NEWPORT County AFC want to develop players that they can cash in on – yet owner Huw Jenkins intends to ensure rising stars can fulfil their ambitions at Rodney Parade.
The Exiles have had a clear shift in recruitment policy this summer with just one of their 10 signings, striker Courtney Baker-Richardson, older than 24.
All the recruits have arrived on two-year contracts with the intention of developing up-and-coming talent.
There is the potential to cash in if they make progress and catch the eye, or Jenkins could persuade them to stick with a club he intends to help go on the rise.
“We are protecting our assets,” said Jenkins about giving a chance to prospects on two-year deals.
“When recruiting players if anybody knows how they are going to turn out then they are a better man than me.
“You hope that they are going to develop quickly and fulfil their potential. If we are still a League Two club in a couple of years then you hope that some of them have moved on, but on the other hand we want to move on so that we are a League One club and pushing again.
“Hopefully we will keep a nucleus here that can do that, with players staying over many years because changing players every summer is not a great recipe for success.”
There has been a change at the top this summer after the departure of manager Graham Coughlan.
He has been replaced by head coach Nelson Jardim to work alongside former Swansea chairman Jenkins in a “club-led” approach.
The owner, whose takeover was completed in January, is making off-field changes and believes the Portuguese coach is the ideal man to establish a new style on it.
BOSS: Nelson Jardim has been appointed as head coach at County (Image: Huw Evans Agency)
“I have been at it 20 years, learnt a lot and gained a lot of experience. Most of the good things we did at Swansea I learnt a lot from and have that knowledge now,” he said.
“We gradually built that up at Swansea, we had a shape, system and recruited players to suit that.
“I want the same here and believe 100 per cent that it allows us to develop the club quicker and build something year on year.
“When you change coaches or manager, as happens in football, and everything changes and there is mayhem behind the scenes trying to put things right.
“We are trying to stop that and make sure everyone knows who comes to work in Newport from now on that we work in the same way.
“They either want to come and work here or don’t, there is no in between and there are no grey areas.”
County initially brought Jardim as lead coach while saying they were hunting for a head coach but his swift change in job title won’t immediately lead to another addition to the backroom team.
“You won’t get too many bodies here,” said Jenkins, who doesn’t intend to have a bloated non-football staff either. “It needs to be simple and clear, I am happy with Nelson and Daf [Williams, first team coach].”
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