Part 207: Chapter the Ninth: It comes down to who wants it more.

Chapter the Ninth: It comes down to who wants it more.
January 20, 2027-February 10, 2027

We kick off the next spate of games at League One squad Bury in the FA Cup, and then travel to Arsenal before continuing on to face Burnley, Nottingham Forest, West Brom, and Crystal Palace in the league. You can guess which match I've got circled on my calendar as the tough one.



The Group stage at the Asian Cup ends with no real surprises except perhaps for Kuwait surviving to the knockout round. They'll need a miracle to get past Japan in their quarterfinal. If you're in the contest I wouldn't worry too much about it since only a couple people picked them to advance. The leaders right now are TheMcD and Dreamsicle, but it's still wide open since you get more points for correctly predicting later matches.

At Bury, January 23, 2027
FA Cup, Fourth Round


We're the televised early game, giving us a live national audience. It's time to show them the glory of the Pyramid! It should be familiar to any ghosts who recall Bury's one FA Cup win, all the way back in 1903.

Starting Formation: Pyramid (2-3-5)
Starting 11: Kocsis, Quiboulaz, Hammatt, Bailey (c), Shirra, Maloney, Parr, Thiago, Moctezuma, Stringel, Damgaard.
Subs: Landgraf, Laux, Tounkara, Brown, Zouaghi, Bale, Pickee.

It's a contest between Stringel and Thiago to see who can score more often. String gets us off on the right foot in the third minute, then Thiago matches him ten minutes later. We're keeping an immense amount of possession over poor Bury, who seem flabbergasted by our formation. Stringel noses ahead with a second goal in the 25th minute, but once again Thiago pulls level. Then Thiago is first to his hat trick, earning it after play resumes in the second half, and Stringel is chasing him. Bury take a moment to finally score themselves on a rebound during a fast break, but Stringel has the final word five minutes from full time with his own hat trick, and we've burned through Bury as if they weren't even there. String takes the man of the match award thanks to having assisted on one of Thiago's goals, and the Pyramid has now been used to resounding success for a second time in a major competition.

Man of the Match: Isaac Stringel




Bury 1-6 Wrexham



I'm happy facing anyone but Manchester United or Arsenal.



This was originally scheduled for mid-December. Our fixture list is a black hole of congestion flinging matches months into the future.



Hey, remember when we were trying to sign this guy six years ago and he turned us down for Internazionale? Yeah, now we're going to get to see him all the time on Manchester United. Joy.



We're going to have a long discussion about our finances come the annual budget meeting, because our current rate of spending isn't sustainable over the long haul.

At Arsenal, January 26, 2027
Premier League


Arsenal are the last squad to have beaten us in League play, 377 days ago. They're one of the few teams I'm concerned could busting up our undefeated season, and they have a striker in Lino Fiorotto who's put up a Thiago-esque 21 goals in 22 matches.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kocsis, Reed, Quiboulaz, Hammatt, Loseille, Laux, Shirra, Mercado, Stringel, Mujkic (c), Thiago.
Subs: Landgraf, Cirjak, Zouaghi, Maloney, Allan, Pickee, Parr.

We have our chances in the first half, but so does Lino Fiorotto. Both defenses can feel happy after thirty minutes that they haven't conceded. When the players head to the lockers for the break the fans can think back on the well played, evenly matched first half.

Our defense needs rejiggering and when Quiboulaz has to head off with a nasty gash early in the second half, Laux drops back to central defense and teenager Kamel Zouaghi takes his place as our defensive midfielder. Five minutes later Arsenal get caught ball watching, and allow a goal when Mujkic's high arcing cross finds an unmarked Steve Reed by the penalty spot.

I yoink Stringel for Allan as we switch to the 4-5-1 to defend our lead. Arsenal redoubles their attack, making our defense to bend. It doesn't break, however, and they're forced to spend the final six minutes of the match playing a man down due to an injury to their third substitute. We slip away from the Emirates with a victory after our sternest challenge in months.

Man of the Match: Steve Reed




Arsenal 0-1 Wrexham



That's now a season's worth of games without a loss.



Quibz gets away with a few stitches, while Arsenal's Santiago Pedrozo picked up a sprained ankle that will keep him out of action for over a month.



Nice piece of business here by our foes to the northeast. That's £6m less than Juventus paid for Eliav, and significantly less than they were paying him in wages. Pretty good for a fullback who's nearly as good as James Loseille.

vs Burnley, January 30, 2027
Premier League


It'd be so typical if we beat Arsenal in North London just to lose to bottom-dwellers Burnley. Let's not do that. This is the last start for Lajos Kocsis, who's done masterful work in Kojiro Minami's absence. He's conceded just five goals across nine matches going into this one.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kocsis, Cirjak, Tounkara, Laux, Loseille, Maloney, Bailey (c), Parr, Allan, Damgaard, Stringel.
Subs: Landgraf, Reed, Hammatt, Zouaghi, Shirra, Pickee, Moctezuma.

Our high line and pressing style work to perfection as Shahed Parr and Isaac Stringel work to get the ball back deep in Burnley territory. Their success sets up an easy chance for Callum Allan, and makes it one-nil in the eleventh minute. Allan repays Parr with a great ball to set up our second goal six minutes later. Then Burnley's centerback is sent off after going in late on Parr as we near the half-hour, and they are deeply and truly screwed. Stringel and Allan both score before the break, and despite the beating rain the Wrexham faithful chant for more.

