No, I am not accusing PNE of starting the Gerrard to Wrexham rumors, but this was another example of a "Parky must win" over the years.

Having lived through a week of the Parky OUT crew assuming his demise and talking about who should be replacing him, I have a real burning desire to "spike the ball" to use an NFL metaphor, but no need.

It is absolutely a fair point that Preston is not a good team, and they are in bad form on top of that - though Preston got two key injured players back today. Sure, for the Parky OUT diehards there was nothing about this match that would change their opinion. However, the pre-match scenarios were things like: after this match R&R were going to be forced to take action before they end up in League One.

Don't worry. I checked some of their socials. They have moved the goalposts again. Now, he has to beat Blackburn and Blades and draw Boro and Wolves, or R&R will make the change in the November window.

But to be fair to them, if I can use the we go again mantra, so can they.

In fairness, a good number of the Parky OUT crowd consider it regrettably necessary, not desirable, and have been happy to see Parky prove them wrong across the years and would be happily wrong again.

What I don't understand is those who suggest Wrexham were lucky and it could have easily been 4-4. Wrexham outshot them 18/11, On Target 6/1, xG 1.67/0.87, xGOT 3.08/0.56, Shots inside the box 13/6. I get there is value in the eye test, but it has limitations too. Nor am I immune to those limitations.

Up Next

Next Saturday, they head to Blackburn. Parky said in the pre-match presser that on Monday they were going to do an evaluation to find out which of the players on the grass this week (all but Libby) would be back.

Parky

When the lineup dropped, I was reminded of our discussions after the Derby game about going with the 3412 from the start, as it had been successful there. I liked the idea, but wondered whether Parky would be willing to step away from his general principle of having a threat on the bench to throw in as needed.

We have covered the 3412 shape before, and its core idea - pinning the CBs to give COH the space in behind them. You have heard me say that I like it because it forces backlines to choose whether to go with Kieffer dropping in and leave Smith 1v1. It gives a nice set of triangles with the holding midfielders to do things like this:

Since we have largely seen this as a "chasing a goal" shape, I wondered how this would transition into their low block shape. Would COH drop in between the holding midfielders into a 532? The is answer was no.

The 541 was wide and compact, but it gave time for CBs and holding mids to organize and pick out passes in behind. Holding this shape as a block provides more defenders (or rest attackers, if you prefer) on their CBs and holding mids to force quick decisions, and keep an eye on the counter attack.

As you can see, this can cause some stress on the outside of the back line - look at those three PNE players in a lot of space to run at them. Tuesday's goal not withstanding, I trust Ekomie and Doyle with the task, but I do think it stretches Imray's defensive skill a bit on the other side.

Parky praised "the secure platform" of James and Whiteman and you really need that midfield triangle to make sure they can't switch the ball through middle. You also need efforts like this to close down the backline trying to feed it up the channels.

Overall, on the ball, I really like giving COH all the pockets to slide around and put balls in behind. Like this (look at Whiteman with the progressive header to feed him).

So, that is the answer to "Why not do this all the time?" There are those tradeoffs defensively, and of course, squad depth. I would like to see more of Cadz, but he isn't in front of Windass or Broady in terms of attacking talent. I really would like to see COH and Broady on the pitch together.

The real key here is that Smith is a better attacking talent than Ollie or LOB, so this is that calculation made with the current state of the squad.

Having said that, they have played this shape with Josh before - at home against Coventry in the Halloween game. Ultimately, their system design is to shift around the three players up top, so when Windass is available, they can shuffle on the fly to it.

Another trade off is that while we like Smith making progressive passes like this, it just isn't his game to get that ball to Cadz up the channel, or even put Ollie in with all of that space.

This is not in any way a criticism of Smith, just a contrast in the skill profiles. I also suppose Kieffer's comfort passing the ball caused a couple of dangerous opposing chances and their goal.

The subs weren't controversial for me. Kabore is a better defender, and his pace causes problems.

Seeing them stick with 3412 with Ollie for COH and Cadz for Moore was nice. Likely shows they are more broadly training it across the squad, and not just for the starting trio.

Dobson on for James makes sense as I expect James is on a minutes restriction. They had a three goal lead, and notwithstanding some clear evidence this season, he is not a poor defender - he gets caught in transition.

They did switch back to 3421 when LOB came on for Smith. I like that it enabled Cadz to get minutes in both roles.

