RODNEY DANGERFIELD
FA Cup giantkillers Newport have a top secret weapon: Scout Paul Molesworth. He’s produced a 15-page dossier to expose the weaknesses of Man City’s all-stars. Watch out Pep...the one he did on Tottenham last year was so good that Juventus asked to see it - and used it to beat them
PAUL MOLESWORTH has masterminded Newport’s amazing FA Cup heroics – but his latest scouting mission was the toughest of the lot.
Newport chief scout Molesworth reckons he has found one weakness in mighty Manchester City, even while watching them smash six past Chelsea last Sunday.
“You can find the odd weakness. That’s what I’ve been looking for – mind you, looking at them on Sunday, there aren’t many!” laughed Molesworth (above, with our man John Cross).
“In their case, if you think about it too much, you’ll worry yourself silly. But the only flaw was the leftback [Oleksandr Zinchenko]. He flies in a bit, Chelsea never tested him and he looks a bit anxious.”
Incredibly, giant-killing Newport have knocked out Leicester and Middlesbrough this season and beat Leeds last year as well as taking Tottenham to a replay.
But this would surely be the biggest upset of all time as the League Two club faces reigning Premier League champions City, who are hot FA Cup favourites, at Rodney Parade.
Molesworth added: “Let’s be honest, we’ve been great for the FA Cup. We’ve given it a new lease of life because of the results we’ve had and everyone wants to see an upset, which is why it makes the Cup so special.
“We’ve got a pitch they won’t fancy, the atmosphere will be completely different to what they’re used to and if they’re not up for it then that’s when we can win it.
“Of course we’ve got a chance. It’s a oneoff game, especially now with no replay. In the modern era, it would be the biggest upset ever.
“We’re in a no-lose situation. Can we give them a good game? Of course we can. One thing’s for sure, we’ll give them a better game than
Chelsea. We beat
Leicester and Leicester beat Man City a few weeks ago. But we lost 6-0 at home to Yeovil a few months ago! Figure that out.”
Newport’s Cup run is on course to earn them £1.4million (which is the same as their annual budget) and the average weekly wage is just £700. Their loan players – including Regan Poole and Tyreeq Bakinson – play for free as their parent clubs pick up the bill.
No matter what happens next, Newport have already achieved miracles, which is in no small part being well prepared thanks to their veteran scout.
His report on Spurs was so detailed that Juventus asked to use it for their Champions League tie last season – and the Italians won. Molesworth said: “My report on City is 15 pages. Newport will do what Newport do.
“We’ll get at them because we can’t match them in the technical department, even if we’ve got a couple of gifted players.
“We sit them down, give them all a report, but the one thing you can’t do is give them too much information.
“Find a weakness. For example, we knew that when we played Middlesbrough it would be like playing the land of the giants as they are a Tony Pulis team.
“They had George Friend at leftback – he should be a centre-back really and we knew we could get at him. Just as we found weaknesses with Leicester.
“We knew Danny Ward would play in goal and he’s a good keeper, but doesn’t really come for crosses.”