Part 23: Chapter the Eighth: A rough trail roughly traveled.
Chapter the Eighth: A rough trail roughly traveled.November 29, 2014-December 31, 2014
Oooh, prize money!
Our victory is seen as a surprise by the media, which irritates me. We deserved to win that game, and we certainly weren't “dominated.”
The Cannon is out for two weeks, which means we won't have our best striker available for our next three games.
This is the best possible draw we could have gotten. Gate receipts are split 50/50 between home and away teams for the first three rounds of the FA Cup. Season ticket holders do not get tickets to FA Cup matches, so everyone pays for a ticket on FA Cup match days. Old Trafford holds over 75,000 people, and the average ticket price is 40 pounds. That means gate receipts are likely to be somewhere around two or three million pounds, of which we'll get a 50/50 split. I'd let Man U slaughter Nic Bull in a pagan ritual to restore Sir Alex Ferguson's health for as much money as we're going to get. I certainly don't expect a win, but then our fans and board won't either, so this is a no lose scenario barring the aforementioned human sacrifice.
At Tamworth, December 2, 2014
Skrill Premier
This was a hard fought battle, and one where bottom half side Tamworth caught us napping. Danny Hopkins was excellent filling in for the injured Cannon, scoring both of our goals. But we can't keep things tight at the back, letting Tamworth score twice in the first and then again five minutes into the second. As time slips away I resign myself to my first loss as a Wrexham coach.
Tamworth 3-2 Wrexham
At Luton Town, December 6, 2014
Skrill Premier
We get no luck in this game, while fellow promotion contenders Luton Town catch all the breaks. They are clinical in front of the goal, while we're wasteful with our shots, and we're now actively giving back the hard fought points we'd gained on the promotion race. Part of the problem is that we're vulnerable to good counter-attacking teams, as our left backs are not very good at defense and our centerbacks need to play carefully to not allow the other side easy runs at goal. At the same time, we're offsides way too much as our players don't yet have the skill and mental composure to time their runs quite right.
Luton 4-1 Wrexham
We have a press conference after the Luton match, where I make my disappointment known. I don't do this often as it can make the team unhappy at my lack of support, but when they've been this bad they'll know some stiff medicine is coming.
At least our young players are developing well. Baker has been our first team right winger, while Simpson gets the lion's share of our defensive midfielder playing time.
At Colwyn Bay, December 13, 2014
FA Trophy, 2nd Round
Colwyn Bay is a fellow Welsh team that makes it's home on the northern coast of Wales. Together with Wrexham, Swansea, Cardiff City, Newport Town, and Merthyr Town, Colwyn Bay comprises the sum total of Welsh teams playing in the English Football Association. They're also the only team other than Wrexham to play in North Wales, so this is essentially the battle for Northern Welsh supremacy. Which is fine by me since we assert our dominance against Colwyn on a chilly, gusty day before 760 hardy supporters.
Colwyn Bay 1-3 Wrexham
vs. FC Halifax, December 16, 2014
Skrill Premier
We're down by two at halftime despite having arguably played better than Halifax. Damian King knocks in two of our own to equalize by the 66th minute, but despite pressing hard for the winner in the waning moments of the match we're unable to grab the three points. In our last three league matches we've gotten just one point, and we've fallen from 9th place back to 13th.
Wrexham 2-2 FC Halifax
You realize you're still not going to get any playing time, right?
At Braintree, December 26, 2014
Skrill Premier
This isn't a “must win,” but it comes close. Braintree is a top of the table side, and we need to be winning these types of away matches if we're going to have any hope of promotion this year. So I'm pleased when we frustrate them on our way to a victory in a very evenly matched game. Now instead of only one point in our last three fixtures, I can cherry pick the data to say that we've gotten four points against two top half clubs.
Braintree 0-1 Wrexham
The victory comes at some cost, however, as our best central midfielder is now out for the next two months with a fractured wrist. Can't he just get a cast? An amputation? It's football, not handball!
We have the majority of our contracts running out in June, and once we're into January our players can be signed away on pre-contracts that will begin next season by foreign teams. I definitely want to keep our best prospective talents, and negotiate contract extensions with Hopkins, O'Hanlon, Bull, and Nsangou. I'm going to wait and see on players like the just injured Bailey, the Cannon, our captain Alan Tierney, and Darrian King as they're already near their maximum potential and if we can force our way into the promotion race might not be worth keeping next year.
On the other hand, none of these kids are staying. I'd have released them all, but that would cost 5k.
I also order the Director of Football to try and offload our useless players. We have wage budget room, but not having to pay these guys would be good for our finances.
Oh, hey, it's just like how we ended last year. Maybe we can make this a tradition, get the ultras to break onto the ground the night before the match and turn on the watering system.
We had a minor hiccup, but appear to be back on track. Our next match is against Manchester United on January 3rd, and while I'm not going to even think about an upset I would like to put up a respectable performance. We've also got to do our new years shopping, at the very least we're going to want another centerback, preferably with some pace, a left back who can actually mark and tackle, and a creative (or rather, creative for our level) midfielder. I'll also be raiding our parent team, Norwich City, for some loan players.
(Note, that table is actually from January 10th, I forgot to take the screenshot at the end of the year. We played one more game in the league since then.)