Our Ideal Midfielder!

We need a bt of creatviity and there's a promising young midfielder who can't get into his first team who might just fit the bill!

Darren Ferguson played for Peterborough reserves last week and seems to have done very well. He might well be unattached soon, as he's just had a vote of confidence, so let's hope Dean Saunders keeps an eye on him!

Say It Ain't So, Deano!!!!

And little did I know, as I was wittering away a couple of hours ago, that I have more of a vested interested in Clough getting the Derby job than I realised!

Dean Saunders on a four man shortlist for the Derby job? Dear God, what did we ever do to them? After they vetoed the Robbie Savage deal, they're going for the kill!

The article isn't totally clear. That's what it says, but it also says Geoff Moss is confident Saunders is going nowhere-so how could he be on a shortlist? I think-or perhaps hope-the use of the word shortlist is sloppy journalism.

It looks to me like Derby want Clough, odds on favourite according to my last fab blog posting remember, and have other names in reserve should they fail to get him. Mind you, it sounds like Clough's pretty happy where he is, and Darren Ferguson is in charge of a wealthy club that is on the up.

I wonder what Nottingham Forest's courtship of Clough did to him last week. He must have come given it serious thought, as he was clearly close to getting the gig, so did it make him realise it was now time to move on, or did he return to Burton knowing he had a job to do there?

I hope Moss is right, as the loss of Saunders would be absolutely catastrophic. I don't want to think about Saturday's game being 1 A.D. (After Dean). The upheaval of yet another managerial change, not to mention the impact on the players, would surely end any hopes of promotion, not to mention probably saddle us with yet another squad reshaping which hardly helps stability. I don't mind Saunders doing what he sees as necessary this wondow, then retooling the squad for League Two in the Summer; I don't welcome a new man coming in and hoping for the best.

The Jones Enigma

Good luck to Mark Jones if his move to Peterborough materialises. There have been many disappointments over the last few years, but our failure to see the likes of Jones and Matty Done fulfil their potential with us is right up there.

Jones developed from a frail youth into a fine goalscoring midfield, but then like a flash of gunpowder it was gone and a player who clearly depended on his confidence to perform fell into a self-fulfilling tailspin of poor form.

You can see why John Toshack and Darren Ferguson have faith in him though. It's a common impulse in managers; indeed probably in mankind. The desire to show that you can achieve something no-one else has managed. It's what inspires managers to take jobs like Man City or Newcastle, figuring that eventually someone will unlock their potential, and it will be them.

You can see why a manager would see glimpses of Jones' undeniable talent and decide to try to make the most of it. I hope for Jones' sake that whoever takes him under his wing succeeds as he's as genuine a lad as I've ever met in football.

Evo is Innocent!!!

Glad to hear Joe Lewis is fine after his collision with Steve Evans, but the fact that he's looking to be available for Peterborough's game on Wednesday puts things into context somewhat.

Never mind Ferguson's rather vague post-match comments on how he "thinks he might" have concussion(!!) Sounds like-heaven forbid!-he was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Anyway, did anyone really think that Steve Evans would launch himself in the air from a long run-up and headbutt the guy? I know he's a tough guy, but even Evans would surely draw the line at doing something which would probably fracture his own skull!

Darren Ferguson after the Peterborough game

He's not happy you know!

Peterborough podcast

The Peterborough podcast is now up at www.wrexhamfan.co.uk featuring Brian Little, Darren Ferguson, Danny Sonner and Neil Roberts.

Touchy Fergie!

I know I'm supposed to take one game at a time, but I can't help looking forwards a couple of weeks to the return to The Racecourse of Darren Ferguson!

It would have been quite an event in itself, but after what happened a fortnight ago at London Road, I can't wait! We added Ferguson to our list of hard-nut managers we've annoyed as he followed Paul Ince's lead with what can only be described as a strop after the match.

Before I continue my diatribe I must inject some perspective. Ferguson is one of the greatest players ever to play for Wrexham and was perfectly entitled to be disappointed that the offer to manage us was not forthcoming. None of that excuses his comically petulant behaviour yesterday though!

Basically, before the game Fergie tried to play mind games like his Dad does, but they didn't work. He might have succeeded in getting under the skins of a few people previously, but Brian Little's sang froid looks a terribly difficult thing to disturb.

He might have expected us to roll over and die for him again, but we weren't willing to make a birthday present of the match to him this time!

Ferguson was furious last November that comments he'd made had been interpreted as an attack on Brian Carey, but his remarks in the lead-up to the goalless draw made me wonder how badly he'd been misrepresented. They suggested that he has learned how to stir things up before a game from his Dad. All week he'd claimed that he knew what would happen in the match. They'd play all the football and we'd just lump it long. Oddly enough he stuck to that line after the game, despite the fact that we'd played a lot of good football. Didn't Rooster's scouting tell him that Roberts can pass the ball, or that Sonner is the closest thing we've had to Ferguson since the genuine article left?

