Part 125: Chapter the Seventh: In the fifth minute of three minutes of stoppage time.
Chapter the Seventh: In the fifth minute of three minutes of stoppage time.January 9, 2022-February 2, 2022
We've had several off days recently, so it's obviously time to pick up the pace with two games a week through the end of the month. I'm hoping for anything but a draw in the FA Cup match, a replay added to the schedule would be cruel even by big league standards. We don't have any Champions League fixtures to worry about, though, those won't pick back up until the end of February when the knockout rounds begin. After these last few weeks on the road we're going to be at home for five of our six matches, hopefully that will allow us to build a lead atop the table.
That's the second time this game has gotten moved back, Manchester United couldn't deal with a feisty Liverpool squad at Anfield the first time around, so they'll have a go again in a week at Old Trafford. It means we get Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester City all in an eleven day period. Won't that be fun.
vs. Blackburn Rovers, January 11, 2022
Premier League
This is our third and likely final against the Rovers, the results have ranged from dominant in the form of a 5-2 away win back in August and narrowly escaping in a 1-0 extra time victory in the League Cup. Given the players we're running out I'm expecting more of the former than the latter this time around.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak (c), Laux, Feruga, Suslov, Morvan, Petts, Nieddu, Shirra, Mujkic, Bastable.
Subs: El Sayed, Mejasic, O'Hanlon, Mair, Julio, Matko, Cardozo.
Nieddu has a goal called back in the fifth minute, so we have to wait all of eleven to take the lead when Petts gets up and heads in a Meteor cross. Blackburn bounce right back when granted a penalty after Mujkic challenges for the ball at the edge of the area. Nothing I can see says it was ever a penalty, the announcers agree, the players are barking at the ref, and the ref was forty yards away when he made the call. It doesn't matter, the game is tied at one-all.
After taking the game back to level Blackburn doing a good job pressuring us and not letting us have possession, I respond by launching the players into a more uptempo attacking game. It pays off when Nieddu finds Bastable for our second goal two minutes before the half. That's the last goal we'll see, as Blackburn's defense continues to deny us chances, though Cirjak does make the entire goal shudder with a salvo from range in the second half.
That doesn't mean the game is without further controversy, Blackburn hacks down Woj Feruga in the 56th minute, causing an injury that will keep him out almost two weeks, and yet the ref keeps his cards pocketed. He's given out two yellow cards to our players and none to Blackburn. He adds to that by sending Oleg Suslov off with a second yellow with mere minutes remaining, and then appears to try to give us a make-up call two minutes later by sending off a Rover for a two footed tackle that was clearly going for the ball. We win the match, despite additional challenge imposed by the ref, opening up up a three point lead on Arsenal and a four point lead on Man City.
Man of the Match: Richard Petts
Wrexham 2-1 Blackburn
I was all set to rage about this in my post game press conference, but they didn't ask me about it. Stupid reporters, you missed the biggest story of the match!
vs. Stoke City, January 15, 2022
Premier League
Stoke are in 7th place and still alive in the Europa League. They're acquitting themselves nicely once again, the last three years have seen quite a bit of achievement for a club of their stature. We've got a week off before our next match, so most of the rotation comes from Mejasic taking over for the suspended Suslov and Todd replacing the dinged up Feruga.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak (c), Laux, Todd, Mejasic, Mair, Petts, Nieddu, Shirra, Mujkic, Bastable.
Subs: El Sayed, Dixon, O'Hanlon, Morvan, Julio, Taborda, Cardozo.
There's nothing doing in the first half as we battle with Stoke through driving rain, they're preventing us from getting any good looks at the goal. When play resumes they score immediately and take the one-nil lead. We keep pressing, unlike the last game the ref is very lenient on us as we hack down first one Stoke man and then another on our way to racking up 25 fouls. It looks bleak despite all our dominance, and we appear bound for defeat until just seconds from the death. Rocky Bastable is able to flick on a long ball forty yards from the goal that the Golden Boy runs onto and squeezes by the keeper at 2 minutes and 54 seconds into the three minutes of stoppage time. He provides the sole ray of light on an otherwise dreary day where we had ten times the number of shots as our opponents but the same number of goals.
Wrexham 1-1 Stoke
We're almost at world class facilities now, another two rounds of upgrades ought to do it. Then we'll just have to upgrade once every few years to maintain top of the line equipment.
We're probably going to be on TV quite a bit in the upcoming crush of games against our title opponents. Tottenham isn't a real title contender at this point, but they're only six points off a Champions League spot.
Coming back for another paddling so soon?
vs. Derby County, January 22, 2022
FA Cup, Fourth Round
Less than two months ago we were in Derby, and we won 6-0. Now that we're at home I expect another good performance, even if we aren't playing our whole first team.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: El Sayed, Cirjak (c), Laux, Feruga, Suslov, Morvan, Bailey, Matko, Shirra, Taborda, Cardozo.
