LOCAL football this week welcomed back one of its most colourful characters in much-travelled Andy Beattie, who has returned from a self-imposed exile to take over the reigns at MacWhirter Welsh League Division Three outfit Monmouth Town.

Newport-based Andy has a wealth of experience and whether they like it or not, my opinion is Newport County haven’t in recent times had a manager to touch him tactically or for what he has achieved.

I always thought that Andy and Newport should have linked up somewhere along the line and when you look at the calibre of managers that the club has had over the years, you have to wonder just what has been going on. After all Andy:

* Took Caerleon from Division Three of the MWL to within a couple of victories of the Division One title.

* Turned Merthyr Tydfil around from being also-rans into a team playing sparking football, and all on a shoe-string budget.

* Guided Wales to two Four Nations Championship victories in three years at a time when the annual semi-professional tournament was worth winning.

* Led Barry Town to a shock Welsh Cup final win over Cardiff City at the old National Stadium in 1993-94 when the seaside club also picked up Welsh League title, FAW Trophy and FAW Cup.

No mean feats by any stretch of the imagination, so no wonder Kingfishers chairman Lee Robson is so hyper that the club has acquired the service of 50-year-old Andy.

“I’m ecstatic, delighted by this appointment,” declared Robson, after his club drew 1-1 with Llansawel in Beattie’s first match in charge last Saturday.

“Andy will expect amazingly high standards from the club.”

Indeed he will and I’ll tell you something else for nothing, Monmouth’s players won’t have seen anything like it because Andy is so laid back that I swear he’d take a deck-chair into the dug-out if he could. But behind the easy-go-lucky exterior is a hard-bitten football man who thrives on having teams classed as the underdog and I full expect Monmouth to soon start climbing out of the relegation zone.

Talking of Wales’ semi-professional squad, I notice Newport County don’t have a single player in the one announced this week for the game against Finland at Llanelli's Stebonheath Park on Tuesday, November 18.

I know they are currently struggling at the wrong end of the Blue Square South table, but I’d have thought at least one could have been worthy of inclusion, especially considering the link between Wales’ management team and the club.

Number one is former County and Wales defender Terry Boyle, whose assistant is ex-Wales skipper and Newport boss Peter Nicholas.

For the record, the squad is: Lee Idzi (Haverfordwest County), Chris Maxwell (Connah's Quay), Adam Gross (Welling United), Michael Johnston (Bangor City), Stuart Jones (Llanelli), Lee Surman (Port Talbot Town), Neil Taylor, Mike Williams (both Wrexham), Michael Byrne (unattached), Paul Fowler (Carmarthen Town), Craig Jones (Rhyl), Craig Jones (Llanelli), Alex Lawless (Forest Green Rover), Chris Venables (Aberystwyth Town, Jack Christopher (Haverfordwest), Les Davies (Bangor), Craig Moses (Newtown), Marc Williams (Wrexham).

Stand-by list: Paul Pritchard (Rhyl), Jamie Rewbury (Merthyr Tydfil), Ross Stephens (Technogroup Welshpool), Sion Edwards (Bangor) and Mark Pritchard (Llanelli).