MICHAEL Flynn will get straight down to business on his first day as the new permanent manager of Newport County AFC as he holds talks with his Great Escape heroes about contracts for next season.

Flynn’s appointment on a two-year deal was confirmed at a press conference this morning, with assistant Wayne Hatswell and first team management consultant Lennie Lawrence set to sign new deals later this week.

The trio steered County to Football League survival with seven wins in 12 games, culminating in a dramatic late victory over Notts County on Saturday night, but Flynn is already looking ahead to next season.

He will talk to the players today and expects to announce a retained and released list by tomorrow.

“I’ll have a chat with the players and the staff and get everything sorted so that we hit the ground running with no excuses come August 5,” said the new Exiles boss.

“I do want to get things done. I don’t want to hang about.

“I don’t want to pressurise players because they’ve just had an unbelievable feeling and they probably want to unwind.

“And, let’s be honest, one or two of them are probably waiting to see if anything else is out there so they can weigh things up.

“But I want to get things sorted by the end of this month with the players that we’ve got here already and that gives us a good starting block for next season.”

Dan Butler, Scot Bennett, Jamie Turley, Joss Labadie, Mark Randall, Sean Rigg and Aaron Williams are all contracted for next season.

But the rest will be free agents at the end of June.

“As tough as it is to tell players they’re not getting a contract, it’s part of the job,” said Flynn.

“I’ve had it done to me and it’s something that we’ve got to do.

“We’ve got Joss Labadie, Mark Randall, Sean Rigg, and Scot Bennett – four who have played near enough every game for me. That’s a good starting block.

“I’m not sure the recruitment has been the best over the last two seasons,” he added.

“That’s not a pop at anybody, that’s just my opinion.

“We had a very successful team when I was still playing and to get rid of the whole squad was an error.

“People want their own players in and I’ll be the same but it doesn’t need a full overhaul.

“We’ve hit some good form and hopefully we can keep hold of the players we want.”

South Wales Argus:

David Pipe and Alex Samuel (above) are two of the loan players that Flynn would like to keep at Rodney Parade.

“Wayne and Lennie will recommend players to me,” he said.

“The final decision is mine but I’ll take things on board.

“I recommended David to Graham [Westley] and he took that advice. He trusted me.

“I knew what David would bring, we were missing leaders and he brings that in abundance.

“He’s professional on and off the pitch and it’s good to have him.

“I’d like to keep Alex,” he added. “We’ve tried to make contact with the agent and we’ll see where that goes.

“He’ll be one of those weighing up what else is out there but what I will say is we can bring him on and improve him as a player.

“We can help him fulfil his dreams of playing at a higher level but at the end of the day it’s going to be Alex’s decision.

“He’s really enjoyed, we’ve made him feel part of it and he’s wanted to be part of it but we’ll have to just wait and see.”

Flynn’s main focus will be on adding firepower to a goal-shy squad.

“We’ve not scored anywhere near enough goals – Josh Sheehan had seven and Rhys Healey six and they’re our top scorers even though they only played 20 games each,” he said.

“That tells us where we’re at – we haven’t scored enough goals throughout the team.

“Five of my [seven] wins were 1-0. It’s too nerve-racking for me – I want to put teams to bed.

“Although, as long as you’re not conceding at the other end you’re doing something right.”

Asked about the future of out-of-contract striker Ryan Bird, the boss said: “He came from Eastleigh and we took over his deal until the end of the season so he’s one I need to speak to.”

And Lenell John-Lewis, who is also at the end of his current deal, Flynn said: “He’s been out a long time. He’s only played a game and 20 minutes.

“He’s got a young family and we’ve got to make sure players are happy or you won’t get the best out of them.

“We’re in a strong position if we wanted to keep him but you got to do things in the right way.”

The playing budget for next season has yet to be agreed but Flynn is happy to work with whatever he is given.

“We’ll finalise one or two things with the board but I’ll never put the financial safety of the club in jeopardy,” he said.

“Whatever that budget is we’ll work with it.

“I think we had too many numbers last season and that will be something I’ll be looking to trim down – I’ll be focusing on quality, not quantity.”