We oblige with a further deluge of goals. One pours in immediately after the half off the head Dramane Tounkara. Three more come in quick succession off the boot of Claus Damgaard. A fifth allows Callum Allan to complete his hat trick. Nine-nil says the board at the end of the match, as Burnley limp bedraggled from the sodden pitch.

Man of the Match: Callum Allan.




Wrexham 9-0 Burnley



The margin of victory is the largest in my time at Wrexham, and matches the club record set against Hartlepool in a 10-1 victory from 1962. It also ties a Premier League record for largest win, matching Manchester United's nine-nil annihilation of Ipswich Town in 1995.




The Australians claim the AFC Cup over Japan, despite the retirement of both Meteor Mujkic and Rocky Bastable from international competition. It's a slight upset, and I'm sure Koji Minami is displeased that he coughed up two goals in the final to an Australian domestic league striker named Fortune Akinade.

The result gives us a tie in our yearly prediction contest. Both TheMcD and Ghostwoods finished with 35 points, with Ghostwoods being the only person to correctly predict every single quarterfinal, semifinal, third place match, and final winner. I'll have to come up with a tiebreaker. As always anyone is welcome to check my math, as it's entirely possible I made a mistake somewhere.



PSG starts sniffing around upon hearing that Scott Shirra didn't make the Dragonz Lair All Time XI.



In general, though, it's a quiet window.

vs Nottingham Forest, February 2, 2027
Premier League


Our easy schedule continues with a visit from 16th placed Nottingham Forest, who still have work to do if they want to stay in the Premier League.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Minami, Reed, Tounkara, Hammatt, Loseille, Zouaghi, Shirra, Parr, Pickee, Mujkic (c), Thiago.
Subs: Kocsis, Cirjak, Laux, Maloney, Allan, Mercado, Moctezuma.

Nottingham comes our feisty to start, but backs off their aggressive style after 15 minutes when it hasn't succeeded in nabbing them an early goal. Thiago puts the ball into the back of the net for us, but was clearly offside. He's been mediocre since his disappointment during awards season.

Parr is hot, though, and Pickee picks out a wonderful pass to get him clear on through to goal. Parr then sets up a Pickee goal by dribbling around two defenders and into the box, selflessly giving up the shot to the younger player. Thiago finally finds net three minutes later, and the outcome is no longer in doubt. Our substitutes add two more goals in the final five minutes, one comes from Callum Allan, and the other is Rodrigo Moctezuma's first ever league goal.

Man of the Match: Mitchell Pickee




Wrexham 5-0 Nottm Forest

vs West Bromwich Albion, February 6, 2027
Premier League


The banquet of bottom-feeders continues with West Brom, who sit uncomfortably in 19th position on the table.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Minami, Reed, Hammatt, Laux, Loseille, Maloney, Shirra, Parr, Stringel, Mujkic (c), Thiago.
Subs: Kocsis, Cirjak, Quiboulaz, Bailey, Allan, Damgaard, Moctezuma.

Parr is en fuego, picking up his third goal in as many games after 15 minutes. A second goal is tacked on when Stringel frees a streaking Thiago, who puts it in the upper right corner from the edge of the area. Thiago scores again 116 seconds later on a corner kick, and he's back to being the man I'm used to seeing. Parr scores another goal deep in the second half, and then is promptly taken out by a West Brom tackle.

Man of the Match: Shahed Parr




Wrexham 4-0 West Brom



And just when he was getting into a good run of form, too. We'll have to get by with some combination of Moctezuma, Pickee, and Mercado.

At Crystal Palace, February 9, 2027
Premier League


Crystal Palace marks the end of our feast against the bottom of the table, they're sitting in a healthy 10th place, with six points of cushion between them and the drop. I'll miss facing the dregs of the league, it's not often that you can put up an 18-0 stretch over three matches.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Minami, Cirjak, Tounkara, Quiboulaz, Loseille, Laux, Allan, Moctezuma, Stringel, Mujkic (c), Thiago.
Subs: Kocsis, Reed, Hammatt, Bailey, Shirra, Damgaard, Pickee.

Crystal Palace's Ozzie Olney has had quite a year so far, with 17 league goals to his name. He almost adds an 18th right at the start when he slips our offside trap. He doesn't miss when he slips through again near halftime, and we're behind after having played poorly throughout the half.

I give it to the players with both barrels, ordering them to come out in the 4-4-2 diamond and get us back into the match, and young Rodrigo Moctezuma does just that five minutes after play resumes. Crystal Palace isn't done, though, scoring again in the 68th minute from a corner. We play raggedly and can't muster a response in the final twenty minutes and the dream of the Invincibles dies with a whimper.




Palace 2-1 Wrexham



I have to admit, I was really gunning for that record. This hurts.



We got lazy, and Crystal Palace made us pay. They fully deserved their win, and I am not going to let the players forget how they let a much worse team push them around because they had desire that we so blatantly lacked.




My wrath doesn't end with just one post game lecture.




The next day sees the worst performers docked two weeks pay.




I accept no excuses for their poor play, and give no credit for past glories.



Those who don't get fined still get called onto the carpet for their mistakes.



But I can't make all of them listen.



I knew we weren't going to go undefeated, but I had started to let myself think about it. Then we got run off the pitch by a determined Crystal Palace squad. Now we're on our way to a merely great year rather than a legendary one. C'est la vie, and at least now I can force the men to refocus after they got too big for their britches.