TODAY is going to be an emotional day for a lot of people, me included.
It’s the end of the season and the end of an era as Jimmy Dack departs and the start of an exciting new time for the club with new boss Terry Butcher watching from the stands.
For me, like a lot of the players, it could be the last time I play for Newport County AFC.
I’ve made no secret of my belief that I could have contributed more this season and I’m desperately hoping to play some part today.
If I get a start I think it will be my 100th start for my hometown club and that would be a fitting way to go out.
But hopefully I’ll still be here next season working with the youth team and, if they’ll have me, contributing my experience as a player as well.
Like all the players I’ll sit down with the new manager and have a chat with him in the coming weeks and the ball is very much in the club’s court.
I’d love to stay on but it’s not up to me and I know there is quite a bit of uncertainty in the dressing room about who will be here come pre-season.
Whoever stays and whoever goes it is great for the club’s profile to have attracted someone of Terry Butcher’s stature in the game.
It shows how far we’ve come just in the last few years that a former England captain is prepared to step down to League Two and help us progress.
He did a great job at Inverness, where he signed our former captain Gary Warren, and we all hope he can work some of that magic in Wales just like he did in Scotland.
It has been a strange week in training with the boys with Jimmy on his way out and nobody quite sure about their own future but with a game today we’ve tried to make it business as usual as much as possible.
It’s been good to have the Oxford match as a focus because we all want to make sure that we get a win and give Jimmy the perfect send-off.
It’s unusual for a manager to get the chance to say goodbye on his terms – usually you’ve been sacked and shoved out the door – and I’m sure that Jimmy will get a fond farewell from everyone at Rodney Parade.
It will probably only hit him when he gets in his car to drive back home. He will miss the club and the club will miss him.
What he and Justin achieved here over the last four years is phenomenal and hopefully Terry is the right man to build on their good work, and that of Wayne Hatswell.
We all know from watching him play that he’s not one to back away from a challenge and he obviously feels that this is the right place for him to get back into management and get everyone believing in him.
He’ll be at the game today meeting everyone and I’ll be the first to shake his hand and wish him good luck.
I’ll also be looking out for my beautiful fiancée Victoria and our new-born Edward who will be there to cheer me on.
It will be the first time, and possibly the last, that he’ll see me play and it will be great for me to tell him in years to come that he was there when I played for my club.
Away from the pitch I also received my UEFA A Licence coaching award this week, which is the result of a lot of hard work!
I’m massively proud and hopefully it’s a sign that there is a lot to look forward to in the future even if I do have to hang up my boots one day.
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