Newport County vs Bromley preview
Arguably, Newport County at home was the last time Bromley put on a five-star show.
That was a long time ago, Boxing Day to be precise. Are we due another one?
Beggars can’t be choosers, of course. Both Bromley and Newport go into this game in a period of struggle. Newport have claimed 7 points from their last possible 27 while Bromley have only claimed 1 from their last 12.
Who looks more likely to get the W tonight?
Newport have lost the third-most games in the league and have conceded the most goals. Surely that has to mean something? Yet when I drew for stats before the Tranmere and Carlisle games to highlight how bad those sides were, Bromley decided to fall down to their level (and worse).
My days of stat crunching must come to an end. What do they really mean?
What a lot of the teams in the bottom half should be grateful for is the fact that both Morecambe and Carlisle have been so dreadful that teams like Newport can sit on 46 points after a subpar season and know they are in no danger of going down.
That said, they will want to return to winning ways today after successive defeats to Grimsby and Notts County; both promotion hunters no less.
Newport were so soft defensively at Hayes Lane, with Bromley scoring all five goals from set pieces. If Newport want to put up a better fight tonight then it has to start from the back.
The threat at the other end of the pitch is Bobby Kamwa, who has 12 goal contributions in the league. Behind Kamwa, Anthony Driscoll-Glennon is an assist magnet, but if Bromley stop those two, I reckon they probably stop Newport. If I know that, I have to assume that Andy Woodman does too.
Bromley have been equally dreadful in defence over the last four games, with nine goals conceded in four and no wins in that time. Andy doesn’t talk about keeping clean sheets for no reason.
Bromley simply aren’t a good enough side at this level to concede two goals regularly and still get points.
For that reason, I expect the pack to be shuffled today. No way will Andy accept lax defensive performances any longer.
That’s the easy part. The hard part is working out what it means for the side going forward.
I would actually like to see two up front now. I say give Nicke Kabamba his chance up top with Cheek and let’s go old-school with a front two.
How do you fit the parts around them? I would leave all of the supposed flair and impact players on the bench, which would allow Bromley to change shape and style if and when the match calls for it.
When Bromley go on a bad run, they always go back to basics.
Learn how not to lose. Recalibrate the cursor. Go again.
This is what I would do. Let me know if you disagree.
From Bromley with Love XI
Smith
Imray Sowunmi Webster Elerewe Odutayo
Charles Arthurs
Thompson
Cheek Kabamba
Please note all match photographs in this article are by Martin Greig - please follow him on Instagram here
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