Townsend hopes to be pitch perfect
NICK Townsend will be back looking for some safe patches of grass again today when Newport County seek to build on their midweek win at Walsall.
A second victory in their last 13 League Two outings was just the boost Townsend and his teammates needed ahead of their return to Rodney Parade to face Stevenage this afternoon (3pm). Recent efforts have got rather bogged down on their home patch.
The lush surface in the Midlands was a bit of a luxury for the County players after slugging through the mud in Newport. Now the goal is to not to slip up again at home and prove to everyone County are still serious promotion challengers.
“We were just waiting for that win and it has been a long time coming. We’ve had to take some sucker punches, but the win in Walsall has put us right back into the mix,” said Townsend.
“We’ve got over our little blip and we just need to crack on - we all know what we’ve got to do. We sat down and talked about what’s needed moving forward and now it is just a case of getting our heads down.”
The physical strain of playing twice a week, every week, not to mention playing on a mud heap at home, is draining enough, but Townsend reckons the hardest part of playing at Rodney Parade these days is the mental side of things.
Not being able to rely on the pitch means concentration levels have to be higher than ever and he is mentally exhausted every time he gets back to the dressing room at home.
“It is hard to play any back passes now, as we were at the start of the season. From goalkicks you have to look for a bit of grass in the six-yard box to kick from,” he said.
“It’s difficult, but we just have to deal with it. We knew the pitch was going to cut up because of all the games played on it and we are adapting to it now.
“The biggest problem is when the ball bobbles from the shots coming in from far out. You have to watch everything – you’ve got to be on it for every minute and it is mentally draining.
“I just tell my defenders to find a bit of grass to pass the ball onto so there isn’t a bobble when they are giving me the ball. Anything in between the goal you don’t know what is going to happen, it’s a lottery.
“It’s hard for me to get onto the ball and to try and play like we used to at the start of the season. Teams know that if you can get the first goal you can then just sit in and try to defend for the rest of the game.”
NEIL Warnock believes Cardiff City could not have chosen anyone better than Mick McCarthy to take the reins for the back-half of the season and believes the Bluebirds can “absolutely” get promoted this season.
McCarthy took over from Warnock’s successor Neil Harris in January after a poor first-half of the season and the results since then have been nothing short of remarkable.
McCarthy has simplified Cardiff’s game and tinkered the formation to deploy five at the back. The club have now won their last six games in a row, having drawn the previous two.
And Warnock, adored by all those in the Welsh capital for achieving promotion to the Premier League, is delighted his old pal is thriving in the Welsh capital.
“He was my apprentice at Barnsley,” Middlesbrough boss Warnock said ahead of the clash with Cardiff City today (3pm)
“He was the same old Mick McCarthy back then. He could play a bit.
“He did my boots for a year - not very well.
“You couldn’t have got anybody better at Cardiff, I spoke to him and said ‘you’ve got a great group of lads.’
“It will be interesting seeing those message boards, all those who wanted pure football.
“When we played them last year, when they’d changed their style, I’d never seen so many long throws and free-kicks.
“It doesn’t bother Mick. “When I was at Cardiff he was one of the panels as a pundit on the TV. I was getting criticism about the style, he said that’s rubbish, there are no laws or legislation, what’s the hassle? He’s winning games.
“It’s appropriate he’s got the group and they’re winning every game, especially how he left Ipswich. The grass isn’t always greener, they haven’t pulled up any trees and neither have Republic of Ireland.”
McCarthy penned a short-term deal at Cardiff until the end of the season, however there is scope to extend that should the Bluebirds hierarchy see fit.
Just this week, the former Republic of Ireland manager was linked with the vacant Celtic job, with reports saying the Parkhead club perceive McCarthy to be an attractive prospect following Neil Lennon’s resignation.
Many Cardiff fans would like to see McCarthy stay on, especially if this incredible form continues, but should that not be the case, Warnock is not worried about the manager’s future.
“Mick will get another job if Cardiff don’t want him [in the summer], it’s one of those situations, nobody really knows what they want,” Warnock said.