Subs: Kovacevic, Mejasic, O'Hanlon, Mair, Julio, Mujkic, Aarts.
In the ninth minute it looks as if Rodrigo Taborda has scored a goal of the year candidate from a free kick near the midfield line, but it's called back for Matko challenging the keeper as the ball arrived at the goal line. Taborda gets another chance soon after, and this time there's no doubting the validity of the goal. The lead only holds for five minutes, as Cirjak gets robbed in our third of the field and Derby converts on the ensuing one on one with El Sayed.
The rest of the match is a steady effort from our squad, as we plug away at the Derby defense. It results in a second goal at the 82nd minute from the Golden Boy courtesy service for Mujkic, who came on as a sub at the hour mark. Shirra then assists on an El Juez goal to put us up 3-0 two minutes later, but Derby immediately cut the lead back to one when Ibrahim El Sayed makes a huge mistake and puts the ball into his own net when trying to corral a corner just before stoppage time. There's one more goal in the game, and it's Shirra again. He shows great anticipation and intercepts a long pass from the Derby left back, skipping in front of the intended recipient. He puts it away and we're back up two. After working hard for 80 minutes we finally broke down our opponent and it would have been a complete rout but for El Sayed's howler.
Man of the Match: The Golden Boy, Scott Shirra
Wrexham 4-2 Derby
We'll see if we can avoid disappointment against Aston Villa. If we get past Villa we can hope to face
the League One team in the Sixth Round as Burton and Bradford were drawn against each other. Bradford sold Stuart Simpson to Birmingham, which is disappointing as it would have been neat to play against him.
I think you're going to see me drop some serious cash this March to replenish our youth squad, since I can't find good value for money right now. I've spotted two players I'd like to sign for our first team, but Fulham isn't willing to sell a great teenage right back and Man United want £40m for blossoming right winger Shahed Parr.
At Southampton, January 25, 2022
Premier League
You've been a quiet sugar daddy, Sky Shadowing. Southampton's salary is 7th in the league, but nowhere near that of even Liverpool, and your transfer spending is only about £10m pounds.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak (c), Laux, Todd, Mejasic, Mair, Petts, Nieddu, Taborda, Mujkic, Bastable.
Subs: El Sayed, Suslov, O'Hanlon, Dixon, Julio, Matko, Cardozo.
Southampton match us stride for stride, making better chances than we are after 30 minutes despite granting us possession. In response I switch to the counter. Tonci Cirjak is red carded after a dive by the Southampton player, it does not look like a red card worthy offense from what I saw. The Bastard tries his best to win us the game but can't get a shot past the keeper, and when he does just before the hour mark he's flagged offside. Mujkic has the final chance to score, but pegs it off the woodwork from 10 meters out and we finish with a goalless draw. It's the first time in months where we were held scoreless, leaving us 3 points back of Manchester City with a game in hand.
Southampton 0-0 Wrexham
Well, if my Ass Man thinks he was wrong, I can't really argue. Part of the problem is the match engine is terrible at showing you exactly what happened on a foul, in this case it looked like Cirjak committed a foul but not one that deserved more than a yellow. He was behind the other player, but didn't even leave his feet and the contact seemed minor.
At least we'll be well compensated for playing the big clubs.
vs. Tottenham Hotspur, January 29, 2022
Premier League
The gauntlet begins! By the time it ends on February 8th we'll have played the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth placed teams. Three of the matches are in Wales, but none of them will be easy.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Mejasic, Todd, Feruga (c), Suslov, Morvan, Shirra, Matko, Julio, Taborda, Bastable.
Subs: El Sayed, Laux, O'Hanlon, Dixon, Bailey, Mujkic, Cardozo.
The Bastard goes to work quickly, redirecting a Taborda cross with his head into the goal at 36 seconds. He adds another by slipping his to attack the near post on a corner for an easy goal fourteen minutes later. Spurs are being made to look like, well, Spurs, and that's no more obvious when Taborda scores another free kick golazo before the opening thirty minutes are through.
Tottenham bring on a replacement right back to try and staunch the bleeding at the half, but he gets sent off minutes after the restart and we've a man advantage for 40 minutes. That contributes to an own goal by Tottenham's keeper 64 minutes, the poor sap punched a Matko shot straight up in the air to keep it out of the net only to watch it land and spin back over the goal line. The only negative, and it's a significant one, is Suslov getting sent off again in stoppage time for the second time in his last three games. I'm going to need to punish him this time in order to prevent this from being an ongoing problem.
Man of the Match: Rocky Bastable
Wrexham 4-0 Tottenham
I should have come down on him like a sack of bricks for his first offense. In his second game back from his suspension he picked up another two yellow cards. At this rate I'm going to have to play Mujkic at left back if Mejasic has to miss one of the next two games when he inevitably picks up cards.