I am amused that after hearing all week that the summer window was "disaster" and that Whiteman and Worrall were failed signings, those two both have outstanding games.

Players

Whiteman

He got dog's abuse from the away fans all game. Fair enough, but they also said he was a horrible player and they were glad to be rid of him. Why not cheer his departure? :) Of course, he was 95th percentile in progressive passing in the Championship, so his absence likely has a lot to do with their record signing Alfie Devine having gotten his first goal involvement yesterday.

You saw the earlier header pass to COH, but I like that he gets balls up the channel on a quick touch, like this example:

We were talking last week (after Dobbo's underwhelming shot) about why we don't get goals from our holding midfielders, and on cue, Ben delivers one.

I like that he doesn't complicate it. Just a one touch pass through a gap in the back line and into the goal. And then he blows kisses to the away fans... And there were suggestions that this crew lacks an edge... :)

Worrall

We talked about him being a set piece weapon last week, and sure enough, he gets one this week. Last season, Wrexham were actually statistically pretty good on set pieces, but I felt they were getting a fair number of open headers that were going to waste. Between Whiteman's service and Worrall's heading, I think we might be underselling that aspect of the summer recruitment.

I also think we shouldn't undersell his defending either. If he isn't alert here, I worry about how the crowd gets...

Doyle

I think Doyle was holding back a bit and they were not sending him forward as much. He was still good defensively, and that set piece service for Moore's goal was really nice. We now know why Worrall was congratulating Doyle - he didn't get a touch, and thought it went straight in. But again, I will never miss watching Doyle do things like this:

Hyam

I think he is better in the middle of the back line, but he has a good distribution from distance, and even took a free kick set piece yesterday. I kind like the idea of being able to use him and Worrall as the back line and push Doyle up into a 2-3-5 attacking shape. There are those who swear by it being the more secure rest defense than the 3-2-5 (though not sure I agree). What I don't really think suits Dom is these sorts of passing scrums:

Ekomie

Another solid shift from him. His defending remains outstanding, and while I think he had a relatively quiet game flying up the left side, I liked seeing this... He uses his pace to create space and then delivers this perfect pass to create a chance for COH.

Say what you will about PNE being poor, but this is well worked, and a lot of clubs don't get that block in on COH's shot.

Imray

Glad to see Imray back in the starting XI. I can't tell whether Wrexham was overloading the left side on purpose to leave him in space, or whether it was just the effect of how the play progressed with the shape, because it wasn't like I saw Windass being pulled over to the left or anything. However, this play reminds you that you can put him in the half-space like a CAM.

Of course, I liked his long throws also, even if it was his cross in the second phase that got the Worrall goal. Worrall is not up there if we are not taking a long throw.

Kabore

Pretty typical Kabore shift. He is a more instinctive defender in the backline than Imray. I think Imray has a broader attacking tool box, but Issa is better at what Issa does, which is this:

Patto

Can't expect him to save that goal. And it was the one shot on target he faced. Of course, you saw him earlier bail out Doyle's OG try. I like that he gets out to claim balls, and he makes quick and effective throws to get the ball up the pitch. He had six completed throws, the shortest was 18 yards - so it isn't just setting the ball at the nearest CBs feet.

James

Who doesn't love Matty James, and hope his back doesn't act up again? Given the similarity between his game and Whiteman's, I still chuckle when I hear the exact same critiques thrown at Ben that were levelled at Matty back in L1. Even Whiteman's goal was eerily reminiscent of Matty's first for Wrexham at Crawley (not that worldie at Derby last season). I will also never get sick of these sorts of "old guy at the pick up game" plays from him:

COH

I mean the data told us he isn't a great finisher, but I mean, come on. He is just getting done dirty by Lady Luck right now. Regardless, his passing, his movement, his dribbling, etc. - his overall threat, just makes this club better, and he is a nailed on starter and making a run at POTS.

Smith

Glad to see him finally get his first of the season. He has been overdue. He came to Wrexham having never played in a two-striker system, and I think he has shown now that he can do it well - and not just when chasing a lead and there is no work on the defensive end of the pitch. I actually thought he was the better of the two strikers today.

Moore

A couple of dangerous soft passes with one ending up in the back of Wrexham's net. Though in fairness, there is a difference in passing with someone in contact with you. I do think he also tried to turn rather than laying off the first one, turned it over, which was a warning. So then, he completely under hit the "safe" pass to the back line, which led to their goal. Let's hope it wasn't because he felt he needed to be Josh Windass with two strikers playing.

