July, 2012

Finally, after continually threatening, Mark McAllister left on a free transfer after turning down the opportunity of staying on for a substantial pay cut. During July, nine players left the club permanently, with 12 signings filling the voids left in the squad. Every area of the squad has been reinforced or improved, with absolutely no money spent or received throughout all the deals. Young striker Don Bryan has left on a six month loan spell to Football League Two side Grimsby Town to gain some first team experience, while Football League Championship side Coventry City allowed their exciting left winger, Lloyd Rhodes, to join for the season.

The first friendly of our pre-season preparations saw a 1-1 away draw at Port Vale of Football League Two. The performance was disappointing, but even worse was to follow as we lost 2-0 at home to fellow Football League One outfit Colchester United. Things began to look up as we faced Norwich City and Hull City, both of the Football League Championship at home. The first game was drawn 1-1, while we beat our parent club 3-2, thanks to a brace from our new Dutch striker Michiel Hemmen and a late goal from recent recruit Paul Heffernan.

Both performances had been good, and an almost full strength side had overpowered Hull City, completely dominating the game. A once again severely weakened side faced Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but we still won 2-1. Right now, our prospects for the season are looking good, with confidence growing, and the many new players gelling in to a proper team. I have a feeling this is going to be the most testing season of my managerial career yet, so here’s to a good one…

June, 2012

Finally, a nice relaxing month, and the possibility for a short holiday. Scott Wiseman was named Fan’s Player of the Year by the Wrexham faithful for the third season in a row, and deservedly so. Towards the end of the month, Brighton and Hove Albion approached me with the opportunity to take over at the club, following Micky Adams’ departure. I decided against staying in Football League Two, and signed a one year contract extension offered to me by the Wrexham board.

May, 2012

Before the promotion decider, Luke Ayling was awarded with 3^rd place in the Football League Two Young Player of the Month competition, while I again took 3^rd in the Football League Two Manager of the Month competition.

Our final game was at home to Notts County, while Lincoln City were away at mid-table Aldershot Town. The afternoon started well, with Lincoln City going 1-0 down within a quarter of an hour. An own goal from Notts County full back Stephen Hunt put us up in to 3^rd, and while Lincoln City failed to net against Aldershot Town, our on loan striker Radoslav Vasilev netted his 15^th league goal of the season to make the scoreline 2-0.

We secured automatic promotion by two points. I was going to be a Football League One manager next season if I stayed with Wrexham. Despite two successive promotions, I’m still not particularly happy with the way the club is run, and am still looking for potential relocations elsewhere in the Football League. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like many clubs will exceed the organisation I experienced at Farsley Celtic, and it may be the best bet to stay on at Wrexham for the forseeable future.

To finish off the club’s seasons, Wrexham Reserves finished an excellent 2^nd, and Wrexham Under 18s won their respective leagues.

Radoslav Vasilev and Tommy Amos finished with 15 league goals each, the latter scoring 16 in all competitions, while Mark McAllister scored 14 for the season. For the end of season awards, both Scott Wiseman and Neil Taylor were named in the Football League Two Team of the Season. Right at the end of the month, Radoslav Vasilev, Junior Stanislas and Liam Taylor all returned to their parent clubs having made 77 league appearances between them.

April, 2012

Were we good enough to catch Lincoln City for automatic promotion? Would we secure a play-off position at all? Could the team carry on playing so fantastically well, despite a full season’s fatigue catching up with them? Why did the board think it funny to send an e-mail informing me there’d been a £500 million cash injection in to the club on April Fools’ Day?

All of these questions would either be, or very nearly, answered by the end of the month. Luke Ayling was named as the Football League Two Young Player of the Month for the second time this season for his performances in March, while my managerial efforts were recognised, as I was handed 3^rd position in the Football League Two Manager of the Month competition. Julian Gray was also named in the Football League Two Team of the Week for his performance against Darlington.

An away draw at Grimsby Town was a good start to the month, and then it got even better when the following two games saw comebacks from 2-1 down to beat both Yeovil Town at home, and Wycombe Wanderers away in the final minutes of each game! Despite conceding four goals in a week, goalkeeper Trevor Carson scooped a place in the Football League Two Team of the Week for his heroic performances between the posts.

A 2-0 victory at home to Brentford secured Wrexham a place in the play-offs, but it also left us just a single point behind 3^rd placed Lincoln City with just two games left to play. Both Scott Wiseman and Julian Gray secured places in the Football League Two Team of the Week for their efforts in our latest victory. The next game was huge. An away day visit to Lincoln City could see us leapfrog them up in to 3^rd position if we won. However, despite all our efforts, in a very even and end to end game, it finished a disappointing 0-0 draw.

Automatic promotion was going to come down to the final game of the season, but it was completely out of our hands, and would rely on other results going our way.

March, 2012

With just two more months of the season left to run, every game was turning in to a cup final. The effort from the lads was immense, and the atmosphere in the dressing room was great. To start the month, we beat Brighton and Hove Albion 3-0, with Julian Gray securing his place in the Football League Two Team of the Week, before we beat both Chester City and Grays Athletic to move up in to 4^th, the highest position I’ve ever experienced in my managing career.