He's only 30% of the way to the actual record of 175 league goals and 201 total goals, set by local legend Tommy Bamford from 1928 through 1934. Bamford was a prodigious scorer, and left Wrexham for Manchester United where he racked up 57 goals in 109 appearances over four years.
Bastable has a shot at catching Bamford. He's just entering his prime at 25 years old, is one of the two best strikers in the Premier League and among the top ten in the world, fits our strategy perfectly as a tall and strong fellow who our wingers can target on crosses, and is cheaper than anyone who might be better than him. Who'd have thought that one Australian/British coach would have given us a pipeline to two world class players, or that no one else noticed his talent when he was toiling for a team in the Qatari league. Him and Mujkic are the reason I playing Lower League manager, the latter essentially fell into my lap and the former makes me feel like a talent scouting genius.
On the final day of the window offers were tabled for Cirjak (£23m from Real Madrid and Manchester City), Nieddu (£29m from PSG), and Mujkic (£47m from Barcelona and Arsenal). They're all quickly withdrawn when I demand £60m for each. Some of the teams don't get the hint, I'm looking at you Arsenal and PSG, and keep submitting offers all through the final hours of the window before I up my asking price to £200m.
I have mixed feelings about this new feature. In the past players could only get upset when you refused to sell them to a megabastard. Now they have the option for their agents to try and finagle them a new deal. It's better than the player just getting upset, but it's still irritating. I haven't had cause to ask my player to fire their agent yet, my relationships with one hasn't deteriorated to the point where we're not on speaking terms. Regardless, as Meteor just signed a new deal to become our highest paid player last summer I tell his agent to get lost.
If they hadn't been filing 11th hour offers, I'd have been more amenable to negotiating. Not that I necessarily would sell any of these players had they started asking ten days ago, but I'm not going to leave a gaping hole in my team twelve hours before the transfer window closes just because megabastards start flashing literal tons of cash at me.
For once I'm not upset about someone else winning the manager of the month award. That's a good run of results for the Citizens, and one we didn't quite match.
vs. Manchester United, February 1, 2022
Premier League
It's our biggest test of the season thus far. We're tired, but we're at home and in first place. We're going to need to dig deep to keep it that way.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak (c), Laux, Todd, Mejasic, Mair, Petts, Nieddu, Shirra, Mujkic, Bastable.
Subs: El Sayed, Feruga, O'Hanlon, Dixon, Bailey, Cardozo, Aarts.
“This match is likely to have a massive say in where the title would end up” the announcer states at kickoff, and he's not wrong. Unfortunately for us, it's all Red Devils in the early going, starting with a Wrexham-esque goal in under three minutes. The ref is eager with the yellow cards, resulting in a slackening of our press, and it allows United to nab a second goal in the forty-third minute. Bastable pulls one back before halftime, and we've still got a chance to take something out of this match.
We capitalize on that chance courtesy a hard working third chance goal from Petts in the 54th minute, and then Bastable gives us the lead when he crashes the near post on another corner ten minutes later. The glorious comeback is complete, but threatens to unravel when Cirjak picks up a second yellow card and gets sent off again. With Mejasic already in the game I'm forced to pull Mujkic back to the fullback position.
United get too cocky up a man, and it's Rocky Bastable with his hat trick to give us a two goal lead. Will it hold up? It looks shaky when Man U answer with 10 minutes left in regulation, but at 89 minutes into the game the fourth official holds up three minutes of stoppage time. After those three minutes we're still up 4-3. After another two minutes of stoppage time, Manchester United get their equalizer. The whistle blows the game to an end immediately afterward. Apparently Fergie time didn't end with Sir Alex's retirement, and I'm flushed with anger at the officials for giving United all the time they needed to come back.
Man of the Match: Rocky Bastable
Wrexham 4-4 Man United
That's not even close to the real record. Wrexham beat Hartlepool 10-1 back in 1962 and it was the first time in any English league football match that three hat tricks were recorded.
A falling out between captain and coach is not a good thing, but this is Cirjak's second red in his last two games and he needs to know that this behavior will not be tolerated. I've been too lenient on the players when they've picked up yellows, and it's starting to show. I've decided to take us out of our hard pressing game for a while, and if that isn't enough I'll set our tackling to soft.
We've only lost one game since our six game bad run of results, but we've still fallen out of the top spot in the Premier League. Things are only going to get harder from here. Not only do we still have Chelsea and Manchester City to play, but the Champions League resumes with a trip to Munich to play German megabastards Bayern. There's going to be no time to rest, no time to think, no time to do anything but react until we get to the March international break. Let's hope we're still in fighting shape when we get there.