All of my caveats from last week apply, but Moore is now on pace for over 20 goals. So far, I think the decision to leave the striker succession plan (with its SCR budget) to Nickson has worked out.

Cadz

It was good to see him get some minutes. You can see his raw athleticism and talent, but this play feels like one of Mo Faal's cameos, when he came on and tried to do too much by making an amazing play, which then turned out badly.

Ollie

It never worked playing him in behind the striker in the 3-5-2, though did very well in its "high 8" position in L1. I think he may be well suited in that "in behind role" in the 3412 because he has the energy to chase side-to-side and he can tee up a shot.

Dobbo / LOB

The only interesting thing here is that Dobbo came on for James and LOB came on as a 10. Granted, there was a three goal lead and the 10 depth has been suffering, but it makes me suspect that LOB is dealing with a bit of a knock or the staff doesn't like him in the holding role. Might be a bit of both.

I will also allow that they wanted to see Ollie in the COH spot.

I chuckled on this play, "Oh, ref, we're not calling that? Fair enough, I got that in my bag too."

I like Wrexham

I enjoy watching Wrexham play football They are my favorite team

When they score a goal, I think to myself "yes"

When the other team scores a goal, I think to myself "no"

On paper, the argument falls apart bc our record is better when kabore starts.
But, it just feels like Imray gives us that much needed early game spark with the opportunities he creates. I love Kabore, but I just love him better when he comes in late game as his quickness and energy is difficult to contain. I think Imray focuses more on getting the cross in than Kabore, who would otherwise attempt to dribble into the box. I’m not saying that Imray doesn’t attempt this as well, it just seems like he does it less often. I could be wrong if someone were to dive deep into those stats. Just my opinion. Thoughts?

This is a bit of a tongue in cheek response to those in our Fandom who were calling for Parky's head after a bad loss. Well, what do you have to say now? If you want him fired after a couple of poor results then surely after an excellent one like this you want him extended, no?

Look - i know Parly has his flaws, hell, all managers do. But he has proven time and again that he can coach, and the lads love playing for him. It would take a major, major issue for us to replace him this year, at the very least.

Can we now please go back to complaining about LOB not being able to shoot, or Vyners shit passes or something? Because the constsnt speculation about Parky is silly and is something I highly, HIGHLY doubt will happen this season.

I'll be bringing in another tracker soon comparing performance against previous Promotions and Relegations from the championship.

Hey fellow Wrexham kids! As usual we will be watching Wrexham at 9AM at the uptown VFW. There will be 241s and a lot fun. I hope to see you all there!

I follow Wrexham since I watch the documentary, I love the doc, its fun and a great watch, but I wonder if lets say, Wrexham stuck in championship for like 5,6 or 10 years? Will they still continue the documentary for every season, or they will stop for a while, keep recording every season, until they get promoted to EPL, so they will release the new season with tons of material they can get from all those years?

Ten games in for Wrexham and the Championship table is taking shape.

Phil Parkinson’s side sit 16th on 11 points following a hugely disappointing 2-1 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday, three points away from both the play-offs and the relegation zone with four more matches to take place on Wednesday evening.

Should too much be read into this standing now the tally of games played is into double figures? Probably not.

While it is only 10 games into the season, such a milestone moment in the campaign does offer a chance to pause and assess whether a team has progressed or not over the past 12 months.

Hiya folks! My gf and I are both Brazilian and will be visiting Wrexham in February 2027. We would love to attend the Wrexham vs Lincoln City match on the 6th, but I'm failing to understand the procedure for tickets for people coming from other places.

Any information would be appreciated...

Also, my gf is in the autism spectrum and we loved the series' episodes talking about it. You guys sound very inclusive and we loved learning about the team and the city through the series. I also got to play as Wrexham in Football Manager years before the TV series ever came out due to how fun it is to control teams from wales in FM. I guess I just wanted you guys to know it'd be a special visit for us.

Thank you in advance!

(Reposted to fix an error on the Goal Difference tracker)

Finally got an opportunity to take these out of the package as they arrived late last week. So glad I bought all 3 they look phenomenal. Definitely recommend buying them a few have interest.

This will have to be a quick one, midweek and all. Stupid job...

