Time to Say Goodbye

So the long-awaited retained list is out, and inevitably there are surprises and outgoing players that some of us will be sorry to see go.

Of course Saunders promised he's cut the squad back to the bone. Indeed, he said last Saturday that he'd have to release players he didn't want to let go.

Bearing that in mind, I have to add a qualifying statement before I go on to sympathise with certain released players: the fact is we couldn't keep the same squad as we were mediocre last year at best. Changes had to be made and you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. As I've said all along, the need to break the squad up isn't disputed; the key is whether Saunders is going to recruit the right replacements. If six first team regulars are recrutied who make up the core of a good side next season, no one will look back to today with regret except those who have left.

Still, there are players I'll be sorry to see go, (and not just from a selfish point of view-Mike Williams, Spann, McCluskey and Jones are excellent post-match interviewees!)

Mike Williams is perhaps the man I feel particular sorrow for, He has never let us down and is a flexible defender. With two aging centre backs signed up for next season, one of whom has serious fitness and disciplinary problems, and Mani Assoumani unlikely to re-sign, I'd have thought he'd have been offered handy cover.

I don't suppose we can be totally shocked that Mark Jones is on the list, but that doesn't make me feel any less sorry about it. Apart from being Wrexham through-and-through, he had shown better form in the latter stages of the season and might have felt he'd done enough to earn another year. Certainly his performance at Hayes last season was as good as I'd seen from him this season. Admittedly there's perhaps an element of wishful thinking when I consider his departure; there's no doubt he has terrific talent, but I suppose I have to be hard-nosed and admit he's not going to recapture his form of four years ago.

Silvio Spann's lengthy, successful run at right back must surely have made him think a contract offer was inevitable: perhaps his lack of sustained form over the course of the last three years counted against him; probably his wages were the issue. And then there's the performance of Declan Walker on Saturday, which must surely have encouraged Saunders to believe that, with him and Kai Edwards on the books, he has adequate cover for Curtis Obeng.

I'm sad to see Wes Baynes go too. He suffered from the fact that we never really worked out the best position for him; was he a full back, striker, attacking midfielder or wing back? I hope we don't regret the loss of his set pieces, especially as we've also let Luke Holden go. I suspect it was Holden's likelihood to make hot-headed errors which could cost us that led to his release; it's surely no coincidence that the last we saw of him was his daft sending off for diving.

There was an inevitability about the departure of Sam Williamson, Hedi Taboubi, Jamie McCluskey, Nathan Fairhurst and Matty Wolfenden, although I'd have liked to have seen the latter two given more chances to show what they could do.

It's interesting to see that four of the released ten are either defenders or holding midfielders when our problem is creativity. Also, bearing in mind Saunders' suspicion that we're too lightweight, there are a lot of slight players on that list; only Williams could claim physical presence as an attribute. Let's hope he's able to shape a squad that justifies his decisions.

Cambridge Podcast

The Cambridge Podcast is now up featuring Dean Saunders, Silvio Spann and Martin Ling.

Chester Podcast

The Chester podcast is now up at www.wrexhamfan.co.uk featuring Dean Saunders, Chris Maxwell, Silvio Spann and Gareth Taylor.

The Enigma of Silvio Spann

So what do you make of Silvio Spann? I'm only asking because I've still got no idea what to think of him!

He's enjoying a rare run in the side, and I'm glad to see it. After all, we're not going to be able to judge his value unless we have a good look at him. The trouble is, having seen him playing week-in week-out I'm still none the wiser!

There are moments when you feel he has a bit more quality than the players around him, but does he really get close to delivering on his promise and potential often enough?

Take the Altrincham game. There are those who were furious he was withdrawn so early, with less than ten minutes of the second half gone, and I can understand that as there were little flashes of promise from him.

However, I can't say I was terribly surprised he got the hook as he was awfully peripheral. He had the odd moment, but it wasn't sustained by any stretch of the imagination, and to miss that glorious chance Anoruo provided for him by dallying and not getting a shot in when he was heart-broken two days earlier over two similar but tougher chances he squandered at Oxford because he hesitated was very disappointing.

I don't know if I want Dean Saunders to keep faith in him or not, and equally I've no idea if Deano's giving him a run to help him bed into a new position or if he's taking a good hard look before deciding whether or not to pay him off.

