Part 46: Chapter the Second: Putting the right foot forward.
Chapter the Second: Putting the right foot forward.July 30, 2016-August 31, 2016
Our first match is this afternoon, our second match is three days from now. We're starting with what should be a fairly easy challenge, a home game against just promoted Oxford United, and then a decidedly more difficult challenge in our Capital One Cup match against Championship side Wigan.
Our early schedule doesn't look that bad, congestion wise, but it'll inevitably get cluttered when we enter the FA Cup draw and if we actually advance in the other two cups.
The second half of the season starts with a doozy, though, with back to back matches in late December and four games total over eight days. The very end of the season is also a bit odd, with a match against Dartford two days after one with Scunthorpe, and then twelve days off before the final game vs. Yeovil. If the season predictions are right, we should be able to finish strong- from March onwards we play four teams expected to be at the bottom of the table, while two of our three matches against promotion contenders are at the Racecourse Ground.
Good on him for earning promotion. Just don't expect us to take it easy on you, you scamp!
I <3 players with high professionalism. Higgs has a higher ceiling than Al-Beloushi, but Al-Beloushi rates as one of the best players in the league right now. I'm going to try to give Higgs more time this season, he's probably a better long term option for us than Al-Beloushi.
vs. Oxford United, July 30, 2016
League Two
I'm going to base my selections for this game on pre-season form. We're still missing Simpson, which hurts a bit, but as we're playing a team picked to finish 21st I'm going to be playing more aggressively. We've got a bunch of players who still need to build up match fitness, and several of our new arrivals haven't practiced with the team yet, so I'll be making some swaps in around the hour mark.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Thomas, Reid, Poole, Smissen, Kadhim, Cobb, Bailey, Franks, Coulson, Harrison(c).
Subs: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Jenkins, Price, Morgan, Spilsbury.
Cobb makes an excellent first impression, scoring just four minutes into his first league game with the team. He uses Harrison as a decoy to slip past the defenders, and places a shot from just inside the area into the corner to put us up one-nil. Poole doubles our joy just three minutes later when he finds himself unmarked on the near post during the corner. Oxford pulls one back when we fail to clear a corner of our own due to an error on the part of Sam Smissen, and with over seventy minutes still remaining I'm edgy about our position.
I can relax when we restore our two goal lead less than a minute into the second half as Harrison provides a perfect cross to a waiting Coulson on the far post. I switch us over to the counter strategy knowing that Oxford will have to come at us hard if they hope to salvage anything from the game. Oxford are able to unlock our defense again in the 58th minute thanks to poor positioning on Luke Reid's part, and I'm anxious all over again. I bring Spilsbury and Tench on, and while Spilsbury almost finds the net it's a nervy final quarter hour before we can put the win in the books. We were outplayed, and we're lucky that Oxford squandered so many chances.
Wrexham 3-2 Oxford
You might have noticed that Natala wasn't picked for yesterday's game. That's because he's with Mali's under 20 team, kicking some Senegalese ass. He picked up a goal and a 7.6 rating, and returns to the team today.
While making sure everyone has proper training assignments I notice that Franks performance and ability has been in a nose dive. I want to nip that in the bud, he's only 28 and he should still have a couple years left before he starts declining. If he goes downhill now, we might have some problems at Left Wing if Natala doesn't work out or won't continue his loan.
Funny, he's played better when he's at the striker position in the center of the field, and his main position is right wing.
Petit's off, he turned 18 last fall and thus isn't eligible for the U18's this year. With the signing of Lewis he'd have been stuck in the reserves all season, so I sent him off to get some first team time.
Harrison is looking great since he broke out of his slump last spring. I want to lock him up in case he goes bananas on the league and wants a whole lot more money. Or worse, gets an agent. It's a £125/wk raise, and a three year extension. We should be at least entering the Championship by the end of it.
Hold onto your hats, y'all. One of the coaches I signed was dual English/Australian citizenship, and he imparted his knowledge of Australian players when he came on board. He suggested this kid, who's only eligible to play with us because he's got Croatian citizenship. Players from EU member countries don't need work permits. I signed him sight unseen just based off of what the coach could tell me.
