‘Putting City out is possible’

‘Beating Pep’s men would be biggest FA Cup shock ever’ but Newport players believe

Newport manager Michael Flynn says beating Manchester City in the fifth round of the FA Cup today would represent the biggest shock in the history of the competition.

County are 82 places below Premier League leaders City in the football pyramid, but Flynn believes his Sky Bet League Two underdogs can add Pep Guardiola’s side to the list of recent Rodney Parade victims that includes Leeds, Leicester and Middlesbrough.

“If we win this, whether it’s extra-time or penalties and I don’t care how we do it, it will be the biggest shock in FA Cup history,” Flynn said at his pre-match press conference.

“I say that with the biggest respect to other big giant-killings.

“My reasons for that are because of the sheer gulf in finances, the quality of the players Man City have, the level they are playing at, and that they have the best manager in the world right now.

“So for those reasons it will be the biggest shock the FA Cup has ever seen.”

Newport have won only twice in the league since the end of November, a run which has seen the Exiles slump out of the League Two play-off positions and into 15th place. Yet in that time Newport have beaten Wrexham, Leicester and Middlesbrough in the FA Cup to reach the fifth round for the first time in 70 years.

“Of course there is,” Flynn replied when asked if a shock to end City’s hopes of winning an unprecedented quadruple was possible.

“Otherwise I’d just turn up, give them the game, say ‘let’s shake hands’ and walk off. Who said we were going to draw with Tottenham last season or beat Leicester, Leeds and Middlesbrough? These players have a knack of rising to the occasion.

“We won’t just be sitting back, no chance. I would rather get thumped doing it properly than losing 1-0 with no ambition. I want to give the supporters something to cheer about and these players have to believe, which I know they do, that they can cause an upset.”

Flynn says it will be an “honour” to share the same touchline as City boss Guardiola. The 38-year-old studied for his coaching badges alongside City assistant coach Mikel Arteta when Guardiola’s tactics and philosophy was examined on the Football Association of Wales course.

“As part of it, we all had to study a different world-class manager,” Flynn said.

“I actually had Diego Simeone, one of the others had Pep. I have asked for it (coursework) but to no avail.

“Pep’s bordering on a genius the way he goes to different countries and changes their way of thinking. He makes them believe in his philosophy, and that’s not easy.

“Everyone says he just goes to the big teams, but he went to Bayern Munich when they won absolutely everything and he changed the whole philosophy to be in sync with what he believed in. Seasoned world-class players like Philipp Lahm bought into that and produced some of the best football Bayern have played.

“He might be at the top level, but I’ve got no doubt that he could do it in League Two and any aspiring coach or manager needs to pay attention to that without losing their own identity.”

Guardiola insists he will be leaving nothing to chance. The City boss said: “They’ve done incredible in this competition. They won against Leicester and Middlesbrough.

“What they do, they do it really well. We’ve watched as many games as possible to understand what they do. We respect them a lot.

“We are going to suffer because they are taller and stronger than us. In some areas, they are better than us.

“We have to try to bring our game in the way we are stronger than them. Which team controls these areas, or brings their own game, in that moment will have the advantage to go through.

“If we just expect, because they are in a lower division, it will be easy, we would make a big mistake.

“We will take it seriously and we know how tough it will be, from the first minute until the end.”

Guardiola is refusing to use the damaged playing surface as a potential excuse. The surface, which is also used by Dragons Rugby and Newport RFC, is showing heavy signs of wear and tear despite being part-synthetic.

“We have to adapt,” said Guardiola, who denied Welsh rumours City groundstaff had churned up a training pitch to help the side’s preparations.

“It is what it is and we accept that challenge. We played in the Premier League against Tottenham after NFL games. We’ll see what the pitch is like when we arrive. You don’t win anything complaining about that.”

For all their success, City have recent experience of a cup upset after losing at then League One Wigan at the fifthround stage last season. Guardiola said: “We know what happened last season with Wigan. In one game, especially away, anything can happen. We’ll take it seriously, I’m sure about that.”

Today’s other fifth round ties see Brighton host Derby County and AFC Wimbledon take on Millwall.

Pictures: PA. Newport coach Michael Flynn, left, is looking forward to his League Two side taking on Manchester City and their manager Pep Guardiola, above, in the FA Cup.