Part 40: Chapter the Eighth: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Chapter the Eighth: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
March 10, 2016-March 31, 2016

We're heading into our final thicket of match congestion with four fixtures in ten days, the last of which will be a game at Tackleford with just one day off beforehand. We're also playing four of the next five games away, but the level of opposition varies wildly. Along with league leading Tackleford we have top five team Coventry as our sole home game on the 22nd, bottomfeeders Bristol Rovers and Accrington Stanley on the 12th and the 26th, and middle of the pack Colchester on the 19th. Between five and seven points is a reasonable number to shoot for in these games, we should be able to beat at least one of Accrington or Bristol even on their home pitch while at the same time getting a result from one or two of the other three matches. It's also youth intake time, so I'll be scouring the Isles for undervalued talent with the £22,000 left in the transfer budget.



Our own youth academy players are miserable, I sign a few of them to youth contracts as filler, but none of them will ever see a day with the first team barring emergency.



Way to waste team money, Gill. I don't believe training courses improve things like business acumen, which is the only thing I need from Gill. So this is a few thousand pounds down the drain.

At Bristol Rovers, March 12, 2016
League Two


Bristol are in bad shape. They're 22nd in the league and trying to fend off Scunthorpe to avoid relegation. They haven't been impressive recently, though, so we go into the match favorites despite playing in front of their fans. If we win it's assured that we'll finally move higher than 19th place on the table for the first time all season.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Thomas, Reid, Martin, Ashton, Kadhim, Simpson, Bailey, Coulson, Cooper, Harrison.
Subs: Higgs, Evans, Poole, McGuinness, O'Hanlon, Price, Bah.

We're up two-nil quickly, the first goal coming on a corner and the second after some nifty work to create space for himself by William Harrison. It's Harrison's first goal since the new year began, and hopefully it heralds more to come. We hold Bristol scoreless, frustrating their efforts to put shots on net, and Reid finishes the humiliation with a stoppage time goal. It's a pleasing performance, and almost every player performs well. The only negative is an injury to Kadhim late in the second half, but it looks like it won't be serious. With the win we're now 16th in the league, our highest position all year.



The players can go home happy, that was some of the best work they've put forth this season.

Man of the Match: Stuart Martin




Bristol Rovers 0-3 Wrexham





My scouts uncovered a lot of talent, the best of which looks like Southend's Dolinsky. I try to open negotiations with them, but most don't want to play for us. Not even Dolinsky, who chose to sign a pre-contract with Southend.



I decided to add Franks to the team. His stats aren't that great but he was fantastic for us down the stretch last season. If even half of that comes through in a higher division he'll allow us to play Coulson more often at striker and force Cooper and Price to up their games if they want playing time. Yeovil and Barnet are both interested in him as well, of the two Yeovil is the one I'm concerned about stealing him away from us.



At the weekly staff meeting it's suggested that Cooper work on not trying to beat opponents with his speed as often. That's probably good advice. Cooper isn't that slow, but with an 11/12 acceleration/pace he's not going to be blowing by fullbacks that often.



Meh. If someone else tries to sign him then I'll give him a pro contract. We've still got him under our control at 80 quid a week for another year before I decide whether he's going to amount to something.



Someone give those three the gift certificates to Rendezvous! (I am a master motivator.)



Yes, I did google “fine dining in Wrexham.”



I'll show these guys stats when they officially transfer in come the June window.



I wasn't able to sign anyone as impressive as Mair or Todd, unfortunately. But all of the people I bring in look like they could some day play in the Premier league.



Reid is the pick of the trio, and if he develops as a striker he could some day supplant Harrison.



Neither Yeovil nor Barnet get wind of our offer to Franks, and he signs with us in short order.

Liam Franks
Right Winger


Franks has come down in the world, last season he was on a £9,500/wk contract with Leeds, now he's on a £700/wk contract with us. That's what being unemployed for nine months will do to salary demands. I'm hoping he's still got the magic that resulted in eight goals and seven assists over just fourteen games last season in the Skrill Premier, our defense has improved over the year to being solidly average but our offense is still one of the worst in the league.



We're grand old friends.




