Sammy Braybrooke

[Pliskin]

It’s worth noting that Braybrook wasn’t in a good place when he left the club on loan. He has majorly struggled with his form since his injuries and he had to get away to kick start his career. That’s happening now, so why remove him? To come back now when we’re on our arse again….. I’d much rather we let him develop, and bring him back next season. 

 

 

Edited 27 December 2025 by Pliskin

[Ric Flair]

Get him back and play him. We're shit. We'll be shit in 6 months as well. Just play him.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

Depends on the manager situation.

 

Would I trust Cifuentes to have him back and do the right thing with him? No.

 

Would I trust the next in a string of managers who aren’t playing our young prospects as they’re under the pressure of short-term objectives? No.

 

Would I trust King as caretaker until the end of the season to give him the right opportunity and support? Yes.

 

The problem with waiting until the summer is that there could be another guy in charge by then that is under pressure to get promotion at all costs next season. They won’t take a chance on Braybrooke.

[funkyrobot]

2 hours ago, Pliskin said:

It’s worth noting that Braybrook wasn’t in a good place when he left the club on loan. He has majorly struggled with his form since his injuries and he had to get away to kick start his career. That’s happening now, so why remove him? To come back now when we’re on our arse again….. I’d much rather we let him develop, and bring him back next season. 

 

 

People keep saying why remove him from his current team? It’s quite simple - he’s been Newport’s best player by a distance and he’ll improve our terrible squad and specifically our midfield options. With competition mainly coming from Skipp, there’s every chance Braybrooke would get a chance to get game time. 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

2 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

Get him back and play him. We're shit. We'll be shit in 6 months as well. Just play him.

Unfortunately mate you know how it'll go. Given 3 or 4 games until he's written off as shit by near enough everyone.

[Dahnsouff]

Desperation to recall him. Nobody knows he would be better than we have, and its little more than a punt.

We would be negatively affecting his career just as its getting up to speed.

Stupid short term thinking.

[JimJams]

There's no real right or wrong answers here to be fair. There's ups and downsides to any outcome.

 

If we leave him where he is, he gets a full season under his belt being the best (absolute standout) player at an absolutely shit team.  The positive is he gets a full season behind him. The negative (for want of a better word) is that he's not really proving anything there anymore.  The question is what does he gain, and what do we learn from him spending another 6 months carrying this on propping up the league?

 

If we get him a loan to a league 1 side it's a step up.  If he continues in the same way he has in league 2 then that further answers the question for next season about how he fits in for us.  But he needs to play.  It's no good him sitting on his arse at a club that have just taken him on because they need cover in case of injuries and aren't really banking on him to help them.  But if he doesn't do a stint in league one this season, will he be in contention for us in the following year assuming we're stuck in the championship.  Or will we looking at then loaning him out again to league one level?  Which means we're spending another season slowly checking his level when we might be in a position to find out if he's on his way to champ level quicker by getting that done now.  The upside is he proves up to it and we then take the next step and bring him into the fold for our side next season having done the business at L2 and L1 level.  Downside is that he doesn't get the gametime because we don't loan him to a club that actually needs him.

 

And then there's bring him back to us.  Massive downside is that he won't likely get the minutes.  Expect JJ and Skipp are the heart of that midfield now, but if we get rid of both Winks and Bouba then it could be a tempter, otherwise does he play?  And if he does, he's jumping in the deep end in a pool full of floaters.  The optimist/fantasist sees him come in, start, tear shit up and we fill a hole in the side from the academy. Not realistic though is it?  A move that in hindsight either looks a waste of time or a stroke of genius.  Of course there's an argument that, as I already said, he's not proving anything at Newport anymore, so even just being in the squad can be seen as preferable in some ways.

[Dahnsouff]

Agree @JimJams 

There is no ideal option, expectation would be off the chart if he returned, but no doubt he is beyond league two level.

So perhaps league one, but he needs to be a starter or its pointless.

Leave him where he is and make him a starter for next season a possibility?

[Lambert09]

2 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

Get him back and play him. We're shit. We'll be shit in 6 months as well. Just play him.

Get braybrooke back and then get page out on loan 

[Pliskin]

1 hour ago, funkyrobot said:

People keep saying why remove him from his current team? It’s quite simple - he’s been Newport’s best player by a distance and he’ll improve our terrible squad and specifically our midfield options. With competition mainly coming from Skipp, there’s every chance Braybrooke would get a chance to get game time. 

I see both sides to the argument I do…. My fear is under Marti he is likely to regress, and I don’t want that to happen. If Marti gets binned and we actually bring in a manager who will place emphasis on youth, the I’m all for it.

[Rubbersoul]

What this forum needs is another academy player to call shit and garbage. Bring him home 

[CornwallFox]

Imo keep him where he is this season. 

Sell or release as much dross as possible in the summer, play him next year as part of a new look younger team

[Stadt]

Proved he’s too good for L2 already. Our long term senior CM options are Choudhury and Skipp, that’s it.

 

Integrating him now makes sense.

[The Doctor]

5 hours ago, funkyrobot said:

Getting relegated from league 2 isn’t exactly beneficial to progression too. Assuming we can’t buy any players in January, Braybrooke is potentially the best way to improve our deeper midfield position. Winks won’t be selected, Soumare is injured and can’t be relied upon and so we are very dependent on an underwhelming Skipp staying fit. There’s Page I guess but he is very young and less experienced than Braybrooke. 