The thing is, I suspect I still won't have made my mind up about the enigmatic Silvio when he finally leaves us, whenever that might be.

The Supporters Association podcast is now up at www.wrexhamfan.co.uk featuring Dean Saunders, Ashley Westwood and Silvio Spann.

Williams Loss Leaves Gaping Hole

On Saturday morning I was chatting to a few friends about how desperately we needed to bring in a striker as we were rather short on options. Little did we know how dire the situation would become just a few hours later!
The loss of Marc Williams is an immense blow. For me, he's the runaway candidate for player of the season at this point, but quite apart from that, we are indeed horribly threadbare when it comes to attacking options.
With Michael Proctor clearly not rated by Dean Saunders, Shaun Whalley shipped out on loan for the same reason and Patrick Suffo having at best an hour in him, the Wrexham manager's options are rather limited.
The problem is that, as I understand it, Saunders has been as aware of the problem for as long as we have been; of course he has! He's been aggressively pursuing new strikers, but has yet to find one who is willing to come to us and is of a high enough standard to actually improve the squad. If that's the case, the chances of him finding the right man in a matter of days seems rather slim!
So what of the other options available to him? A change of system's obviously a possibility, but would that be wise when a youthful side seems pretty much in the groove of playing 4-4-2, and Jeff Louis-a striker who it appears requires careful guidance-is used to having a partner? I've heard talk of Silvio Spann being tried out on training behind a solo striker, which is perhaps the one position on the pitch you'd feel comfortable playing him as you'd be able to tell him to forget his defensive reponsibilities to an extent, although I'd have thought that would work best with a striker making darting runs in front of him for him to hit. Like Marc Williams.
The other possibility, of course, is the forgotten man of The Racecourse, Steve Abbott. He appears to be most comfortable in the hole and was brought in to boost our goals total from midfield, but has faded from view. I wonder if Saunders will give serious thought to throwing him into the void?
Otherwise, we could always fall back on this guy!!!!

Spann the Fans' Favourite!

Wrexham's fans have come under a lot of scrutiny in recent weeks, particularly over their anger at Brian Little and his side in the latter days of his time in the Racecourse hot seat. So it was nice at Mansfield to see the magnificent part they played in another enjoyable day.

Obviously the sheer number of away fans we took was impressive-how many other sides will take five hundred to an away Conference game this season? But for me the most memorable aspect of their support was their treatment of Silvio Spann.

Spann has divided Wrexham's fans like few others before him, and has come in for a fair bit of stick in the past. His reintroduction into the side against York by Dean Saunders raised a few eyebrows, and mine were amongst them, but he delivered and perhaps that persuaded the Racecourse faithful to give him another shot.

That might have been scuppered at 3.28 yesterday though, when his horrendous error gifted Mansfield the lead. We've seen how Wrexham's fans have turned on players of late, and often with justification-anyone who was at Grays will know the level of vitriol that can accompany a substandard performance. So I braced myself for the reception Spann would get the next time he got the ball.

I needn't have bothered. Incredibly, fantastically, wonderfully, the fans behind Gavin Ward's goal responded by serenading him at every possible opportunity. It was terrifically uplifting. To be honest, Spann continued to have a poor time for the rest of the half, but the fans' support never wavered and he repaid their faith in the second half with a performance which showed what he can bring to the side. He even provided one of the highlights of the last couple of weeks-oh, what am I saying, the last couple of years!-when he took a long ball on his chest, balanced the dropping ball on his instep, then poked the ball down the line to Marc Williams when the left back closed in.

It was a delicious piece of show-boating and it summed up the new confidence we're enjoying under Saunders. That Silvio Spann delivered it, to the delight of his newfound fan club, was terrifically appropriate. It seemed to epitomise the fresh start we're all enjoying at the moment.

Mansfield Podcast

The Supporters Association podcast is now up at www.wrexhamfan.co.uk featuring Dean Saunders, Silvio Spann and Neil Taylor.

The Cull Begins

So the first tranche of players released has been announced, and although there are some sensible decisions (and one which is a blessed relief!) I'm still left with a basic concenr about whether Brian Little's decision-making is what it should be.

Don't get me wrong; I don't think Michael Proctor is God's gift to football. However, he was the only player last season who looked like he'd score goals and please don't try to tell me he wouldn't have some impact in The Conference! Perhaps more confusingly, if Bolland hasn't done enough to be offered a contract then what more could he have done?

