Wrexham: November 2013

Hello everyone and welcome back to yet another update on my Football Manager Story.

With things not going well up front for the team I started the month with the signing of two loan strikers. The first was Ivan Pugliese from Arsenal and the other Harris Vuckic from Man United and both will be with us for three months.

Our first game was a critical one as we travelled south to face our Welsh rivals Cardiff who were floundering at the foot of the table and a win for both us was desperately needed. We got off to a very mixed start indeed but a sweeping pass by Conor Henderson to Nathan Rooney was beautifully controlled and placed past the Cardiff keeper to open the scoring in the 23^rdminute. Four minutes later Pugliese scored on his debut with an easy header of a Billy Clifford cross from the right flank. Fellow debutant Vuckic was not to be out done running into the box to pick up on a Shane Williams through ball and neatly placing pass the Cardiff keeper. A memorable 15 minutes was capped off as a header by Nicholas from a Williams free kick deflected off McPhail  for an own goal and it was 4-0. The second half was not quite as exciting with chances few and far between but I was delighted to finally get a win and a vital three points.

After the euphoric win over Cardiff we took on former Premier League side Stoke City. The game was full of opportunities with the woodwork being hit no less than five times with Ivan Pugliese having the best chance of all putting a free header over the bar from inside the six yard box in the 89^th minute which would have won the game.

Next up was Blackpool and I was happy on my physio report that Nuno Camara was fully fit and could play having being out of the team for over a month. Within the first 15 minutes of the match both Lewis Henderson and Oliver Nicholas had to be taken off due to injury and I was feeling the worst was about to happen. Camara had other ideas and he opened the scoring with a neatly placed shot followed by a second minutes later from DC Seb Hines heading in his first ever goal for the club. A cynical challenge saw Blackpool reduced to 10 men before half time though unfortunately we were unable to take advantage of the additional man and the score remained unchanged but a very tidy victory nonetheless.

The following game was at home to Coventry where we put in yet another dominant performance but couldn’t produce the goals we should have except for Ivan Pugliese who gave us the lead after 20 minutes. Coventry were never any real threat up until the last 10 minutes when they pushed for an equalizer and got it as skipper Dean Hammond gave away a penalty that was converted and ensured Coventry left with a point. We wasted a good chance of moving up a couple of places in the table.

After the international break it was off to play Huddersfield who were several places below us in the standings. The first half was uneventful but following the interval Ivan Pugliese broke the deadlock picking up a through ball into the box by Williams to open the scoring. The home side quickly equalized when GK Martin Hansen was sent off for a foul inside the penalty area and the ensuing spot kick was easily converted.  Pugliese gave us the lead once more as a Lee McArdle free kick was fumbled by the Huddersfield keeper for an easy tap home for the young Italian. Chris Maxwell though would then commit his own fumble late in the game resulting in a goal for Huddersfield and yet another drawn game for us.

The final game of the month was a derby of sorts as we took on Bristol City at The Racecourse Ground. As Bristol were challenging for promotion I felt that this was a must win game if we had any hope of mounting a challenge ourselves. Although we enjoyed the greater possession, City seemed able to shoot at will but back up keeper Chris Maxwell saw an opportunity with Hansen suspended and put in a performance of a lifetime ending up with a rating of 9.1! With the game hung in the balance and the end in sight ML David Martin made an enthralling run down the left and his cross whipped past every player and landed at the foot of the unmarked Alex Chamberlain who had joined us on loan from Newcastle to score the winner on his debut. The almost 14,000 fans on hand went wild and after the whistle celebrated long into the night.

League Table

Fixtures

A much improved month sees us move back to mid table and only 5 points away from the play off zone. We have a couple of difficult games coming up against Leeds who are really strong and Nottingham Forest who are pushing for promotion.

Thanks for reading!!