Eh, he benefits from playing week in week out and that sort of scenario really builds mental fortitude as well. The only bad loan is one in which the player doesn't play or gets played well out of position 

[cropstonfox]

Bring him back for League one next year.

Build around him Evans Monga Fatawu

Nelson.Add a few hard journeyman loans

and let's enjoy a season. 

 

[JimJams]

There's no way Fatawu plays for us in League one, and I think probably unlikely Monga does either.  We're not going down anyway.  We're absolute shit, but luckily for us you can be absolute shit in this league and still be ok. Assuming (yeah I know) the second half of the season goes much like the first, we're getting about 60 points, the relegation sides are hitting about 40.  A points deduction still sees us stinking the place out next season.

[AjcW]

Don't want us to bring him back, but would much rather he stepped up a league, preferably top half of league one.

[VLC86]

17 minutes ago, Stadt said:

Proved he’s too good for L2 already. Our long term senior CM options are Choudhury and Skipp, that’s it.

 

Integrating him now makes sense.

Genuine question, has he? I’ve seen him score from halfway line and nothing else.

 

Either way, it’s a huge step up into a shambolic club and I’d rather we didn’t ruin him while he is enjoying his football.

[VLC86]

3 hours ago, Freeman's Wharfer said:

Depends on the manager situation.

 

Would I trust Cifuentes to have him back and do the right thing with him? No.

 

Would I trust the next in a string of managers who aren’t playing our young prospects as they’re under the pressure of short-term objectives? No.

 

Would I trust King as caretaker until the end of the season to give him the right opportunity and support? Yes.

 

The problem with waiting until the summer is that there could be another guy in charge by then that is under pressure to get promotion at all costs next season. They won’t take a chance on Braybrooke.

This seems the inevitable next step, and one that clubs in free fall would normally resort to in order to unite the fans. Genuinely worries me and if I was Kingy I wouldn’t go near it.

[Stadt]

9 minutes ago, VLC86 said:

Genuine question, has he? I’ve seen him score from halfway line and nothing else.

 

Either way, it’s a huge step up into a shambolic club and I’d rather we didn’t ruin him while he is enjoying his football.

Yeah he’s been Newport’s best player all season and they’re absolutely dire. The circumstances couldn’t have been less favourable and their fans as well as opposition fans have spoken glowingly of him

[VLC86]

6 minutes ago, Stadt said:

Yeah he’s been Newport’s best player all season and they’re absolutely dire. The circumstances couldn’t have been less favourable and their fans as well as opposition fans have spoken glowingly of him

Fair enough, I still think it speaks volumes that he wants to stay there but glad he’s doing well after a dodgy loan spell last season.

[funkyrobot]

34 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

Eh, he benefits from playing week in week out and that sort of scenario really builds mental fortitude as well. The only bad loan is one in which the player doesn't play or gets played well out of position 

Getting relegated out of the football league is as bad as it can get for a professional footballer. 

[funkyrobot]

2 hours ago, JimJams said:

There's no real right or wrong answers here to be fair. There's ups and downsides to any outcome.

 

If we leave him where he is, he gets a full season under his belt being the best (absolute standout) player at an absolutely shit team.  The positive is he gets a full season behind him. The negative (for want of a better word) is that he's not really proving anything there anymore.  The question is what does he gain, and what do we learn from him spending another 6 months carrying this on propping up the league?

 

If we get him a loan to a league 1 side it's a step up.  If he continues in the same way he has in league 2 then that further answers the question for next season about how he fits in for us.  But he needs to play.  It's no good him sitting on his arse at a club that have just taken him on because they need cover in case of injuries and aren't really banking on him to help them.  But if he doesn't do a stint in league one this season, will he be in contention for us in the following year assuming we're stuck in the championship.  Or will we looking at then loaning him out again to league one level?  Which means we're spending another season slowly checking his level when we might be in a position to find out if he's on his way to champ level quicker by getting that done now.  The upside is he proves up to it and we then take the next step and bring him into the fold for our side next season having done the business at L2 and L1 level.  Downside is that he doesn't get the gametime because we don't loan him to a club that actually needs him.

 

And then there's bring him back to us.  Massive downside is that he won't likely get the minutes.  Expect JJ and Skipp are the heart of that midfield now, but if we get rid of both Winks and Bouba then it could be a tempter, otherwise does he play?  And if he does, he's jumping in the deep end in a pool full of floaters.  The optimist/fantasist sees him come in, start, tear shit up and we fill a hole in the side from the academy. Not realistic though is it?  A move that in hindsight either looks a waste of time or a stroke of genius.  Of course there's an argument that, as I already said, he's not proving anything at Newport anymore, so even just being in the squad can be seen as preferable in some ways.

Skipp hasn’t done enough to justify his place. He was good against Derby and Ipswich but that’s about it. He’s had no influence in the last two games and we’ve been dominated in midfield by QPR and now Watford. 

[Ric Flair]

2 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

Desperation to recall him. Nobody knows he would be better than we have, and its little more than a punt.

We would be negatively affecting his career just as its getting up to speed.

Stupid short term thinking.

Or his contract is up in 18 months, we wait until the summer and we could be in League One anyway and a fight to keep him. Also the alternatives between now and end of May are Winks and Soumare. No thank you. 

[The Doctor]

17 minutes ago, funkyrobot said:

Getting relegated out of the football league is as bad as it can get for a professional footballer. 

it's obviously not a career goal, but you learn a lot about their mentality from how they handle a relegation battle and that sort of set back.