The decision to get rid of Aiston's an interesting one. I thought he looked alright personally, and if he's not got what it takes you've got to ask why he was considered good enoug to be given a contract to Summer 2009 just four months ago.

I'm sad to see Sonner and Whitley go. Sonner's injury took the decision out of Little's hands to be sure, and I don't think anyone could make a full judgement on Whitley without seeing him regularly on the training pitch, though I can't help wondering what a full pre-season might have done for him.

The offering of Silvio Spann on a free is inevitable-sadly he always felt like a luxury we could hardly afford, while all I can say about the decision to do the same for Richard Hope is why did Little constantly select him ahead of the likes of Mike Williams when he was lacking?

The Summer was always going to bring some eyebrow-raising decisions. I just hope he's vindicated once the dust settles.

Mister Spanntastic

Sven-Goran Erikson freely admits that he had not seen a number of his many Summer signings play in the flesh, video evidence proving enough to convince him to part with some hard-earned Thai cash. Good job he hasn't seen footage of Silvio Spann then, or we'd have been drawn into the quickest bidding war of all time.

If you want a bit of instant gratification, just type "Spann Trinidad" into youtube and sit back (I've tried pasting the links in but blogger won't have it-sorry!). It'll treat you to the most stupendous strike you could imagine-and the guy who hit it's coming to play for Wrexham!

It's a free kick from so far back you almost expect to see his keeper step up and tap it to him, but he launches it with terrific power, it seems to pick up extra pace half way towards goal, soaring sweetly to thud into the top right corner, beating an acrobatically futile leap from El Salvador's keeper to the screaming delight of the Latin American commentator, who howls “Siiiii Siiiii Siiiiilviiiiiooooooo!”

And it's not a flash in the pan either! Look at the other results from your search and you'll a free kick he took two days later against the U.S.A. from a similar range. It's equally outrageous; it starts off looking like it's going to go about five yards wide of the left post, then swerves so extravagantly that it ends up curling a yard wide of the other side of the goal. The keeper's desperate scrambling from side-to-side is a sight to behold!

And further evidence is offered of his dead ball skills by a video of the Trinidad team taking on Soccer AM's crossbar challenge. Each member of the team has to have a go at hitting the bar from the halfway line, hardly an easy task as Wrexham showed when they did it! No-one managed it and Mike Ingham nearly smashed a window in Holt! Guess which Trinidadian did it?
Of course anyone who thinks a player's bound to be good just because he has hit a couple of remarkable free kicks is an idiot, although I'd also argue that anyone who sees his team buy a player who can do that and doesn't allow themselves to feel a frisson of excitement is a poor excuse for a football fan!

Still, judging a player on selected highlights is a mug's game. Anyone looks good if you cut out the bad bits. The famous example of this is Savo Milosevic, bought by Aston Villa on the strength of a highlights reel edited together by his agent. Of course, we all remember Milosevic as a striker who was capable of scoring spectacular strikes-just the thing to make a manager's jaw drop when he sees them. However, we will also remember that for every net buster there were twenty shots that went flying deep into the stand behind the goal, or more likely well over it and into the car park of the adjacent retail park!

Fortunately, Brian Carey isn't so daft. Spann was first sighted on a scouting mission to see Trinidad play a friendly at Q.P.R. and has been tracked ever since. Other promising signs include the fact that Roy Keane saw enough in him to offer him a trial with Premiership Sunderland, and the fact that he hasn't come from our usual Trinidadian source.

I'm not saying that using the same agent to bring in our previous Trinidadians was a mistake, although it could sound like it in theory. If we hadn't got good value from them one might suggest that in operating as a gateway for a succession of Trinidadians to establish themselves in the Football League we were acting more in the interests of the players than ourselves, but the facts don't bear that out. Admittedly we had to wait for some of them to acclimatise, particularly Dennis Lawrence, but we got good performances from the likes of Lawrence, Edwards and Sam and none of them left in haste to climb the ladder.

Also, unlike the others Spann has already played outside his home country. The well-travelled midfielder has played in such diverse cultures as Croatia and Japan, so getting to grips with North Wales shouldn't be too tricky. Throw in the role he can play in helping facilitate the continuing progress of Josh Johnson and he looks like a very intelligent acquisition.