Newport player rejects Spurs tie for tattoo job

Misfits head to Wembley with squad depleted by unusual career change, writes Sam Dean

If the gulf between Newport County and Tottenham Hotspur had not been made clear enough in the past fortnight, then Michael Flynn yesterday provided further evidence of the more practical differences between the clubs.

For, while Mauricio Pochettino, the Spurs manager, was last week defeating Manchester United and preparing his side for a trip to face Liverpool at Anfield, his counterpart was trying – and, indeed, failing – to prevent one of his players, Sean Rigg, quitting the club to become a tattoo artist.

“I wanted him to stay,” said Flynn, the Newport manager. “He made his decision a while back that he wanted to go part-time and pursue a career in being a tattoo artist. He just fell out of love with the game. He was thinking of the future and this was the ideal time for him to go and chase his dream.”

And, so, the Newport misfits march on, straight down the M4 and towards the shining lights of Wembley, where they tonight reap the rewards of their 1-1 draw with Spurs at Rodney Parade last month. The League Two side have since lost twice, against Lincoln City and Colchester United.

Still, the mood was one of optimism as Flynn looked ahead to what he said could be “the biggest result in the club’s history”.

The managers have been in contact since the first tie, primarily because Flynn had texted Pochettino to apologise after a scouting report that highlighted the weaknesses of the Spurs side had found its way into a tabloid newspaper. Among the criticisms were that Dele Alli can be “selfish”, Eric Dier is “very one-paced” and goalkeeper Michel Vorm “won’t come for crosses”.

“I have dealt with the so-called ‘secret dossier’, manager to manager,” Flynn said. “Things have a habit of coming out and it happens in football. It’s the way it is, nothing is private these days, but there was no malice in it. I apologised to Mauricio for it getting out.”

Flynn knows there is nothing to lose tonight. “We are dreaming now,” he said. “But dreams do come true occasionally.”