Shaquille Gwengwe: Rising Star in EFL with Four Goals in August
Shaquille Gwengwe has wasted no time announcing himself to the EFL.
Four goals in August, a League Two Player of the Month nomination and a growing reputation as one of the division’s sharpest new threats – all within weeks of stepping up from the Southern League Premier South. From Poole Town to Newport County, the jump has been brutal on paper. On the pitch, he has made it look like a natural progression.
Newport boss Hayden Mullins sees the nomination as more than a nice line on a CV. To him, it is proof that Gwengwe’s work behind the scenes is already paying off.
“Rightly deserved, with four goals in five games. He works incredibly hard,” Mullins said, the numbers backing up the assessment. Forty-seven goals for Poole last season, four already in League Two. Different level, same instinct.
What has struck Mullins most is not just the output, but the attitude.
Gwengwe has arrived at Newport and refused to coast. Training-ground hours, extra work, constant questions about how to sharpen his game – the 25-year-old has thrown himself into the step up rather than easing his way into it.
“He always wants to work on areas of his game which he feels might help him to develop,” Mullins explained. “He’s not come into the group and sat back; he’s come in, and he really wants to push. He’s got a lot to learn, but he’s really open and wants to improve. His product is the by-product of all his hard work.”
The nomination placed him alongside Barnet’s Charlie Larkin, Crewe striker Josh March and York City’s Harry Boyes, who ultimately took the award. For a player who was terrorising non-league defences a few months ago, sharing that shortlist underlines just how quickly he has adjusted.
Interestingly, he has done it from out wide.
Gwengwe has been clear about his preference to play through the middle, but all four of his August goals came while operating in a wide role for Newport. Rather than sulk about it, he has embraced the job, stretching defences, attacking space and still finding ways to get into scoring positions.
For Mullins, that flexibility is another reason to believe there is more to come.
“The good thing is he is open-minded. Wherever he can get into the team, he’ll play and try and do a job,” the County manager said. “He could be equally effective through the middle, but maybe we have to change a few things to help that.”
That is the next stage of the project. Gwengwe has already climbed several tiers in a rush, learning on the fly in a league where mistakes are punished and half-chances decide games. Each appearance adds another layer of understanding: different centre-backs, different tactical puzzles, different ways to be marked and kicked.
“He’s jumped a lot of levels very quickly and with every game he’s gaining more experience,” Mullins said. “Once he figures out the different challenges at this level, there’s no reason why he couldn’t play as the nine.”
Inside the dressing room, the impact is obvious. Midfielder Ciaran Brennan has seen enough already to label him a genuine difference-maker.
“Shaq definitely knows where the goal is, so when he’s on the pitch there’s always half a chance that he might sniff something out,” Brennan said.
That knack – the ability to “sniff something out” when a loose ball drops or a defender switches off – cannot be coached easily. It is what carried him to 47 goals in non-league, and it is what now has League Two defences on alert.
The award went elsewhere this time. The warning to the rest of the division did not.
