HOW much should we read into another opening day defeat for Newport County AFC?

The Exiles have begun to make a habit of starting the season with nothing to show for their efforts.

Under Justin Edinburgh in 2014 they lost 2-0 at home to Wycombe Wanderers.

Last year it was a 3-0 reverse under Terry Butcher at Cambridge United.

And on Saturday Warren Feeney’s men suffered stoppage-time agony as Kevan Hurst struck to give Mansfield Town a dramatic 3-2 victory at Rodney Parade.

Coming as it does on the back of an 11-game winless streak at the end of last season, the latest setback has been seen in some quarters as irrefutable proof that County are set for another miserable season of struggle and ultimately relegation.

A few of Feeney’s biggest critics are even calling for him to be sacked after one game, which is surely a new record.

It was a similar situation 12 months ago and on that occasion the doom-mongers were proved to be correct as Butcher was dismissed after winning just one of his first 10 games in charge.

The former England defender will point to bad luck with injuries and a lack of resources but it was clearly not working for him in South Wales and few would argue with the decision to dispense with his services.

But in 2014 Edinburgh – who the year before had guided the club back to the Football League after a 25-year absence – was also under intense pressure.

Edinburgh’s Exiles followed up that home reverse to Wycombe with a Capital One Cup exit at Reading and two further League Two defeats on the road at Morecambe and Mansfield.

Having ended the previous campaign on a downward spiral there were calls for the Wembley promotion hero to be shown the door.

But, not for the first time, he proved the doubters wrong and took County to the automatic promotion spots before walking out of his own accord to take over at Gillingham.

Feeney’s current situation feels a lot like that faced by Edinburgh two years ago.

He doesn’t have quite the same credit in the bank as Edinburgh did but it shouldn’t be forgotten that he played a massive part in preserving the club’s Football League status last season.

After being thrown in at the deep end following John Sheridan’s departure for Oldham Athletic, he managed to chalk up a vital six wins in his first 11 games in charge to secure safety.

The subsequent run of no wins in the final 11 games can’t be forgotten but County eventually finished a full nine points above the relegation zone.

And this is clearly a completely different team.

Feeney brought in 14 players before Saturday and started 10 new faces against the Stags.

And he added two more to the squad yesterday with Jordan Green and Josh Sheehan arriving on loan from AFC Bournemouth and Swansea City respectively.

That makes 16 new signings and it will undoubtedly be a while before we see this team playing to their absolute maximum.

It can be tiresome to hear managers and players talking about needing time to ‘gel’ and get to know each other but it is a reality.

I agree with Feeney that there were encouraging signs on Saturday and a clear improvement from the fare served up for much of last season.

The individual errors and occasional sloppy moments are to be expected at this stage and it will take time for them to iron themselves out.

With League One opposition in the EFL Cup tonight and tough league trips to Leyton Orient and Luton Town coming up in the next week it may well get worse before it gets better.

Or it may not get better at all. It’s far too early to tell.

But Feeney deserves more time to show what he can do with his new-look team.

And this is his team now. He may have one of the smallest budgets in the EFL but he has been backed by the board in terms of recruitment and in his preparations for the new campaign – including a tour of Poland.

Like every manager, the former Northern Ireland striker knows he’s under pressure but let’s leave the questions over his future until October at the earliest.

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Defender Jazzi Barnum-Bobb came in for some criticism from Feeney for his part in Mansfield’s winner on Saturday but he fared better than his near namesake Jazz Richards.

The Swansea-born former Swansea City defender was reportedly booed by fans of his new team Cardiff City for apparently ignoring requests for him to 'do the Ayatollah' during the Bluebirds’ 0-0 draw at Birmingham City.

The Ayatollah has been used by Cardiff fans since the 1990s and involves a player raising his hands above his head and repeatedly moving them up and down.

Richards was always facing an uphill task to win over the fans having signed from their deadly rivals and he clearly hasn’t helped his cause with his actions on Saturday.

But the reaction of some supporters is way out of proportion with his perceived crime.

Booing was bad enough but for some grown men to ring up a radio station and complain because a player refused to put his hands on his head is frankly laughable.