Part 158: Chapter the Eighth: A game in hand is not worth two in the bush.

Chapter the Eighth: A game in hand is not worth two in the bush.
February 1, 2024-March 1, 2024

We've got another eight matches, seven of them in the Premier League and a trip to historic Naples in the knockout round. Two of our league matches are trips to Manchester City and Arsenal. I don't expect that we'll come out of this month unscathed, but hopefully we keep it close against Napoli and take at least four points from our trips to the other big clubs.



Ünsal played for Monaco before they were knocked out of the Champions League, so he's “cup tied” and can't play for us on the continent. Instead he'll be spending all his time playing our Premiership matches.



Well, I couldn't do it without my long tenured, feathered hair Ass Man. Me and Paul Willy got the bromance of a century going on. I can't believe his reputation is still “Regional”- he's the best kept secret in the entire world of coaching and it's a little surprising that no club has come along and tried to hire him as head manager.

vs Blackburn Rovers, February 4, 2024
Premier League


At least the schedule alternates between hard and soft matches. That's defining a home fixture against a midtable club as soft. It should keep our best players reasonably well rested for our tilts with Arsenal, City, and Napoli.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Fitzgerald, Cirjak (c), O'Hanlon, Quiboulaz, Taffarel, Mair, Petts, Parr, Allan, Taborda, De Blasio.
Subs: Kovacevic, Reed, Hammatt, Bailey, Rouissi, Gabbianelli, Aarts.

We hop out to a lead when a heads up play from Shahed Parr gets O'Hanlon the rebound of a Taborda free kick in the 28th minute. We keep our focus, and when Blackburn make a last minute charge for a late equalizer we hit them hard on the counter with a goal from Fabio Gabbianelli to close out the game in the 89th minute. We played with verve, and it's a professional victory, though our finishing was poor.

Man of the Match: Alex O'Hanlon




Wrexham 2-0 Blackburn



Grundlecrunchings like that are going to make it hard for us to catch Manchester United on goal differential.

At Arsenal, February 7, 2024
Premier League


The Battle at the Emirates is why I was holding our best players out of the Blackburn match. Our title aspirations demand that we get a result here, and again in a week against Manchester City. Both of these matches have been rescheduled to midweek due to prior fixture congestion, by the end of the month we'll only have a single game in hand against the rest of the league rather than three.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Counter
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Hammatt, Laux, Loseille, Ünsal, Bailey, Collett, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Thiago.
Subs: Fitzgerald, Cirjak, Quiboulaz, Mair, Taborda, Stringel, Aarts.

It's all even through the first half, though both teams make the other yelp at times. I yell at the players for some lackluster performances, but remind them that I have faith in them. They respond by getting the Golden Boy into position with the goal at his mercy within a minute of resuming play. I order Mujkic and Collett to play deeper after 70 minutes to help firm up our defense and protect the lead, putting us in a 4-4-1-1. Thiago makes hearts leap into throats when he judders the woodwork with a free kick, but it's cleared away and he comes off with 15 minutes remaining for Aarts. I want fresh legs up top for our counter attacks. That proves to be a wise decision, in the 88th minute Aarts skips over the last defender's tackle and beats the keeper to make it 2-0. It's a damned big win for us in one of our toughest remaining league matches.

Man of the Match: Bram Aarts




Arsenal 0-2 Wrexham

vs Tottenham Hotspur, February 10, 2024
Premier League


We don't have time to revel in our victory over Arsenal, and this only counts as a “soft” match because we're at home and it's being played between trips to Arsenal and City.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak (c), O'Hanlon, Quiboulaz, Taffarel, Mair, Petts, Parr, Stringel, Taborda, Aarts.
Subs: Fitzgerald, Reed, Hammatt, Bailey, Allan, Gabbianelli, De Blasio.

We pressure the heck out of Tottenham, finally breaking through with a Taborda goal that really should have been stopped in 37th minute. Parr doubles that lead with a volleyed rebound in the 48th after yet another excellent run by Taffarel into the box to set up a Stringel shot. I sub off an ineffective Aarts, and my tactical nous continues to redound in our favor as his replacement Gabbianelli scores his third goal of the season, thanks again to Taffarel. In the 82nd minute Spurs finally get their first shot. It's off target, and it's their only one of the day.

Man of the Match: Cristian Taffarel




Wrexham 3-0 Tottenham

At Manchester City, February 13, 2024
Premier League


I admit to feeling some nerves about this one. We're each three points back of United, but we still have two games in hand while City have played the same number as their crosstown rivals. Our club has been much more successful over the past year and a half against Manchester City, but they're still one of the best teams in the world and I abhor losing to Pattison. There's a bit of luck when it comes to our opposition as City are missing six players due to injury and suspension, but only two of those are among their best.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Counter
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Laux, Hammatt, Loseille, Bailey, Ünsal, Collett, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Thiago.
Subs: Fitzgerald, Cirjak, Quiboulaz, Mair, Taborda, Stringel, Aarts.

The crowd at the Etihad roars when their team takes the lead on a set piece goal, but are quickly quieted when Collett gets two chances to make an immediate response and does so on the second. We hit the crossbar twice from corners late in the first half, and I'm leery about falling to a late defeat if we can't make our chances count, especially as our midfield has been good but our defense is getting torn up repeatedly and Thiago can't hold possession up top.