“I would imagine Vincent [Tan] is absolutely delighted, whereas before I’m not sure he’d have been his choice.
“You know what you’re getting with
Mick, he’s genuine, honest. You have to be careful what you wish for.
“I keep looking at Arsenal, for two years they wanted Wenger out, you can’t tell me they’ve improved since.”
When McCarthy took charge, City were wallowing in 15th place and were far more focused on fighting off the the threat of relegation than climbing into the play-off spots.
However, after the impressive 2-1 win away at Bournemouth in midweek, Cardiff leapfrogged the Cherries into sixth place and there is a quiet optimism now reverberating around the City fan base.
And Warnock, who knows a thing or two about achieving promotion at Cardiff City, is confident they can emulate the class of 2017/18 this season with McCarthy at the helm.
“Absolutely,” Warnock said when asked if Cardiff can go up this season. “Who’d want to play them? There’s only us who’d want to play them and we might not be in them [the playoffs].
“Why would you want to play Cardiff and get battered and kicked and tormented?”
McCarthy himself is looking forward to pitting his wits against Warnock this weekend. However, he knows that for 90 minutes that friendship will be put to one side.
And, after Boro’s defeat by Bristol City in midweek, he is expecting a reaction.
“He is a good mate of mine, Warny,” McCarthy said. “Obviously for 90 minutes on Saturday he won’t be and it will be the same feeling for him.
“He’s always been bright and innovative in the way he plays.
“If we come off on Saturday and I say to him ‘that was a nice game Neil, you’re really pleasant to play against,’ I think he’d be as off as I would be. “That’s not going to be the case. “We have to recover, travel and get up there, and I know we’ll be expecting a really tough game because they got beaten by Bristol City, so they will be wanting a reaction.”
FORMER Swansea captain Kristian O’Leary has returned to the club as under-23s coach as part of its academy shake-up.
O’Leary came through the youth ranks himself at SA1 and made his senior debut in the 1995-96 season before going on to play over 300 games for the Swans during a 15-year spell.
The 43-year old was most recently manager of Cymru Premier side Carmarthen Town and will be assisted by Anthony Wright.
Jon Grey, who has filled the role of leading the under-23s since the departure of Cameron Toshack and Gary Richards, will subsequently be freed up to fully focus on his role fo head of academy coaching, while former Bristol Rovers and Newport County defender Byron Anthony is set to work with the club’s under-18s set-up.
Former Wales international forward Neil Roberts takes the role of overseeing national recruitment for ages 16-21.
Speaking about the appointments, Swansea City’s academy director Mark Allen said: “I’m delighted to welcome Kris, Byron and Neil to the academy, with all three bringing valuable experience to an already talented group of staff.
“Allowing Jon Grey to now fully focus on the head of academy coaching role is vital to the future development of the coaching curriculum, and I’m also pleased for Anthony Wright who will be assisting Kris in the under-23s.”
The moves come amid a big shakeup in Swansea’s academy system, which has previously enjoyed huge success in helping to develop several first team stars, including Daniel James, Ben Davies, Oli McBurnie, Joe Allen and Connor Roberts.
In a bid to offset the financial implications of dropping out of the Premier League, the club’s academy has dropped to category two status a move that’s saved an estimated £4m a year.
Speaking about the changes, chief executive Julian Winter insisted that developing players was still at the heart of the club’s philosophy.
“It is important to state that the academy will always remain central to the club’s strategy,” he said.
“In Steve Cooper we have a head coach who is very good at working with young players, but it is also now about making our academy the best category two academy so that we can continue the pathway for players.
“In order to retain young players and show them that this club is serious about what it does.
“You have to create the pathways for them and, at the end of that pathway, there has to be an opportunity.
“So, trading players allows other players to be exposed to the first team probably sooner than anticipated sometimes, but nevertheless the opportunity can be great for a young player to prove themselves.
“Economically, we would probably be looking at three times the operational cost of a category one academy compared to category two.
“Naturally, category one can help in certain recruitment scenarios, but the club was successful at category two level prior to that so, in short, the move won’t affect our ongoing recruitment strategy.”