Newport County chairman Huw Jenkins has revealed how much he wants to transform the way the League Two club operates.
The 61-year-old former Swansea City chairman explained why he chose Nelson Jardim as the man to lead this change on the pitch.
Portuguese Jardim, who came through the Swansea City squad under Jenkins, was promoted from head coach to head coach to succeed Graham Coughlan, who stepped down as manager at the end of June.
Jenkins said when Coughlan went he was “inundated” with people wanting the job and said Jardim was aware of his search.
But Jenkins said: “We are looking for someone to work with us as a football club to probably change the outlook, the atmosphere, the football – everything about the club – to go in a different direction.
“Even though there were many different conversations with different people, my thoughts always came back to Nelson.
“It’s about making sure you have someone lined up to move forward in a way that is comfortable for both parties.
“We’re changing, we’re trying to do something different in Newport County, which I think is a big deal anyway.”
According to Jenkins, “there was no one better at this moment” than Jardim, who worked with names like Paulo Sousa, Aitor Karanka, Francesco Guidolin and Paul Clement.
“I think it’s important that you have people you can trust and work with. It’s not about themselves, it’s about the club. It’s not about me, it’s about the club. When you appoint a head coach, what matters is the club, not the coach.”
In fact, Newport signed eight players before appointing Jardim, but Jenkins said the new head coach was well aware of how the recruitment strategy had changed to a “club-led” approach.
The president of Newport explained: “It is a slightly different model to what existed here previously. There are some clubs that adopt this policy and others that do not. There is no right or wrong way to do this.
“We have a recruiting team that I know well and Nelson happens to know well. In recent weeks we have had several players potentially drafted and Nelson was fully aware of what was happening and what was happening.
“It is not led by the coach, but by the club. But led by the club does not mean that decisions are made without consultation or discussion with the coach.”
Jenkins said he learned a lot during his time at Swansea City – where the ‘Swansea way’ became a key feature of their rise and stay in the Premier League – and said his progress was built on the foundations he wants to instil at Rodney Parade.
He said: “We had a shape, we had a system and we recruited players to suit that. Obviously I want the same here.
“I 100% believe it allows us to develop the club more quickly and allows us to build year on year rather than when you change manager and there is often confusion behind the scenes trying to fix these things.
“We’re trying to stop that by making sure everyone who comes to Newport works the same way. Either they want to come work here or they don’t. There is no middle ground, there is no gray area.”
