Wrexham: 2011 / 2012 Pre Season

Hello friends and welcome back to Wales as I bring you the pre-season report on my Wrexham side as we prepare for life in League 2.

After the euphoria of winning the Blue Square Premier title we came crashing back to earth as the financial situation was very desperate so from the end of the season until mid June things were very quiet at The Racecourse Ground. My scout was scouting and providing some reports and I made a couple of offers but the board always put in some restrictions to prevent the signing.

Things improved slightly after a new shirt sponsorship deal but when it came to setting out the season expectations survival was the name of the game. No transfer budget and I was way too high in salaries both of which would restrict getting any better players.

Here’s a quick look at the financial report. Glum.

As a budget manager in real life I knew this had to be turned around and quickly too. So then began the attempt to off load some players especially the high earners and bring in some bargain players to fill the holes. Aside from my players my coaches with contracts expiring had to go as well and I will be replacing those people with one’s whose attributes will not likely be as good.

There was some good news in that the board finally recognized the need for a parent club and so they put pen to paper with Premier League side Fulham. The downside of course was that the better reserve players didn’t want to come to Wales.

I did manage to secure a couple of players from them, goalkeeper Bettenelli and left midfielder Alex Smith

As my assistant manger had left the club  I did my own assessment and  noted that the right side of my 4-4-2 formation was an area that needed attention. In the RB position I secured Billy Clifford on loan from Chelsea and for the MR slot Nzuzi and Da Silva to help out Francis Laurant. My central defenders were getting quite old so I picked up Lee McArlde who was formerly with Leicester and Everton. One player I was very excited about was Nathaniel Jarvis who was released by Cardiff and will battle Baheng  for a spot up front so I will start with his profile.

At the time of publishing I’m still looking for a new Assistant Manager as well as a Physio and another scout wouldn’t hurt either. Despite all these troubles the bookmakers have given us an outside chance of promotion which was rather surprising.

Pre-Season Results

Fixtures

We start the season off with two difficult away games before facing Bournemouth in our home opener.

Here’s the upload of my final pre-season game against MK Dons which was quite the game and I hope you enjoy the highlights.

Thanks for reading!!