

What the club desperately needs is stability and, in my mind, Feeney has done more than enough to suggest that with the right backing he can steer the Exiles to at least a top-half finish in 2017.

And, far from getting rid of the entire squad, I’m certain there are plenty of players that the manager will want to tie down.

Goalkeeper Joe Day and strikers Lenell John-Lewis and Tom Meechan are all already under contract for next season.

And I’d be surprised if captain Mark Byrne and top scorer Scott Boden haven’t already been sounded out about their intentions in the summer.

Byrne has already been courted by former Exiles boss Justin Edinburgh at Gillingham, who are chasing promotion to the Championship.

A lot of seasoned football watchers with far more miles on the clock than me believe the diminutive Irish playmaker has the talent to make it in the second tier.

And, with 15 goals to his name, there will be no shortage of offers on the table for Boden.

If Feeney can persuade both to commit their futures to County he’ll be delighted.

And I’d argue that the likes of Darren Jones, Matt Partridge, Andrew Hughes and Alex Rodman have done enough to earn new contracts.

Feeney, like Butcher and Sheridan before him, is also a big fan of Medy Elito and will more than likely want to keep the Congolese midfielder in Newport.

Elito has hardly been a universally popular player this term and his inconsistency can infuriate.

But he definitely has the talent to frighten any defence in League Two on his day – as evidenced by his superb showing at Portsmouth – and shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.

And with promising youngsters like Tom Owen-Evans, Kieran Parselle and Liam Angel also on board you have the basis of a decent squad.

With the board’s backing Feeney will look to add extra quality in key positions over the summer.

And, once the new season gets under way, he’ll again look to make astute use of the loan system.

There’s no need for a major overhaul of the squad like we saw 12 months ago and there’s every possibility that County can enjoy a much better campaign.

As for the interim board of directors – their fate will be decided by the votes of the Supporters Trust members.

There is clearly discontent in some quarters with the way the club is being run at the moment.

The directors even felt compelled last week to issue a statement to answer their critics.

Like all of us, they have made mistakes and the pressure of juggling regular 9 to 5 jobs and the running of a professional football club seems to have got to some.

As I’ve said before I think they’ve got the major decisions correct so far but there’s always room for improvement.

And anyone who is unhappy can have their say in the promised election.

Or, if they think they can do a better job, they can stand as candidates.

Embarrassingly there was only one applicant in the planned first round of elections.

The board will be desperate to avoid a repeat of that scenario and, under the Supporters’ Trust ownership model, the message is: if you want change then do something about it.