GRAHAM Westley may not have been in the Newport County AFC managerial hotseat a week yet but it appears he has already made a big impression on the club’s supporters.

Some 130 County fans listened intently as Westley responded to questions from the Exiles’ faithful during Thursday night’s Meet the Manager at Rodney Parade.

It was the new boss who had asked for the event to be held and by the end of it that move seemed to have been a very astute one.

Flanked by the other members of his coaching team, Dino Maamria and Mike Flynn, Westley spoke with bags of passion and confidence about the task at hand.

No topic was off limits for the former Stevenage, Preston and Peterborough chief, who takes charge of County for the first time on Saturday against Yeovil Town at Huish Park.

Asked if Scot Bennett will retain the captaincy, Westley said that given it was still so early into his reign he would have to see the defender lead the side first before making a judgement call.

It was also revealed that there is an on-going dialogue between the club and officials at Dragon Park about the potential for the Exiles to use their state-of-the-art training facilities.

One fan spoke at length about his wish to see more youngsters given a chance in the first-team squad, citing the fact that a number are currently out on loan with other clubs.

“It’s not about youth or experience, it’s about ability,” said Westley. “It’s about the potential of the person that puts the shirt on to go and do the job you need doing on the pitch.

“I’m the first one to want to put kids in if they are good enough. I also believe in having a pathway for the youngsters of Newport.

“Any football club wants its own to come through and I want to bring Newport’s young players through into the team.

“I realise that, as a community club, if we’re going to get the very best out of the club we need to bring our kids through into our team, so I’m here to bring those kids through.”

As well as giving hope to the city’s younger generation of footballers, Westley spoke about the value of getting the current squad out into the community more.

Westley, in general, comes across as an incredibly driven person and, while he made it clear he has no intention of making “stupid promises”, he underlined his desire to succeed.

He said that “the fans won’t believe how intense we are about winning” and underlined that by recalling how he once substituted a player seven minutes into a cup game for pulling out of a tackle.

Westley will, of course, be judged on his results and only time will tell if he is the man to guide County away from the threat of relegation.

Going on what the fans have seen of him so far, you would have to say the signs are promising.