We were now just six points behind 3^rd placed Lincoln City, and that had now become the target, so we could secure automatic promotion. It was going to take an immense effort, and a 1-0 loss to Exeter City saw goalkeeper Trevor Carson concede his first goal in over 600 minutes, however a further three clean sheets to round out the month put us back on track. Trevor Carson also earned himself a place in the Football League Two Team of the Week for his performance against Hartlepool United.

February, 2012

For their efforts in January, Darren Bradley was named as Football League Two Young Player of the Month, while Mark McAllister was rewarded with 2^nd in the Football League Two Goal of the Month for his second goal against Accrington Stanley. Despite leading 3-0 at half-time against Stockport County, an injury time volley from Mark McAllister sealed a 4-3 victory, however, both Julian Gray and Radoslav Vasilev were named in the Football League Two Team of the Week instead of the Northern Irish striker.

A 0-0 draw at home to Barnet was followed by a 2-0 loss away to league leaders Shrewsbury Town, no thanks in part to 10 players leaving to represent their countries. Despite this heavy loss, we still managed to scrape another goalless draw at home to Hereford United. Before our final game of the month, which we won 2-0 at Kettering Town, defender Scott Wootton ended his short stay at The Racecourse Ground by signing for Southport, despite only being a month in to his loan at fellow Conference National side Morecambe.

One final highlight of February saw the Darlington board offer me the job at the Darlington Arena. I turned it down.

January, 2012

Luke Ayling was named as Football League Two Young Player of the Month for December, just hours before we beat Aldershot Town 1-0 at home. The win signalled the beginning of the second half of the season. It was now time to really push on if we were to realise what we had been threatening all season. Our aspirations took a knock, however, as we lost 2-0 at home to fellow play-off candidates, Lincoln City.

The following five games saw us win two, and lose one, with Julian Gray named in the Football League Two Team of the Week for his performance against Accrington Stanley. The end of the month also saw defender Scott Wootton loaned out to Morecambe for three months.

December, 2011

Scott Wiseman was rewarded with the Football League Two Player of the Month accolade for November having put in some fantastic performances over the previous four weeks. Another home victory, seeing Julian Gray named yet again in the Football League Two Team of the Week, was followed by another defeat to Yeovil Town. We then followed this up with a 1-0 win away to Brentford, despite not having a shot on target, and a 0-0 draw at home to Wycombe Wanderers rounded out the month.

November, 2011

Julian Gray was awarded a place in the Football League Two Team of the Week for his performance in our 1-0 win over Grays Athletic. Another recovery from 2-0 down saw us draw 2-2 at home to Exeter City, while just one week later, we won 1-0 away at Rotherham United to push Wrexham in to the play-off positions for the first time this season, just in time for my 33^rd birthday. For their efforts, both Scott Wiseman and Scott Brown scooped places in the Football League Two Team of the Week, while goalkeeper Duane Ellis returned to Hull City after making just one appearance for the club.

In the FA Cup, I was presented with my best ever opportunity to progress beyond the 1^st Round. We had been drawn at home to fellow Football League Two club, Yeovil Town. Unfortunately, for the third time this season, we lost out in the cup at the first hurdle. We followed the disappointment by beating Hartlepool United 4-1 at home, but the next weekend our 14 game unbeaten run ended with a 1-0 defeat away to Darlington. Despite this, both Scott Wiseman and Julian Gray were named in the Football League Two Team of the Week.

October, 2011

Junior Stanislas, on loan from West Ham United won the Football League Two Player of the Month award for September, while centre back Luke Ayling finished 3^rd in the Football League Two Young Player of the Month competition. Two more away draws followed, with the latter a 1-1 against Barnet. I realised during the match just how lucky I was, and how far I had come since watching Arsenal Reserves at Underhill during my teenage years.

Julian Gray yet again got his name in to the Football League Two Team of the Week, however for the following game, a Football League Trophy North 2^nd Round tie, I had a goalkeeping crisis. My number one ‘keeper, Trevor Carson, was out with a groin strain, while number two ‘keeper, Danny Southern was due to be on international duty with the Wales Under 19s squad. I needed an emergency loan deal, so looked towards my parent club, Hull City, for a suitable candidate. They recommended their youth goalkeeper Duane Ellis. He arrived at the club just three days before the big game, but was then called up to the Wales Under 19s as a replacement! I was therefore left to play my third choice goalie, Alan Vaughan, who actually did a commendable job, despite Port Vale beating us 2-1, after a game in which we arguably had the edge.

The disappointment of crashing out of our second cup competition was put behind us with a 4-2 beating of Kettering Town, with Tommy Amos scoring a hat-trick to take my tally of competitive goals at Wrexham past 100. To get Omar Elabdellaoui some first team experience, he was loaned out to Cheltenham Town for three months. To round of a good week, all of Scott Wiseman, Jacopo Sala and Tommy Amos were named in the Football League Two Team of the Week.

Three further games went by unbeaten, and our good form in the league wasn’t going unnoticed. I was offered the job at fellow Football League Tow side Hartlepool United, but decided against it due to their poor league form and financial situation.