Doyle and Trouble
As the Reds gear up for a favorable matchup against Sheffield Wednesday, reports suggest another top-dollar acquisition is imminent...but Phil delivered some bad news about Josh Windass.
If anyone on the Wrexham squad reads this, please: stop and stretch those hammys.
The Wrecap:
Wrexham AFC 2 - 3 West Bromwich Albion
For our home opener, Captain James McClean returned to the starting lineup following what sounds like a minor hamstring issue Liberato Cacace suffered in training, but otherwise the lineup was unchanged from last week. Which means Kieffer Moore’s injury last week, which looked like it might be serious at the time, wasn’t nearly as bad as it appeared, as he was back up front to start the match. Wrexham’s new record signing, Nathan Broadhead, was seated on the bench, having only been signed two days before.
It was a fairly even contest at the start, with chances for both sides throughout the first twenty minutes, until the visitors slipped through the Wrexham defense with ease at 20’. Isaac Price received a simple pass into the box, which he was able to get past both Coady and keeper Danny Ward way too easily. Ten minutes later, alarm bells went off. Josh Windass pulled up mid-run, gripped his hamstring, and immediately signaled to the bench he needed to be pulled. Whenever a player makes the grab to the hamstring, it’s bad news (see below), and the result in the moment was an early debut for Nathan Broadhead. Then, just before halftime, Moore and McClean connected to deliver the ball to the feet of O’Brien in the box, which he rebounded off the pitch to score his first goal for the club, sending the squads into the tunnel with one goal apiece.
In the second half, momentum fluctuated back and forth fairly evenly until Jed Wallace entered at 74’ and scored within seconds. The shot wasn’t particularly special, but it passed Ward without much difficulty, despite being fired directly at him. After 80’, Phil switched formations and brought Smith on for Matty James, but it would be Albion who scored immediately after this substitution, with Price finding the net a second time. Ward went all out for the header, but still couldn’t get a touch on it. The heart seemed to vanish from Wrexham’s play after that, although Smith would reduce the damage with a stoppage-time goal.
Our defense let us down in this one, and Ward’s performance was night and day from his stellar outing last weekend, possibly opening the door for Okonkwo to re-establish his dominance against Sheffield Wednesday this Saturday. But Smith’s consolation goal shouldn’t be discounted: Wrexham continue to push through until the final whistle and have scored in all three matches they’ve played so far. The result? Despite having 0 points to our name, we still aren’t at the bottom of the table. The squad is almost entirely changed from what it was just a few weeks ago, with big additions still coming in - it will take time to gel. In the meantime, we’ve had two close matches where we played just as well as our opponents. My point being: there is no reason to panic.
Price has to be the actual Man of the Match, but for Wrexham, I have to give it to O’Brien. Yes, his goal was great, but his overall play remains impressive. His speed and awareness lend him a Rathbone-esque ability to seemingly be anywhere and everywhere. I think once Ollie is back to full health, defenders are going to have a very hard time keeping up with the pace of these two midfielders.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
And watch the highlights here or below:
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Ward, Brunt, Cleworth, Coady, Barnett (Longman 70’), Dobson, James (Smith 80’), O’Brien, McClean, Windass (Broadhead 30’), Moore.
Bench: Okonkwo, Mendy, O’Connell, Longman, O’Connor, Lee, Broadhead, Smith, Hardie
Goals:
WXM — O’Brien (42’), Smith (90+5’)
WBA — Price (20’, 81’), Wallace (74’)
Yellow Cards:
WXM — Brunt (27’), Smith (90+5’)
WBA — None
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Current Tables
Championship
News from the Week:
Windass Out for 4-6 Weeks
Phil confirmed in an interview this week that Windass’ hamstring injury is a serious one, and the new star of the Wrexham midfield will miss “four to six weeks.” Windass has performed as advertised since arriving in North Wales, with excellent performances in each appearance. He went on to say that "George [Thomason] is making progress and Libby [Cacace]'s making good progress," with Jay Rodriguez and Andy Cannon still in the “longer term” category. Thomason has yet to debut for his new club, and Rodriguez’s services may now be in demand in the attacking midfield role, so their return to full fitness will be more than welcome.
Of course, Broadhead will likely step into Windass’ starting role as the lone attacking midfielder supporting a solo striker (ie: the formation Phil has been using since Spring), but I still think Phil likely intended to switch to dual attacking midfielders (Windass and Broadhead) behind Moore, so Josh’s injury could push that experiment down the road a bit.
Callum Edwards Loaned
Wrexham have loaned young striker Callum Edwards to National League North’s Southport FC for the duration of the season. Wrexham still need to shed some players before the transfer window closes, so it was a foregone conclusion that Edwards would be shipped off to gain more experience elsewhere. To that end, it’s an excellent destination for the promising 19-year-old, who should see plenty of minutes for the sixth-tier squad.
Wrexham Women Releases Three Players
The Women’s squad announced their released/retained list last week, where supporters learned that Amber Lightfoot, Rebecca Pritchard, and Katie Sharp had all been released, in addition to Del Morgan’s retirement. The three names come as a bit of a surprise, as all three played large roles last season. Brooke Cairns has also moved on to join Burnley’s women’s squad, so it seems likely that an influx of new talent is on the way.