Clearly, they have to close that one out. I can't repeat the expletive I shouted when Dobbo took that shot. Just last season transition goals against flashing before my eyes...

When Vyner's layoff didn't get picked up, and then when the deflected cross drops to Price, it just felt like the end of a chain of inevitability. And then I realized the chain hadn't ended.

For me, this is a squad construction loss. Injuries happen to everyone, and Wrexham have been slightly healthier than the league on average. The challenge is organizational depth. Wrexham has 10 U21s, and the Championship median is like 27. They played a reserve match today with 12 players from the U18 squad, because three of Wrexham's U21s were on the bench today. A midtable matchday squad got a midtable result.

We can try to assign blame, ground it in realistic expectations, etc., but the unavoidable fact remains that the Club has made the required move to address it.

Up Next

Preston at home on Saturday. Given the grumblings of the crowd before that loss, it could be a real ugly affair.

Parky

Last season, Wrexham had a brutal time defending in the 532 low/mid block, and they moved away from it to the 541 block I have shown repeatedly.

The second goal really shows why they made the change to the 541 last season.

Played the L1 play book with the L1 midfield (Whiteman ironically being literally the younger version of James). Play good structured defense with players behind the ball, and hope for a moment of brilliance from your strikers.

Play long into them, when you meet resistance, cycle it back, play long again. Attack the back line directly.

It almost worked. I was really appreciating how active COH was up top and figured he might be able to make this work, but that is too much space for that pocket player, especially one as good as Price. A reminder of 5-4-1, so you don't have to picture it in your head.

For all the strays poor Kieffer has taken, he again showed that he isn't the problem here. This goal is exactly the sort of "X factor" goal that some podcasters go on and on about.

In addition to the effort at Derby, and his goals against Cardiff, Southampton and Millwall, he was making good contact in both boxes and easily could have had another goal.

He is on track for 18 goals, which would have been second in the league last year. I realize that projecting like that over a long season is a bit too much, but he has 17 goals in 54 matches with Wrexham - so not exactly a huge logical stretch.

I am not naive that he is the long term solution or even that he can hold up for the entire season, but do I think the idea of stealing SCR room from Nickson to replace Kieffer made no sense. Strikers are expensive, high risk signings at this level and why have a Sporting Director if not for that gig? Not like Smith didn't show he could score goals at this level too.

But enough of that rant before I curse the guy. I was not prepared for documentary revealing what a gentle giant he is.

So, going back to front a lot prevents those transition goals, because when you miss, you still have your defensive structure. The challenge is that you get situations like this.

Kabore wins it, but he looks at the numbers and realizes he needs to give time for players to get up in support. He makes a great play, but that is George Dobson on his left foot. That is just not going to be a goal.

Here is an example of moving it quicker, but you can see that Ekomie and Ollie have no shot at getting to the back post from that depth.

They created runs like this too, just not enough.

Did I like the plan? No. Do I understand it? Absolutely.

Players

I am going to skip the Players section for this match out of respect for George Dobson, who is a great guy, who has done wonderful service to the Club, and I feel like I have for over a year now been explaining why it is asking too much from him to play significant minutes at this level for a club chasing the playoffs. My notes for him are brutal..

Realistically that is a bit of a cop out - I don't have the time and don't feel the energy to bury the guy.

I want to make my argument here clearly, and make sure it goes beyond just that Parky deserves a long, long leash because he has delivered so much for this club —he has, and he does.

The bigger point is that this team is not just built to Parky's tactical choices, but to his whole football philosophy. While individual players maybe don't fit perfectly into the system (for example Lewis O'Brien is tragically underserved by the Parky style, and could likely perform better in a different set-up), the truth is that most players are operating at the best they could because of the structure as it is set out. If we bring a new manager in, it would be ridiculous to assume they could run this team any better than Parky could, beyond a small bump in performance for a few games. If we abandon Parky, we abandon this squad as it was designed, and would require a complete rebuild. That means we kiss any dreams of reaching the Premier League in this decade goodbye.

These losses hurt, and I believe that they ultimately rest at Parky's feet.

