Coughlan: Newport County are non-league off the pitch

Coughlan and assistant Joe Dunne were appointed in mid-October and have steered the Exiles away from a relegation scrap.

The club is now mathematically safe but the manager has got off-field work to do if they are to ensure they are at the other end of the table in 2023/24.

Coughlan took over from James Rowberry, who had a year at the helm, while sporting director Darren Kelly left in January after joining the club in the summer of 2021.

“I have inherited some problems that should never be taking place at a football club – I don’t know who was in charge or making these decisions over the last 18 months,” said the manager.

“I have a hell of a lot of work to do to tidy things up in the background because the football operations that I have inherited, and the football decisions that have been made, are not healthy.

“They are not conducive to a professional environment, they belong in non-league and I have got a lot of things to sift through.

“I don’t mind [making] the decisions with players and there won’t be massive change, I just need to get this club more professional and the mindset and mentality right.”

Newport County manager Graham Coughlan (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

When asked what sort of problems he meant, Coughlan said: “I won’t elaborate on them. They are footballing issues that shouldn’t happen at a club and there is no way some of these things should have been going on.

“Put it this way, if I was anyway near the club then they wouldn’t have gone on under my watch.

“They are background things, contracts that don’t sit right, expertise and knowledge missing and certain things that shouldn’t have been going on in a footballing environment that I need to tidy up.

“I am up against it, my back is against the wall and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“As soon as we came in we tried to clean the football side of things up, now I need to rebuild it, reset, regroup and refocus to push the football operations to a more professional level.”

County are 18th in the table but are ranked ninth in League Two for points per game since Coughlan took the reins.

A number of leading figures – captain Mickey Demetriou, Priestley Farquharson, Cameron Norman, Aaron Lewis, Scot Bennett – are out of contract this summer but the boss doesn’t expect much change.

“I’ve not sat down to speak terms and finances but the lads aren’t daft and know where they stand,” he said.

“There won’t be massive changes, we need to add to this group and if I started stripping it down then it would be a major overhaul.”

County are safe but the boss has demanded his players keep their standards high with Doncaster away tomorrow, Harrogate at home on Tuesday, a trip to Gillingham then a clash with Crewe at Rodney Parade on final day.

“They didn’t start the season particularly well. They cost a good man his job so they need to have that in the back of their minds over the next four games,” said Coughlan.

“The group know that they got themselves into a pickle and that there is an opportunity to finish strongly to have a nice taste in their mouth going into the summer.”