Cacace Called Up
Liberato Cacace has been named to New Zealand’s squad for their international friendlies with Australia on September 4th and 5th. At this time, that doesn’t directly conflict with a Wrexham matchup, but it could make him unavailable for the August 30th match with Millwall, depending on the training schedule.
Cacace is a regular face for New Zealand, so we can expect this call-up to repeat for most international breaks. If he does miss time, McClean will certainly return to the starting XI.
The Week Ahead
8/23 vs Sheffield Wednesday
US: Paramount+, iFollow. UK: Skysports+
10am EST / 3:00pm BST
Life at Sheffield Wednesday...isn’t great. After failing to pay His Majesty's Revenue and Customs fees for a second year in a row due to various debts, the club stopped paying its players for much of last Spring. As a result, the EFL placed the club under a transfer embargo, and their only new players for the season have come from their academy. Leading up to this weekend’s match, they, like Wrexham, have failed to collect any points from their first two matches…but they also haven’t kept a clean sheet for thirteen straight outings. Then, of course, there’s the small fact that their top scorer last season was none other than Josh Windass.
New manager Henrik Pederson has his hands full as the club seems to be in a complete freefall both on and off the pitch, and as a result, Wrexham await Wednesday as the clear favorites in Saturday’s contest.
EFL Cup: 8/26 at Preston North End
US: Paramount+, iFollow. UK: Skysports+
2:45pm EST / 7:45pm BST
Next week, the Dragons will fly to Preston North End for the second round of the Carabao Cup. Thanks to Ollie Palmer’s heroics, Wrexham have already bested their EFL Cup run from last season, so if he hasn’t been transferred by Tuesday, Palmer might just have made the case for a final start.
Rumor Round Up
The transfer window is now open permanently until 9/1! Here are the latest names linked with the Dragons:
Wrexham Reportedly Sign Callum Doyle
Early yesterday, reports began circulating far and wide that Wrexham had a deal with Manchester City to sign academy graduate Callum Doyle for over £8 million, which could be yet another new record transfer this summer. If I were a betting man (which I am), I’d say Wrexham will announce the signing…oh, about an hour after I hit publish.
Doyle, 21, is a statement signing. A centerback who plays on the left side, I’d expect him to usurp Lewis Brunt’s spot in the starting XI instantly. Although he came through City’s academy, he’s never played for the Premier League club. Instead, he’s been sent out on four loan spells with Sunderland, Coventry City, Leicester City, and Norwich City, giving him 158 Championship appearances under his belt before his twenty-second birthday. And they’ve been solid appearances, too: his season FotMob rating for each of the last three seasons has been above 7.0 (more than most of Wrexham’s squad last season could boast), and he contributed a goal and seven assists from the back for Norwich last season.
Put simply, he’s the kind of player you buy with the expectation of him being part of the squad for years to come. I think he’s an excellent signing and makes Wrexham’s backline stronger both defensively and offensively. I can see him and Cleworth creating some unique and dangerous scoring situations from the back, while providing an excellent barrier to goal.
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:
Callum Doyle »» Added to rumored interest
Arrivals
Ryan Hardie »»» Signed through the 27/28 season
Danny Ward »» Signed through the 26/27 season
Liberato Cacace »» Signed a three-year deal
George Thomason »» Signed a three-year deal
Josh Windass »»» Signed through the 27/28 season
Lewis O’Brien »»» Signed through the 27/28 season
Conor Coady »» Signed through 26/27 season with an option for 27/28
Kieffer Moore »» Signed through 27/28 season
James McClean »» Extended through the 26/27 season
Departures
Mark Howard »»» Joined Salford City on an undisclosed contract
Steven Fletcher »»» Currently a free agent
Josh Adam »»» Joined C. Budejovice
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
Luke Bolton »» Transferred to Mansfield Town
Jake Bickerstaff »» Loaned to Cheltenham Town for the 25/26 season
Mo Faal »» Loaned to Port Vale for the 25/26 season
Seb Revan »» Loaned to Burton Albion for the 25/26 season
Known Offers
James Rainbird (pending recovery)Tom Cairney - Extended at Fulham
Rumored Interest
Jamie Vardy - Rumored to be joining Inter Miami in MLS
Tom Lawrence
Charlie Savage
Sunusi Ibrahim
Myles Peart-Harris
Danny Ings - The latest rumor is that Liverpool is interested
Stuart Armstrong
Callum DoyleNathan Broadhead - Ipswich won’t sell.Christian Eriksen - Officially rejected Wrexham’s bid.Aaron Cresswell - Signed with Stoke CityBen Davies - Extended with TottenhamBarry Bannan - Extended at Sheffield Wednesday
Owen Beck Michael Keane - Extended at EvertonAshley Young - Signed for Ipswich TownJayden Carbon »» Signed for MiddlesbroughCallum Wilson »» Signed for West Ham