SO how was the opening third of the League Two campaign for you then?

Fifteen games have flown by in the blink of an eye and the Exiles sit seventh with precisely the same number of points they had at this stage last season.

That in itself isn’t entirely surprising, though it almost certainly was if you were one of the people calling for Justin Edinburgh to be sacked and hammering your keyboard with angry messages when County lost their opening three matches.

It was inexplicable to those people that us Edinburgh apologists couldn’t see what was so obviously true, that County had merely continued their bad run of form from the previous season and that there was no evidence to suggest he could put it right.

Oh how I laughed.

I’m often mocked for constantly working Spurs references into columns, because you know that White Hart Lane is both my cathedral and prison, just as Somerton, Spytty or Rodney Parade was/is yours, but in this instance comparison is most apt.

If any fans in the country know when to spot a counter-productive sacking, it’s Spurs fans. And losing faith in Edinburgh would’ve been your sacking Harry Redknapp for finishing fourth moment of madness. They can take a lot of recovering from.

Edinburgh is County’s biggest current asset, a manager who like Russell Slade seems destined to do a decade or more in the lower reaches doing a good job before anyone in the higher echelons notice, because he was appointed on the back of an impeccable managerial record in the non-league game.

He’s a highly skilled manager who played at the top level (though see above for my mixed feelings on the club he played for and yes I know I’m doing it again) and yet didn’t get the big break of some of his contemporaries, like a 1990s version of Alan Devonshire, another massively under-appreciated boss.

However, despite some fans losing faith in Edinburgh, the majority never did and we shouldn’t be surprised by County’s fine form, nor should we be overly worried that they’ll repeat last term’s post Christmas capitulation.

The Exiles squad today is far superior to the one they entered the Football League with.

Joe Day, now and hopefully longer term, has improved the goalkeeping position with his fine form and the Exiles still have the excellent Lenny Pidgeley and promising Jamie Stephens on the books. If Day leaves tomorrow and Pidgeley stays fit, that alone would mean County are stronger than they were 12 months ago with Pidgeley beset by injuries.

Defensively, the Exiles have lost Byron Anthony to injury, the same scenario as a year ago and have replaced the hit and miss Harry Worley with Mr Consistent, Darren Jones.

Ismail Yakubu is a quality performer at this level and Andrew Hughes so far is Newport’s revelation of the season, he’ll be the subject of interest in January if he continues as he has been.

Kevin Feely and Swansea youngster Scott Tancock provide further options and the Swansea link should be exciting for every single Exiles follower, the Exiles being a – for want of a better term – feeder club for both the Swans and Cardiff is exactly what I’ve been calling for, for a number of years.

In midfield the Exiles are light years ahead of last term and to have Mark Byrne, Adam Chapman, Lee Minshull, Yan Klukowski, Mike Flynn and Max Porter is an absolute embarrassment of riches, one all but a handful of League Two clubs would love to have at their disposal.

In attack Newport don’t have the same potency, at least not so far this season, but Edinburgh’s desire to get it right – I’m thinking here of the fact he was willing to let Christian Jolley depart – leaves me optimistic County will continue to rotate their forwards until someone other than Chris Zebroski finds a goal touch.

The Exiles have certainly had their fair share of injuries so far this term, but their adaptability – Robbie Willmott gets injured, Ryan Jackson is out, so in comes Curtis Obeng – has been highly impressive.

However, I don’t think it’s overstating to say that the Rodney Parade pitch last term was also a key reason Newport lost both momentum and form from January onwards. Few sides in the land could endure half-a-dozen postponements and not feel the pinch.

Saturday was a red letter day for the Rodney Parade surface, we endured a week with a lot of rain and the Newport Gwent Dragons played on Friday evening. Twenty hours later the pitch was pretty much perfect for the Exiles and though mistakes were unquestionably made last term – by the club themselves, not the ground staff - all signs point to that issue finally being solved for good.

I’m extremely optimistic Newport can continue their good form and for this reporter at least, finishing with more points than last season is the only thing I’m concerned about.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to finish in the top seven, or even the top three, but I’m in no rush to see County competing for League Two promotion.

You need to walk before you run and Newport should be following the template of a Burton Albion in terms of appreciating that first you establish yourself in the Football League, before trying to accelerate through the divisions. Progress will do me just fine, promotion can wait.