The money spent in successive transfer windows makes it hard to reconcile as well, but the truth is we had a recruiting structure designed for League 2/League 1, and it has not been able to find a competitive and analytical edge in a cut throat Championship transfer market. With Steve Nickson in place, we will need significant improvements in our transfer policy, and when we lose players, we need to ensure we are replacing them with someone twice as good. That has not been the case for a long time now, and we can't exclusively blame Parky for that. When we start legitimately attracting Premier League quality players, or even upper-table Championship players, and we continue to stagnate without real improvement or results, then it is time for Parky to go.

Until then, when you call for Parky's departure, you are also calling for throwing out the entire squad that we have today.

I choose to give him my faith until the last moment that I absolutely can not. Yeah, because he may just deserve it.

Wrexham 1-2 West Brom

Goals
Wrexham: Kieffer Moore (64')
West Brom: Isaac Price (79'), Aune Heggebo (84')

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Match events powered by Football API

39' 🟨 Yellow Card: Rabby Nzingoula (West Brom)
64' ⚽ Goal 1-0: Kieffer Moore | 🤝 Assist: Oliver Rathbone (Wrexham)
69' 🔼 On: Sam Smith | 🔽 Off: Kieffer Moore (Wrexham)
69' 🔼 On: Danny Imray | 🔽 Off: Issa Kabore (Wrexham)
72' 🔼 On: Lewis O'Brien | 🔽 Off: Oliver Rathbone (Wrexham)
76' 🔼 On: J. Morgan | 🔽 Off: Harry Whitwell (West Brom)
76' 🔼 On: Aune Heggebo | 🔽 Off: Barney Stewart (West Brom)
79' ⚽ Goal 1-1: Isaac Price (West Brom)
80' 🔼 On: Nathaniel Phillips | 🔽 Off: Chris Mepham (West Brom)
83' 🟨 Yellow Card: Zak Vyner (Wrexham)
83' 🔼 On: Ousmane·Diakite | 🔽 Off: Toby Collyer (West Brom)
84' ⚽ Goal 1-2: Aune Heggebo | 🤝 Assist: Isaac Price (West Brom)
88' 🔼 On: Ryan·Longman | 🔽 Off: Jacques Ekomié (Wrexham)
88' 🔼 On: B. Cadamarteri | 🔽 Off: Zak Vyner (Wrexham)

Wrexham 1-2 West Brom

Goals
Wrexham: Kieffer Moore (64')
West Brom: Isaac Price (79'), Aune Heggebo (84')

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Match events powered by Football API

39' 🟨 Yellow Card: Rabby Nzingoula (West Brom)
64' ⚽ Goal 1-0: Kieffer Moore | 🤝 Assist: Oliver Rathbone (Wrexham)
69' 🔼 On: Sam Smith | 🔽 Off: Kieffer Moore (Wrexham)
69' 🔼 On: Danny Imray | 🔽 Off: Issa Kabore (Wrexham)
72' 🔼 On: Lewis O'Brien | 🔽 Off: Oliver Rathbone (Wrexham)
76' 🔼 On: J. Morgan | 🔽 Off: Harry Whitwell (West Brom)
76' 🔼 On: Aune Heggebo | 🔽 Off: Barney Stewart (West Brom)
79' ⚽ Goal 1-1: Isaac Price (West Brom)
80' 🔼 On: Nathaniel Phillips | 🔽 Off: Chris Mepham (West Brom)
83' 🟨 Yellow Card: Zak Vyner (Wrexham)
83' 🔼 On: Ousmane·Diakite | 🔽 Off: Toby Collyer (West Brom)
84' ⚽ Goal 1-2: Aune Heggebo | 🤝 Assist: Isaac Price (West Brom)
88' 🔼 On: Ryan·Longman | 🔽 Off: Jacques Ekomié (Wrexham)
88' 🔼 On: B. Cadamarteri | 🔽 Off: Zak Vyner (Wrexham)

The game is finished. Click this link to open the Post-Game Thread

Anyone trying the hospitality for the Blackburn away game?

I’m planning on getting there a couple of hours early, so thought I’d give the hospitality a go.

I seen that it’s £20 for a hot meal, a drink and a lounge bar before and after the game.

Thought I’d share in case anyone else was considering it

[https://blackburnrovers.creventa.events/en-GB/events/book/Pb1PD6GB](https://blackburnrovers.creventa.events/en-GB/events/book/Pb1PD6GB)

It's that time of year again. If you were offered any of these as Wrexham manager instead of Parky, who would you go for? All without a club, all proven at the top of the Championship.

Let the frothing commence.