Mateo Mujkic
Left Winger
Just look at that. He's a wonderkid! He's not just the best player on our team, but he's the best player in the league, by a wide margin. He'd be the best player in League One, and one of the best in the Championship. He'd be perfectly suited to a rotation role on a lower mid-table Premier League team. And he's only 19! Every coach thinks that he can get significantly better!
It's clear that no one else knew about him, or he'd never, ever have been willing to sign with us. I tried to sign him through 2021, but his agent wasn't having it. I also couldn't avoid giving him a release clause, but at 5 million pounds we'll at least get seriously paid when some big team steals him from us in a year or two. I'll be trying to renegotiate his contract often, just to increase the value of that release clause, if we can get him signed beyond 2019 that would only make things better.
Wow. This is awesome.
I'm looking forward to the day when our first League Cup match isn't against a much better team.
Our pitch is already downgraded to good, after only one match in Very Good condition. We've got a lively crowd to see us take on Wigan, though, the largest since 7,700 watched us play Stevenage in the FA Cup last year.
vs. Wigan, August 2, 2016
Capital One Cup, First Round
I read Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier about a decade ago, and loved it. I also thought Wigan was pronounced “Why-gan.” I never realized I was wrong until I was actually talking to someone from Wigan, and they were greatly amused at my pronunciation. I don't see what's so funny, she's the one from a place pronounced “wiggin'.”
Stuart Simpson is going to be playing this match despite only just having returned from his broken wrist, we really need him to stiffen our defense if we're going to win. Franks gets the start over Mujkic as Mujkic is not fully ready to play yet, but expect to see him soon. Orson Duchamps is in Wigan's lineup, and put in a decent performance in his first competitive match with the team, he'd spent the previous year on loan with a lower table Ligue One squad and acquitted himself well there.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Reid, Todd, Ashton, Kadhim, Simpson (c), Bailey, Coulson, Franks, Harrison.
Subs: Higgs, Thomas, Poole, Jenkins, Cobb, Mujkic, Spilsbury.
As if this game wasn't going to be hard enough, Ashti Kadhim puts us in an even tougher position when his attempt to clear the ball goes into the net early in the game. Harrison certainly looks up for the match and causes havoc for the Wigan defense, including straight up robbing one centerback with no one between him and the goal. He finds the net before the first fraction is done on yet another surging run that leaves Wigan's defenders looking like rooted trees after Liam Franks manhandles the ball away from a Wigan fullback and places the ball in space for Harrison to run onto.
I tell the team that we can still win this game, and that I believe in them. They immediately reward me for my faith just after the restart when Gary Tench launches a ball fifty meters up the pitch that Harrison latches on to, dribbles past the keeper, and coolly taps in to put us up two-nil. We hold the lead despite increasingly desperate Wigan attacks, and we're moving onto the second round of the League Cup.
Man of the Match: Billy the Kid Harrison.
Wrexham 2-1 Wigan
A couple of the wins over Tackleford were more satisfying, but this was easily our best win so far in this LP. Beating a team two levels above us, in what was if anything a lucky game for them, is fantastic.
Mujkic had already played most of a season while in Australia, and was in need of a rest when he came over. Generally the best thing to do is give them a couple weeks off of training and matches to recover, so I brink Mateo in for a chat.
If he thinks he's good to play, I'm willing to let him keep going until he shows signs that his play is suffering from fatigue. I'm also not willing to risk pissing off a guy who we're extraordinarily fortunate to have on our team.
And we're drawn against our parent team. We already drew against them once at the Racecourse Grounds, and after the Wigan match I almost expect to do one better the second time around.
Season ticket sales are up incrementally, but income from season ticket sales are down 9%. The new president and board must have been giving out a lot of season tickets to their cronies.
Having a Director of Football lets me delegate the task of finding an appropriate loan club for our players that have aged out of the U18's but don't have a spot in the senior club awaiting them. It saves some scutwork.