I choose not to ask for a delay. Kadhim and Al-Beloushi have good backups in McGuinness and Higgs, Coulson will be playing striker, and I'd like to get the game out of the way rather than extend our run of match congestion any longer than needed. We've got a game on April 2nd, so one way or another it's going to be a pain to schedule.

At Colchester, March 19, 2016
League Two


Colchester is six points up on us, beating them gives us a better chance of finishing in the top 10. Liam Franks is getting thrown straight into the fire, I want to see how he does against a better class of competition. Coulson plays again at striker, I'm not going to question his success there.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Thomas, Reid, Martin, Ashton, Kadhim, Simpson, Bailey, Franks, Cooper, Coulson.
Subs: Higgs, Evans, Poole, McGuinness, Clarke, Price, Harrison.

Colchester has a goal called back in the early going, one of their players pushed Al-Beloushi on a free kick. The game goes back and forth, with Colchester shooting early and often from low percentage regions of the pitch. They fail to make any impact, and it's new signing Franks who puts us on the scoreboard late in the first half, owing to an excellent assist by Cooper. Shortly after the half Coulson comes off with what might be a serious injury, something that concerns me greatly. Harrison replaces him. Franks adds a second goal to his debut on a golazo free kick that curls into the near post halfway through the second half, and Harrison adds a goal of his own when Colchester can't clear a ball in the box after a corner. Colchester saves themselves from humiliation in the dying minutes of the game with a goal of their own, but we win convincingly. Our new signing has done better than anyone could have hoped, and we're now 14th in the standings, right in the mid-table.

Man of the Match: Liam Franks




Colchester 0-3 Wrexham



Just when we were on a good run, too. Harrison will have to pick up some of the slack now that he's finally started to find the back of the net again. I'm very happy I signed Franks right now, he will give us a second scoring option and take some load off of Harrison. Losing Coulson really hurts, though, he's been our most consistent offensive threat.



It's election day! We won't know the results until after the next game, though.

vs. Coventry, March 22, 2016
League Two


Our field condition remains at Poor. JT Jag is now the only person with a chance to win the contest. Coventry is a very good team, fighting for the last of the automatic promotion spots. We're at home, but they'll be our toughest challenge for the rest of this season with the exception of our match against Tackleford later in the week.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Evans, Reid, Martin, Don-Duncan, Simpson, Clarke, Bailey, Price, Cooper, Harrison.
Subs: Higgs, Thomas, Poole, McGuinness, O'Hanlon, Franks, Bah.

The first ten minutes are the type of performance that makes little children hide their eyes behind their hands. We're down 2-0 after Evans makes an ill advised challenge that results in a penalty call in the 9th minute. I'm expecting it to be all downhill from here, but the team shows me that I should have some faith, grabbing one back when Harrison splits the defenders and slots home the finish. Just before the half we equalize on another Harrison goal, this time off of a corner. It's not enough. We play decently until the waning minutes of the second half, when our defense lets us down twice in quick succession. We fall to Coventry by those two goals. What a waste of a comeback.



I berate the team for letting the fans down, they seem to understand my anger.

Man of the Match: William Harrison




Wrexham 2-4 Coventry



How'd you guys end up losing the election? I'm slightly disappointed. Now I have to rename this schmuck. Also, for some reason we've gone from having nearly a dozen directors on the board to only having three. So here's what we're going to do:

First three people to request being on the board, who have not already been on the board, get to be directors.

If you want to be considered for Team President, tell me what you'd do with a pet dragon. I'll pick the one that I like the most, and replace Mr. Mullins with you. I'll pick before the next full update.




Contract negotiations!



As voted on by the thread, I received a £900/wk contract extension for the next 1.6 years. I will be focusing on making the most of our set pieces and building the team through youth. Our next negotiations will be sometime around Christmas of 2017.



I'm fully dedicated to bringing Wrexham up the ranks. Don't you worry.



Our team is set for the rest of the season.



He said this after I talked appreciatively of his playing style. What a jerk.



It's time to make him pay for that.

