IT is strange to be writing this column on a week where we aren’t being consumed by a football match, all preparations currently for Stevenage next weekend.

We would love to be looking forward to an FA Cup game right now, but unfortunately despite a decent effort, we couldn’t get the job done at Kenilworth Road.

Luton have a good cup pedigree and are going great guns this season, but it’ll still be pretty gutting if they get through to the third round and end up drawing a Man United or a Liverpool.

But they have to go to Bury and that would’ve maybe been the straw that broke the camel’s back for us, we would’ve struggled going to Bury, Hartlepool, Carlisle and then back up to Bury again, via Luton, in such a short space of time.

I love the FA Cup, but maybe this season being out of it will have more positives than negatives for us in the long term.

I’ve got some thoughts on the team, but first I’ve got to talk about Byron Anthony.

I am absolutely gutted for Byron, he’s not just a teammate to me, he’s a guy I’ve known for 25-years through school, I remember him as a little kid in Primary School and it’s a real shocker that he’s had to retire.

Byron is only 30 and because he doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him and rarely got injured, I think he’d have played until he was 36 or 37 no bother at all.

He could’ve been a huge player for Newport County in the future, but unfortunately with a double leg break, you don’t always get what you deserve and despite his hard work, Byron couldn’t quite overcome his injuries.

Byron is helping out myself and Danny Elliott in the academy and I can’t speak for Danny but he’s already annoying me immensely. But he’s good at putting out the cones and he’s really developing the art even if his dress sense is horrendous.

I’m kidding of course, but that was quite enough nice chat about Byron.

So it seems away wins in the north for Newport County are like London buses, you wait for a year-and-a-half and then two come along within a couple of weeks.

But I’ll be honest, I said the players don’t think about that sort of thing and we really don’t, it’s tough to win away and we’ve made a great habit of it in recent weeks.

I’ve been really impressed with the team and especially Yan Klukowski who has waited an awfully long time to prove he can cut it in the Football League.

Yan’s style of play reminds me of myself and he should’ve been given a chance long before now, because he’s a quality performer and has shown he can score goals in the Football League.

There is a good vibe in the camp and all the players are very unified and playing really well. Aaron O’Connor has just been named the League Two player of the month and if you did our club player of the month he’d be one of several candidates. That says a lot.

Unfortunately our youth team game against Bournemouth this weekend has been called off, so it’s a free week for us at every level.

But that’s no bad thing, I am just getting over a muscular injury and this fortnight without a game and any travelling has arrived at the perfect time for me.

Of course I was absolutely gutted and more than a bit surprised to see my mate Jimmy Bullard leaving the jungle, as the first celebrity out, on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

Jimmy was for me the most entertaining person in the jungle and I was utterly astonished when he was the first out, admittedly probably only because the more boring half of the group were up for immunity.

I think some people might have got a bit turned off by Jimmy picking on Jake out of X Factor, but that was absolute nonsense, I would swear if I could, but I’m not having that as bullying.

What is going on with this country? I am telling you as a fact, Jimmy has had people say things a hundred times worse to him than he said to Jake. I know this, because I have been the one saying them.

I’ve already spoken to Jimmy out in Australia since he came out and he absolutely loves Jake and you’ll hear the same from him when he comes out the jungle.

We look forward to welcoming Jimmy next weekend, he’s coming to Newport as you’ll have read in the Argus and I am looking forward to a good win against Stevenage and then a couple of beers catching up with my mate.