At Torquay, August 6, 2016
League Two
I'm going to give Higgs every third or fourth start, and this one is as good as any. Simpson is worn out at the moment, so Cobb gets his spot in the lineup. Torquay is not expected to be very good here, but given that we're still molding the team and our trouble keeping Oxford off the scoreboard I'm going to opt for a counter-attacking style.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Higgs, Thomas, Reid, Poole, Smissen, Kadhim, Cobb, Bailey, Coulson, Franks, Harrison (c).
Subs: Al-Beloushi, Ashton, Todd, Jenkins, Price, Mujkic, Spilsbury.
Visions of autumn 2015 danced before me during this game. The players clearly let the Wigan match go to their head. We're down three-nil before half-time. Daniel Thomas has been especially suspect, after picking up an injury he made two bad mistakes leading to goals. Matthew Poole salvaged something from the game with a goal in the final twenty minutes, but Luke Reid earned his second yellow card in the 87th minute and we conceded again after that. It was a miserable game, with all of our worst habits from last year making a return.
Torquay 4-1 Wrexham
This will be Tench's chance to cement himself in the starting lineup.
Depending on how players earn their red card they can earn a multiple game suspension. In this case Reid receives the minimum, and I warn him to watch his step.
Simpson was healthy as a bull last season, but this is already his second injury.
vs. York City, August 13, 2016
League Two
Billy the Kid is just returning from playing with his national team, and Simpson is out, so Cobb gets the captain's band tonight. I want a win to get us back on track after that Torquay debacle, but we're still wending our way into shape and we're starting five players who are new to the team so I'm going to try and temper my expectations.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Todd, Poole, Smissen, Kadhim, Cobb (c), Bailey, Coulson, Mujkic, Spilsbury.
Subs: Higgs, Ashton, Lewis, Jenkins, Franks, Netala, Price.
We very nearly go behind right after the whistle, but York can't get their shot on target. The run of play is all to us in the early going, by the 17th minute we've had 61% possession despite playing a counter-attack. We've also had seven corners, and on the last of these we take the lead when the auld onion bag pinballs to Chris Todd and he takes advantage of the clear shot. York muster up their gumption, and get back to their feet, but can't put the ball in before the whistle blows play dead. Our defense plays well in the second half, and in the 68th minute wonderkid Mateo Mujkic lifts a cross to a waiting Michael Coulson for our second goal. We finish out the game without conceding, and it's exactly the response to adversity I wanted to see from the team.
Man of the Match: Michael Coulson
Wrexham 2-0 York
It's not a good sign if coaches fail a course, it might mean that they're incapable of improving.
At Tranmere Rovers, August 20, 2016
League Two
Tranmere were relegated last season, but are touted to return to League one. I've looked at their team and I'm unimpressed. They've been gutted this offseason, and they look more likely to drop out of the Football League than earn promotion.
We've got our Capital One Cup match against Norwich in two days, so I'm going to see if we can't field a slightly weakened team to take advantage of Tranmere's predicament and rest some legs for the Cup match. By the by, that's Neil Senior, our old backup goalkeeper from two years ago, playing for Tranmere.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Reid, Poole, Ashton, Kadhim, Jenkins, Cobb (c), Franks, Netala, Spilsbury.
Subs: Higgs, Smissen, Todd, Bailey, Price, Mujkic, Harrison.
Tranmere are complaining to the referee early, claiming that Poole should have been called for a penalty nine minutes in. Otherwise it's a tidy half, neither side can create much, so we head to the lockers in a goalless clinch. Three shots cracked against the woodwork, none found their way across the goal line. We take the lead on an absolute fluke, Ashton makes a poor cross from near the midfield line that angles directly at Senior. The ball eats Senior up, and it deflects into the back of the net. The difference at the end of the game is that bizarre goal.
Man of the Match: Matthew Ashton
Tranmere 0-1 Wrexham
He's great! Except for the whole reduction in season ticket income despite higher sales. I looked into it, and we're missing over £50,000 in season ticket revenue when you multiply the number of season tickets sold by their average price. I don't know if it's the game making a mistake or I missed something, but it's irritating.
I don't want to hurt Natala's feelings, but we have someone way better than him in Mujkic. Also, how do you pronounce Mujkic? “Mooj-sik”? “Mooj-kis”? I might just start referring to him by his first name.