We get a goal from a set piece ourselves in the 50th minute, when Laux is in the right place at the right time and uses his foot to score the go ahead goal. But Shirra misses the chance to plunge a dagger into the City hearts twenty minutes later. I have to bring on Quiboulaz for Loseille at that point, Mark Bloem has been abusing the French teenager all day long on our left flank. Collett and Thiago miss late chances on breakaways in stoppage time, but we hold out for the victory. Get stuffed, Pattison, the title is ours for the taking.

Man of the Match: Matthias Laux




Man City 1-2 Wrexham



Mali, which had been ranked 4th in the world, fell all the way to 39th. Why? Because their results at the Africa Cup of Nations a year ago no longer count for as much. This despite the fact that their national team hasn't lost a match since June of 2021. FIFA rankings are a crock.



I have to replace you already? Why'd you even take the job then?! You better bring in an excellent crop of youngsters.

vs Derby County, February 17, 2024
Premier League


Beating Arsenal and City are huge accomplishments and go a long way towards repeating our title, but we have to ward against complacency. Derby are 3 points from safety after a four year run in the league. A loss to them is just as bad as a loss to a really good team.

Starting Formation: 3-4-3 Attack
Starting 11: Fitzgerald, Hammatt, Quiboulaz, Laux, Cirjak, Taffarel, Ünsal, Mair, Stringel, Aarts, Thiago.
Subs: Kovacevic, Loseille, Bailey, Allan, Petts, Parr, Taborda.

It's a good thing Thiago hits paydirt early, because we're giving Derby too many chances and not doing enough with our own. After half an hour it's still 1-0 despite creating 7 half chances. Quiboulaz finally makes it 2-0, but it took us 3 clear cut chances and 9 half chances to score it. Our former youth prospect Michael Upson always seems to find the goal against us, but there's no cause for alarm. Cirjak scores to restore the lead to two, and we take three points despite our woeful finishing. Still, we're tied with United atop the table, and we retain a game.

Man of the Match: Tonci Cirjak




Wrexham 3-1 Derby



We should be the reason they match is being rescheduled, not them! As good as we've been this month I'm still upset that we're out of the FA Cup.



Thanks for the vote of confidence, Rock. He's been very good for Real Madrid, with 19 goals, but Thiago has netted us 17 and ably filled his absence.




Challenges accepted. Spain will be one tough opponent for the USMNT, but if we can beat Germany we can beat anyone.

At Napoli, February 20, 2024
Champions League, Knockout Round Away Tie


The club hasn't had a great deal of success playing on the road in the Champions League knockout stages, but all we need is an away goal and we're favorites to advance. I've moved Rodrigo Taborda to the midfield, he's been in fine form recently and I wanted both him and Mujkic on the pitch at the same time.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Counter
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Hammatt, Laux, Loseille, Taborda, Bailey, Collett, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Thiago.
Subs: Fitzgerald, Cirjak, Quiboulaz, Mair, Stringel, Parr, Aarts.

We concede when Napoli hit us on a counter attack, which frustrates the hell out of me because it means we got caught forward despite my orders to stay deep and play on the counter ourselves. Napoli scores a second goal before the end of the half, and then add a third bare minutes after the break. Meanwhile we've duffed two great opportunities, leading me to pull Thiago and Shirra, who have both been awful. Then I have to replace Collett a minute later due to injury. Most disappointing of all is the performance of our captain, Meteor squanders four clear cut chances. We can't even get a single lousy away goal, and the bushwack we suffered means we're out of the Champions League absent a miracle at the Racecourse Grounds.




Napoli 3-0 Wrexham



This will not stand. I hand out fines of two weeks salary to the biggest culprits, starting with our captain and including the Golden Boy.






They all blame their teammates instead of themselves. It's time to read them the riot act.






A quick dope-slap shuts them up.

vs Newcastle United, February 24, 2024
Premier League


With the Leeds match postponed we'll have a whole week off before the League Cup semifinal against Manchester United. I'm sending out the same team with the exception of Ünsal being swapped in for Taborda, I want to see us bounce back with a much better performance and regain our confidence. Newcastle are one of three teams to beat us this year, the others being Leeds and Napoli.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Laux, Hammatt, Loseille, Bailey, Ünsal, Collett, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Thiago.
Subs: Fitzgerald, Cirjak, Quiboulaz, Mair, Stringel, Parr, Aarts.

So much for building confidence. Lazy defending leaves us down two goals after the first 20 minutes. We're still down two entering the locker room, and I'm reduced to scouring the squad with withering scorn for the second time in a week. Thiago responds by scoring twice within a five minute span to pull us even, but when Bailey pulls up lame in the 74th minute Newcastle show poor sportsmanship and keep the ball in play to score a breakaway goal while he's lying injured on the pitch. We've now lost twice to Newcastle, we've lost our advantage over Man United, and we've lost two in a row for the first time in 10 months.




Wrexham 2-3 Newcastle



Bailey was not good before his injury, and only gets away with his awful performance because I can't discipline someone who's injured. Stuart Mair is his replacement in the starting 11, and I'll be bringing up David Maloney from the youth squad for cover.




The beatings will continue until morale improves.



But I can't fine someone twice in a week, apparently. So I'll just have to scream at him instead.



I don't care about money at this point. I would give my left thumb for victories.



Australia finally fired Pete Elliot. I have to let Mujkic go as it's a World Cup qualifier. He should still be available for our League Cup final.



I can't expect to win these when we're getting zero points from goddamned Newcastle for the season.



Things were looking so good until the final week of February. Now we're tottering on the brink of an extremely early Champions League exit and our trip to Old Trafford for the second to last match of the season is looking like Ragnarok. We need to shape up immediately, we play United in three days for the League Cup trophy.