Part 82: Chapter the Eighth: Spring Breakers, the unrated international call-up edition.
Chapter the Eighth: Spring Breakers, the unrated international call-up edition.March 1, 2019-March 18, 2019
Gorman's goal was pretty sweet, but I'm not sure if I'd rate it as Goal of the Month quality.
Gorman agrees. Still, awards are nice.
Even with the Derby loss I was still in the running for coach of the month. Not shabby.
Mujkic hasn't been great since his return from international duty, putting up just a 6.52 average rating in his four games back. I'm unconcerned, he'll break out of this slump soon enough.
At Brighton, March 2, 2019
Championship
The next run of matches appears to trade off between tough and easy opponents. Brighton is on the tougher end, sitting just outside the playoffs.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter.
Starting 11: Higgs, Peters, Todd, Lewis, Garuti, Simpson (c), Holland, Djurovic, Gorman, Mujkic, Harrison.
Subs: Love, Mejasic, Vaillant, Troelsen, Tedesco, Coulson, Pym.
We're down at the half hour mark, a victim of a very pretty bit of passing to set up Brighton's goal ten minutes prior. Harrison strikes back on our behalf, getting on the end of a Mujkic cross for a header that hits first the crossbar and then the goal line before spinning into the net. Brighton push us around after that, while we bend but don't break. Todd and Lewis combine to prevent any clear cut chances, and we win a point away from home against a playoff rival.
Brighton 1-1 Wrexham
He's already complained, so this doesn't increase the number of bratty players. The chat goes as it always does, with him being an impatient teenager who eventually realizes he's being unprofessional.
Our loan players have been wasted at their present clubs, they might have gotten more playing time if they stayed here.
Oh, hello youth of Europe. Would you like to come to the bestest island on the continent? No, not Ibiza. The other one. No, not any of those Mediterranean ones. No! Not Amager! What? Who said the Faroe Islands? We've got a real joker here, huh?
Of course, I forgot that our international reputation is pretty weak right now, so all the excellent young Germans and Frenchmen don't have any interest in joining us. Nor, it turns out, does any young Croatians or Greeks.
Also, clubs have started asking for bigger sums when we come looking for their new talent. While the amounts aren't large, and we'd likely be able to sell for a big profit in a couple years, I'm hesitant about dropping fifty large on prospects who my scouts think are good but not great. Of course, two or three years ago I'd be salivating at the chance to get these guys for just £50,000. The difference in perspective is a sign of how far we've come.
At Barnsley, March 9, 2019
Championship
This fixture against 21st placed Barnsley is just three days before a match with 2nd placed QPR. I think we've got a better chance of winning this match than we do against our upcoming opponents, even though we're away.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack
Starting 11: Higgs, Siegrist, Todd, Lewis, Garuti, Simpson (c), Bailey, Djurovic, Coulson, Mujkic, Harrison.
Subs: Love, Mejasic, Vaillant, Troelsen, Tedesco, Gorman, Pym.
It's an ugly start when Claudio Siegrist puts the ball past Higgs for an own goal in the 11th minute, and our trouble doubles just three minutes later when we allow another goal, this time a pretty one where Barnsley's midfielder controls a whipped cross on his knee before volleying it out of the air and into the back of the net. Mujkic has the chance to pull one back when he's all alone on the end of a Coulson cross, but he first heads it off the post from inside the six yard box, and then when the rebound bounces directly back to him he misses the wide open net.
We finally get on the board a few minutes later when Bailey makes a wonderful strike from outside of the area, a certain goal of the month candidate. We're down one at the half despite dominating the game, and it's not Barnsley that's beating us but ourselves. That keeps up in the second half, Barnsley pulls back their two goal advantage when Lewis spends more time waving his hands trying to get the assistant referee to notice that the man he's marking is offsides than making sure he doesn't have space to create a shot. Harrison is able to score from a Mujkic cross for the second straight game, though he could very well have been called offsides himself, but we can't muster a third. It's a loss where we allowed three goals on two chances, and where our best player missed two of the easiest opportunities you'll ever see.
