Down Under, Rathbone Goes Down
Wrexham's Player of the Season was sent to the hospital for an x-ray just before the break in yesterday's match against Sydney FC.
Wrexham’s preseason has been going swimmingly…minus one giant injury.
The Wrecap:
Melbourne Victory 0 - 3 Wrexham AFC
Wrexham’s first game in Australia was a fantastic success, as Phil deployed his traditional 3-5-2 formation that featured the return of Ollie Palmer. Our first starting XI of the preseason consisted of Okonkwo, Cleworth, Scarr, O’Connor, Longman, Dobson, Matty James, Lee, Revan, Palmer, and Marriott.
The Reds peppered the Victory goal with plenty of attempts in the first half, while Scarr, Cleworth, and Okonkwo had standout moments defensively, but ultimately, Wrexham would only score once right before the break courtesy of Tom O’Connor. After a complete squad turnover in the second half, new striker Ryan Hardie scored a goal in dramatic, sliding fashion at 66’ in his unofficial debut. Twelve minutes later, George Evans put the contest to bed with Wrexham’s third. In the game’s closing minutes, Phil pulled Hardie to give academy graduate Callum Edwards a taste of the action in the only non-halftime substitution.
The final scoreline represents the dominant display that Wrexham put on…but it could have been a lot worse. Lee, Revan, Cleworth, Longman, and Ashfield all had promising shots that were either impressively saved or barely missed. All in all, a very encouraging first look at the 25/26 Wrexham squad.
The friendly tells me that Phil seems to be reinforcing his 3-5-2 formation, rather than acquiring new players that could support something different this season. It’s also encouraging that Phil put Ashfield and Aaron James into the second-half lineup. I’m very curious to see if the pair end up out on loan this season or will start to wiggle their way onto the bench.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
And watch the highlights here or below:
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Okonkwo, Cleworth, Scarr, O’Connor, Longman, Dobson, M.James, Lee, Revan, Palmer, Marriott
Second Half Lineup: Ward, A.James, O’Connell, Brunt, Barnett, Rathbone, Evans, McClean, Mendy, Ashfield, Hardie (Edwards 88’)
Bench: Ward, Barnett, Brunt, James, McClean, Mendy, O'Connell, Purvis, Ashfield, Evans, Moore, Rathbone, Edwards, Hardie
Goals:
WRX — O’Connor (43’), Hardie (66’), EVans (78’)
MEL — None
Yellow Cards:
None
Sydney FC 2 - 1 Wrexham AFC
For the second match down under, Phil slotted in an almost entirely different starting XI. Ollie Palmer returned, this time as the lone striker ahead of Harry Ashfield playing the attacking midfield position Rodriguez fulfilled in the 3-5-1-1 formation that Phil favored this past Spring. The Reds were gifted an early lead courtesy of a Sydney own-goal at 18’ (officially credited to Hollman, but the final touch might have been off Popovic). Still, Wrexham showed some promise with quality chances from McClean and Ashfield.
Things took a turn for the worse just before halftime. Ollie Rathbone needed to leave with an ankle injury, and Phil would later reveal that he was en route to the hospital for an X-ray. (No official word on the status of Rathbone). Revan came on to relieve him. Then, shortly after being denied a clear penalty for a Wrexham handball, Sydney’s Popovic scored the equalizer to send the squads into the tunnel with an even scoreline.
The same squads came out for the second half, only turning over at 63’, but in that time, keeper Danny Ward had several impressive saves. Burton would take over after the change, with only Seb Revan remaining from the first half squad. About ten minutes later, the Wrexham defense left a lane wide open for Joe Lacey to pop in the winner. The Dragons pushed for a late equalizer, but alas, this one ends in defeat as the team heads to New Zealand to complete their pre-season tour.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
And watch the highlights here or below:
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Ward (Burton 63’), A.James (Cleworth 63’), O’Connell (Scarr 63’), Brunt (O’Connor 63’), Barnett (Longman 63’), Dobson (Lee 63’), Evans (M.James 63’), Rathbone (Revan 44’), McClean (Mendy 63’), Ashfield (Rodriguez 63’), Palmer (Marriott 63’)
Bench: Burton, Cleworth, Scarr, O’Connor, Longman, Lee, M. James, Revan, Mendy, Rodriguez, Marriott, Purvis, Moore, Edwards
Goals:
SYD — Popovic (45’), Lacey (74’)
WRX — Hollman (18’ - OG)
Yellow Cards:
None
News from the Week:
Kit Reveals
At the exact same time as I scheduled last week’s Wreader to publish, Wrexham revealed the new home kits. The home kit is a bit of a throwback to the kits of the 1981 and 1983 teams, which featured the badge prominently displayed in the center of the chest. The white collar returns from last year, with matching white piping.
The away kits, revealed the day before the match with Sydney, move the badge back to the upper right quadrant and are yellow with a green collar and piping, paying tribute to Wales. It’s the first yellow and green kit for the Dragons since the 1990s.
If I were a betting man, the third kit will be revealed Friday ahead of the final game of the tour in New Zealand.
The Tour Ahead
7/19 at Wellington Phoenix
Paramount+, YouTube
3:00pm AEST/1:00am EST / 6:00am BST
Wrexham will wrap up their pre-season tour this Saturday at 3 pm in Australia, 6:00 am in Wrexham, and 1:00 am on the East Coast in the States. Phoenix ended the season toward the bottom of the 13-team A-League table, and should theoretically be the easiest of the three matchups for the Reds. Having given most of the squad some necessary minutes between the first two games, Phil may go for a possible opening day lineup and formation to close out the tour, although Sam Smith has yet to make his pre-season debut. Phil didn’t list an official reason for the star’s absence, but one has to conclude that Smith is dealing with some sort of injury for Parkinson to leave him out of the squad entirely for two of the three pre-season matches.