With Simpson also struggling with his fitness I need Cobb ready for the next match. Stick him in the groin with that needle, doctor.
Yeah, it's not the kindest draw we could have gotten.
Another good crowd today. Cup games do quite a bit to help your bottom line, we've seen the most extreme version of this with our FA Cup matches against the Manchester teams but even a decent cup run with a bunch of home games will add over a hundred thousand pounds to your bank balance. This match alone will bring in that much in gate receipts, which we'll split with Norwich.
vs. Norwich City, August 23, 2016
Capital One Cup, Second Round
Norwich is favored, but not overwhelmingly. 3-1 odds give us a 25% chance to win, 4-5 odds means the bookies think that Norwich will win just over half the time. It would be super sweet to beat Norwich, and we've been playing some fantastic football against better teams recently, but even a repeat of our preseason friendly would be great. If we lose, we'll have lost to a promotion contender from a team two levels higher than us in the league pyramid, and there's no shame in that.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Reid, Poole, Smissen, Kadhim, Cobb, Bailey, Coulson, Mujkic, Harrison (c).
Subs: Higgs, Thomas, Todd, Simpson, Jenkins, Franks, Price.
Norwich takes the lead in the 9th minute, scores again in the 14th minute, and never looks back. We are abominable, even when our defense firms up in the second half we can't put the ball on net for anything. A loss was always the most likely outcome today, but after our other performances this is a real let down. Mujkic and Tench are especially bad, but there's blame enough to go around for everyone.
Wrexham 0-3 Norwich
Cobb's going to be out for a month. I wonder if he and Simpson have a secret deal to trade “injuries” back and forth to get vacations.
I find the statement “Osbourne's selection certainly appears to underline a lack of talent within Wales recently” bemusing when three of the players play for Swansea. What, just because they play in the English league means that Swansea's not Welsh anymore?
We've got a match against Bradford during this period. With five first team players called up a youth player or two will get a crack at some game time.
At Shrewsbury, August 27, 2016
League Two
Tench is out after last game's pitiful effort. Simpson will go as long as possible, but he's still not match fit so it's likely Jenkins will come on for him sometime in the second half. Lewis still hasn't made his way into a game for me yet, but that's the lot of a fourth centerback. Shrewsbury is a good team, we're going to have to play much better than we did against Norwich to pick up the three points.
Hopefully the team's reaction is indicative of their performance today.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Thomas, Reid, Poole, Smissen, Kadhim, Simpson (c), Bailey, Coulson, Mujkic, Harrison.
Subs: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Jenkins, Price, Netala, Spilsbury.
Our offense from set pieces is still quite good. In the fourth minute Bailey launches a free kick towards the opponent's penalty area that Coulson heads back to Simpson. Simpson quiets the ball and unleashes a shot that caroms off the goalpost to Coulson. With the goalie lying sprawled on the ground, Coulson finishes the move and puts us in the lead. The match goes sour quickly afterwards, with Shrewsbury scoring two. One is on a very nice narrow angle shot, the second is entirely Thomas's fault for failing to mark his man. We weather a true storm of shots from Shrewsbury throughout the next three quarters of an hour, but the next goal is ours, against the run of play, from another set piece. If we could just survive the next 10 minutes I'd be pleased with the draw. We can't.
Man of the Match: Matthew Poole.
Shrewsbury 3-2 Wrexham
We haven't had a truly serious injury to any of our senior squad players yet, but we've picked up a number of minor dings and dents that have kept us from playing at full strength.
My personal assistant has been ordered to send Scunthorpe's manager a bouquet of roses.
I think I can say without qualification that this is a much, much better start to the season than last time. The only unacceptable loss was to Torquay, and that was due to the margin rather than the fact that we lost. The Wigan victory is one that'll be remembered for years to come, a solid bit of “giant slaying” by the local boys. If we keep on this pace for the season, we'll end up with 82-83 points, which should be enough for promotion. That's about the same level of play that we ended on last season. I expect that we'll get better as the season goes on, so barring disaster we might challenge for the league title.