At Accrington Stanley, March 26, 2016
League Two


Accrington Stanley have lost all five of their previous home games and four of their last five overall. Maybe that nose-dive is why their manager is acting like such a twerp? Regardless, it makes me want to win this game even more, and it makes me think that they're likely to let us. Kadhim and Al-Beloushi are both with their national teams, and aren't available. Simpson will slide back to the Anchor Man position while McGuinness takes his spot, and Higgs will get the start while we go into the game without a backup keeper.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Higgs, Thomas, Reid, Poole, Don-Duncan, Simpson, McGuinness, Bailey, Franks, Cooper, Bah.
Subs: Evans, Ashton, Martin, Clarke, O'Hanlon, Price, Harrison.

We fall behind after giving up a free kick in a dangerous area. The header floats over our defense to the far post, where an Accrington player patiently waits to volley it home. It's all level in a jiff, however, as Ibrahima Bah scores for the first time in what seems like eternity on a brilliant shot from the edge of the area. Shortly thereafter Bah takes a bad knock, but is able to stay on the field for the rest of the game. We take the lead in the 50th minute on another Liam Franks goal, set up off of a Bah free kick. We confidently see out the rest of the match, and are now in 13th place.

Man of the Match: Ibrahima Bah.




Accrington Stanley 1-2 Wrexham



What a punk. There's a reason your team's in 20th place, and I'm looking right at it.



Nothing like rubbing some salt into the wound.



I'm unprofessional? I'm not the one who's seen his team fall from first place in mid-October to 20th place now. I'm looking forward to our games against Accrington next season if Holt is still their manager. I'd very much like to get him fired after we crush him.



It's good to see Harrison and Bah both off the schneid. It makes me think we won't miss Coulson as desperately as I feared.



At least, that's what I thought before I knew Bah's diagnosis. I order him shot up with goofy juice, I'm not going into the Tackleford game in a few days with only one striker on my team.



Speaking of the Tackleford game, it was moved back two days so that Tackleford could play in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy finals. They won it. Those bastards. I'd like to think this means they'll be tired playing us just a couple days after, but they still have an incredibly huge team.



I gave the team two extra off days to recover some stamina before the Tackleford match. It's going to be hard enough playing a team that's the class of the league without our best offensive threat without having players unable to start the game due to fatigue.



Philips is observant, I'll give him that much.



“Tackleford, Tackleford, re-lay your pitch. Tackleford, Tackleford, look's like where I fucked your mom in a ditch!” It needs some work, but I think we've got the start of something there.

At Tackleford City, March 30, 2016
League Two


We've been on a very good run of form recently, we've only lost twice since the start of February, but I still think the media are overestimating our chances of grabbing a result here. I wouldn't mind being wrong, I'm just saying that we're up against a team that'll probably contend for promotion next season in League One.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense
Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Evans, Reid, Martin, Ashton, Kadhim, Simpson, Bailey, Franks, Cooper, Harrison.
Subs: Higgs, Thomas, Poole, McGuinness, Clarke, Price, Bah.

I set us to play defensively for the entire game, concerned that a counter-attacking mentality might give Tackleford too many opportunities to slice us open. We trade chances throughout the first half, and while Tackleford has more possession, and play is much more in our third than theirs, neither team can make anything of the mediocre chances the other side is allowing. It's much the same after the restart, with Reid and Martin doing yeoman's work keeping crosses and corners from reaching the heads of Tackleford's attackers. We have a real chance to score when Harrison pounces on a killer ball from Martin, but Tackleford's keeper makes an acrobatic effort and denies him the goal. The score line stays level, and we walk away with a point against the best team in the league. It's not the revenge the fans want, but I'll take it.




Man of the Match: Stuart Martin

Tackleford City 0-0 Wrexham



Harrison better stay healthy. Price can fill in as a backup at striker, but when he plays one of the wing positions I'm going to need to call up a youth player until Coulson gets back in two to three weeks.



Finally, an update I can feel proud of. We played maybe a half hour of bad football over the last five games, and for the first time all season we've moved above 19th place. Finishing top ten is probably out of the question now given that we're eight points off with only five more games to play, but finishing in the top half is entirely within our reach. We face Cheltenham and Torquay at home, but our other three opponents are placed 16th, 17th, and 24th. We're on pace to significantly exceed expectations, remember that at the beginning of the season we were picked to finish 22nd and that I was hoping we'd finish about as well as we have.