Rumor Round Up
The transfer window is now open permanently until 9/1! Here are the latest names linked with the Dragons:
Josh Windass
Goal reports that Wrexham are chasing versatile Sheffield Wednesday forward Josh Windass. With experience at striker, attacking midfield, and both wings, Windass could provide a plethora of options for Parkinson at the front of his squad. The 31-year-old would come with plenty of experience in tow, having played most of his career in the Championship and the Scottish Premiership.
Bickerstaff to Oldham?
Wrexham striker Jake Bickerstaff (who, along with Luke Bolton, are the only senior players not to make the journey to Australia) was spotted training with Oldham Athletic last week. This would imply a transfer for the young forward may be forthcoming, which was always thought to be the case this summer, given Parkinson’s abundance of strikers who likely will not see league action for the Reds this season.
Get to Know The Championship
With a new league comes new competition. Throughout the summer editions of the Wreader I’m going to provide a little profile of each club, two per week, for those subscribers new to the English Football Pyramid.
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
Location: West Bromwich, West Midlands, England
Founded: 1878
Nickname(s): The Baggies, The Throstles, The Albion
Ownership: - Bilkul Football WBA
Last Season: 9th in the Championship
Although they’ve only won it once, West Brom have spent eighty-two of their one hundred and forty-seven years in the top tier of English football. A founding member of the Football League, the Baggies have a well-stocked trophy case. Having appeared in the FA Cup final ten times, they’ve taken the Cup home five times. Throw in two Community Shields, one EFL cup, and three second-tier titles to go with their lone first-tier title, and you’ve got the sixteenth-most successful club in the pyramid (by major competitive titles).
West Brom found themselves back in the Championship after suffering relegation in 2021. Since then, they have yet to fall beneath tenth on the final Championship table, and with good reason. West Brom have a strong squad at present, boasting winger Tom Fellows — who tied for the most assists in the league last season with fourteen, striker Josh Maja, who contributed twelve goals, and midfielder Alex Mowatt — who finished twentieth overall in FotMob rating. Add to that new arrivals Nat Phillips, a centerback from Liverpool who spent last year on a solid loan spell at Derby County, and young striker Aune Heggebø, who has impressed in Norway, and the Throstles look poised for a proper promotion push this season. If they aren’t in the automatic promotion discussion come next Spring, I’ll be very surprised.
Portsmouth F.C.
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Founded: 1898
Nickname(s): Pompey
Ownership: Michael Eisner
Last Season: 16th in the Championship
Portsmouth FC are in the midst of a resurgence. Following their relegation from the Premier League in 2010, the club plummeted, finding themselves down at 16th place in League Two by 2015. It was their deepest dive down the pyramid in club history and the first time the club fell to the fourth tier since 1979, following decades of success in the top two tiers. But by 2018, they were a top-ten team in League One, winning the league in 23/24. In their first season in the Championship in ten years, Pompey finished 16th last season.
So what’s the outlook for the two-time first-tier and FA Cup champions? Despite losing nine players since the end of the last campaign, they’ve retained winger Josh Murphy, who led the league in assists (along with Tom Fellows) last season, and keeper Nicolas Schmid, their highest-rated player from last year. Schmid is the anchor of a blossoming defensive unit. Portsmouth led the league in Possession Won in the Final Third last year, and were third in Interceptions per Match, with Schmid himself keeping eight Clean Sheets (18th best in the league). But they still have a long way to go. Their seventy-one conceded goals were the third most in the league, while the fifty-eight they scored was the ninth-best. Colby Bishop contributed the most with eleven last year, with Callum Long right behind him with ten.
If manager John Moushino can bolster the back line, their firepower up front could easily push the squad further up the table this season. I see a stronger mid-table finish, possibly a playoff run, in their immediate future.
The transfer tracker is back! Throughout the summer, I’ll keep a rolling summary of Wrexham’s comings and goings at the end of each newsletter.
Updates this week:
Josh Windass Added
Arrivals
Ryan Hardie »»» Signed through the 27/28 season
Danny Ward »» Signed through the 26/27 season
Departures
Mark Howard »»» Currently a free agent
Steven Fletcher »»» Currently a free agent
Josh Adam »»» Currently a free agent
Jordan Davies »»» Currently a free agent
Harry Dean »»» Currently a free agent
Brad Foster »»» Joined Scotland’s Ross County on a 2-year contract.
Liam Hall »»» Currently a free agent
Sam Dalby »»» Joined Bolton Wanderers on a 4-year contract
Paul Mullin »»» Loaned to Wigan Athletic for the 25/26 season
Will Boyle »» Transferred to Shrewsbury Town
Luke McNicholas »» Transferred to Forest Green Rovers
Known Offers
James Rainbird (pending recovery)
Tom Cairney (reportedly)
Rumored Interest
Jamie Vardy
Tom Lawrence
Charlie Savage
Sunusi Ibrahim
Aaron Cresswell
Lewis O’BrienBen Davies - Extended with Tottenham
Myles Peart-Harris
Danny Ings
Stuart ArmstrongBarry Bannan - Extended at Sheffield Wednesday
Michael Keane
Ashley Young
Jayden Carbon
Callum Wilson
Josh Windass