Barnsley 3-2 Wrexham
vs. Queens Park Rangers, March 12, 2019
Championship
Now we need a win from this match to keep pace with the leaders. Not the position I wanted to put us in. The good news is that a win here is a big pickup on one of the teams we're trailing.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack
Starting 11: Higgs, Siegrist, Todd, Lewis, Mejasic, Troelsen, Shirra, Bailey, Gorman, Mujkic, Harrison (c).
Subs: Love, Garuti, Vaillant, Holland, Tedesco, Coulson, Pym.
Billy the Kid is here for your points. All of them. We outclassed QPR from the very start, but had nothing to show for it until Gorman placed a ball at the edge of the area, knowing that Harrison could beat his man to it. Harrison did not miss the opportunity. The Kid and Gorman hooked up again in the first half, with Gorman displaying excellent patience after he reached the byline to see Harrison streaking in unmarked between the two oblivious central defenders. Harrison couldn't miss. To cap this most puissant first half, Harrison converted a penalty that Mujkic earned, giving himself a first half hat trick.
We weren't quite as dominant in the second half, how could we be, but still added two more goals from Coulson and Pym. QPR was able to avoid being shutout, but there was not a single moment during the game where they appeared to have any hope of winning. This was a brilliant and truly unexpected performance. I could not be more pleased with the team.
Man of the Match: Billy the Kid.
Wrexham 5-1 QPR
We're now three points back of automatic promotion, but still only two points up on the seventh placed team. It's a tightly packed promotion race. With ten games remaining we have to play the 19th, 11th, 6th, 2nd, 14th, 22nd, 16th, 9th, and 8th placed teams. Six of those games will be away. This isn't going to be easy.
Hey, a couple of these kids don't look half bad.
I doubt Austrian teenagers will want to sign with us any more than their fellow continentals. My plans for bringing in a metric ton of continental talent may have been overambitious.
Or not. This stunning young Frenchman is willing to join us. He's only 14, and he looks like he's going to be a superstar by the time he turns 20. You can get an idea of what type of player they are by the adjective next to their position beneath their name. Most don't have anything other than their position, they're not tabbed as anything exciting. But some players who are exceptional get special modifiers. “Promising” means they have the potential to be world class. “Cultured” goes along with “Midfielder,” and it means they're brilliant creative minds, while “Towering” centerbacks are regarded as great aerial players. Since you only get up to five stars of rating, and you don't know whether the talent is merely capable of being a good Premier League player or a superstar, these adjectives can help you hone in on the very best talent.
You might be surprised at the relatively high wages I'm giving a 14 year old. It's because I wanted him to sign the maximum five year contract the game allows (through 2024) and then I wanted two additional option years on top of that. We can afford that type of contract now for superprospects, and it means if he develops like I expect he'll be brutally underpaid for two or three years. Further, unless the rules are different because he's French and not British, the contract won't kick in until he turns 17, meaning we have two plus years of him at 80/wk. Yes, screwing under-age minors by signing them to unfair contracts when they don't have their own agent to negotiate for them (or parents, apparently) is part of Football Manager. I love it.
I also find some Austrians on the cheap. Neither have anywhere near the potential of Rouissi, and they're most likely to turn into money after a few years of development at the Tom Cannon Memorial Heated Youth Barn.
Along with the Ludwigs, we find some talent from the Isles. All told we've added seven youth players so far, on top of a decent youth intake crop that had three players worth signing. Noble somehow never caught on with a club, so he arrives immediately and is assigned to the U18s.
At Nottingham Forest, March 16, 2019
Championship
If we play like last game, we should win easily. If we play like we did against Barnsley, we could be in for disappointment. I wish I knew which to expect. My prognostications also don't know what to make of the fact that Nottingham gave us a whipping the last time we played, embarrassing us 5-1 at the Racecourse Grounds.
Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack
Starting 11: Higgs, Siegrist, Todd, Lewis, Mejasic, Simpson (c), Djurovic, Shirra, Gorman, Mujkic, Harrison.
Subs: Love, Vaillant, Poole, Holland, Bailey, Coulson, Pym.
Ryan Gorman is on fire. In the last match he earned two assists, this match he scored two goals. The first came to put us ahead just after a half hour, when he cut inside, skinning Nottingham's left back and leaving him for dead before lacing a shot home. The second came to slam the door in the 74th minute, when Nottingham's left back saw his day go from bad to worse when he failed to clear a Mujkic cross that gave Gorman a wide open opportunity to score. Add in a header from Lewis in the 61st minute, and we paid back Nottingham in full for humiliating us last fall.
Man of the Match: Ryan Gorman
Nottingham 0-3 Wrexham
Gorman has come up huge for us in his second year with the team, especially given Mujkic's absence. He's got one of the highest average ratings on the team and seems to have fully settled into the club. His two goals today make him the third highest scorer on the team and his nine assists tie him for the team lead with Mujkic and Bailey.
That's quite an accomplishment for Simpson. He hasn't been great this year, just a 6.65 rating across 25 matches. If we get promoted I'm going to be morose when I have to either sell him or strip him of his captaincy. If we can't win promotion he'll stick around as he's good enough to play a role at this level, but he'll still lose his captaincy.
How was the Kid left off the team of the week? He didn't play great against Nottingham, but he had a hat trick against QPR. There must have been some really good performances by forwards.
While I'm hunting for young talent I notice that Carl Walley is almost out of contract. We can't have him leaving for nothing, so I give him a fairly cheap extension. I expect he'll be sold within the next year.
We have games on March 23rd and 26th, then a break until April 6th. I can't withdraw the players as it's the U-21 European Championship qualifiers. If you notice, we have six first team players who have been
If were granted these postponements I'm sending everyone on vacation for a week or two, because our April schedule will be just awful.
There we have it. Nine games in just under a month. It's going to be one hell of a ride.
Wrexham Training Facilities
12pm, March 18, 2019
(COACH is addressing the first team at their daily meeting)
: As you all heard, our request to postpone the West Ham and Burnley games was accepted. That means from April 6 through May 4 we've got nine fixtures. It also means that we don't have a match for the next three weeks. So it's time for... SPRING BREAK!(silence)
: (tentatively) You're not sending us back to Eurodisney, are you?: No.(Twenty-three players relax in unison)
: Use the two weeks for whatever you want. Go see family, friends, whatever. Just make sure you get some rest and spend time refreshing yourself for what's to come. I'll need you all sharp and ready for the final push.
: Wait, what about those of us who are playing with our national teams?: Yeah, not much I can do about that. Your sacrifice is what allows the rest of us to have spring break. So, as a reward, everyone is to send instagrams of the most interesting thing you see while on vacation to those who are stuck representing their country. Give them at least a little bit of the view from beyond the patriotic straightjacket.
: Uh, Coach, no one uses instragram anymore. Well, except for old people.: Oh, well, whatever. What do you use now?
: Actually the cool thing now is to use this service where you actually write out the words on paper and then someone hand delivers it to the person your sending it to. It's really neat, especially since it takes a couple days to get to them and you can anticipate what they'll think when they get it.: (Starts speaking, then pauses, then starts again) You mean the mail?
: You know about MailChat? Yeah, they have these boxes everywhere for you to drop off your messages!
They may be getting a break, but I'm not. The work never ceases to build the ultimate arsenal of amazing young talent.
It's disappointing that we didn't take even more points given that we seriously outplayed Barnsley, but our knuckledustings of Nottingham Forest and especially QPR were a joy to behold. We're in the mix for an automatic promotion spot, which is something I didn't expect to be writing even two updates ago. We appear to be turning it on at the right time, and we've done well enough this year to put our fate in our own hands. Now we need to hang on through the upcoming storm.