Ferguson emerged for the press conference with a black cloud spewing out thunder just above his head. Having already kicked the ball onto the prostrate Chris Llewellyn's head and mouthed at Steve Evans and Neil Roberts during the match, quite apart from any argy-bargy in the tunnel he might have involved himself in, he was still in a state of high dudgeon. As questions were asked of him he ground his teeth furiously, his temples throbbing. His answers always came back to one thing; how we played and how he'd known all along that was exactly what we'd do! Well he knew everything we were going to do beforehand why on earth didn't he come up with an effective strategy to combat it?

Perhaps it was also the Ferguson family instinct for self-preservation kicking in when he focussed so squarely on the incident between Steve Evans and their goalkeeper. After all, it was only once United's adrenaline got pumping and the crowd woke up following the altercation that they actually injected some tempo into their game and started to look threatening. Ferguson's tactical preparations had managed to make his side look second best to a side which would end the game bottom of League Two for the first seventy-five minutes. No wonder he looked to deflect attention from the first hour and a quarter of the game!

Just like seeing Paul Ince stomp off after we beat MK Dons, it was highly amusing to see us get under the skin of someone who loves to do that to others. Fergie was a legend; maybe he would have been a great manager for us, but he'll lose a lot of friends if he continues like this. But then that's not why he's in the game.

Fergie Mind Games

Is little Darren taking the lead from his Dad? Last November when we played Peterborough in the cup, he came out with those infamous comments about how he should have been offered the Wrexham job and would have done a better job than Brian Carey, which he was furious about as he said he'd been taken out of context.

I accepted his explanation, but before today's game he's on about how they'll play football while we'll just thump it long. Same again? I suspect focussing on the job in hand is how to handle it!

Little's First Report Card

We were all bound to try to judge Brian Little following his first game in charge. I think it's fair to say he passed scrutiny. The drastic changes he made to the side showed that he isn't one to toe a conservative line, and that sort of approach can backfire horribly. Remember last Wednesday? Steve McClaren was bold in his selection for the match against Croatia, and look where it got him. However, Little was more astute, his rejig of the side born of a measured boldness rather than being the hopeful actions of a desperate man. While McClaren's England careered towards oblivion, we took a first baby step towards survival today, I think.

There are still flaws, and we faded worryingly out of the game for a quarter of an hour after our initial bluster wore out at the start of the second half. However, Little got the team working for him, and the reformed line-up looked a lot better than we have done for some time.

It was a more high tempo style than we've been used to, although maybe we shouldn't rush to judgement on that front until we've seen Little's side perform in a game which doesn't also happen to be a derby.

If that is the road we're going down, though, it might just address what many feel is one of the main reasons for our demise. We tried to continue playing patient football through midfield last season after Darren Ferguson had gone, and the loss of a playmaker hit us hard, although I admit I didn't notice it so much at the time as Ferguson's talents had waned with time.

Watching us pound hopeful long balls to short strikers this season has illustrated how much we'd missed a midfield creator though, and today we addressed the issue in two interesting ways.

Firstly, we carried the ball through the centre of the field rather than pinging it long, with Sam Aiston most impressive. He's technically good, and holds the ball well. Sometimes he looked like he was running into a cul-de-sac, but he only started to lose the ball in the closing stages when he was naturally tiring.

Secondly, we found a playmaker of sorts in the most surprising of places. Brian Little showed a great eye for a player in putting Neil Roberts in midfield. It was a remarkable thing to do, and it worked beautifully. Not only did Roberts fight with typical commitment, but some of his passing was exemplary, not least his assist for Proctor's first goal. He's no Darren Ferguson, but then I suspect Ferguson might well have been swamped in the pace of that match.

So Little's redeployment of Neil Roberts worked a treat. So did the promotion of Wes Baynes, who had an excellent debut, and his recall of players like Proctor, Taylor and Pejic, who had all fallen out of favour under Carey, but all made big contributions. With his sole signing Aiston also doing well, Little got most things right with his selections.

He was sharp tactically too. In that spell I mentioned earlier when Chester got a grip of midfield he responded by switching from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2. The result? We regained out equilibrium, equalised and nearly won it.

However, perhaps the greatest impact Little might have made was in the players heads. When did we last fighting back from going behind twice in a game? The players have been used to things going wrong this season, and their usual response has been capitulation. Not so today. To fight back from a thunderbolt after making a good start, then to fight back from a goal in the 50th minute of the first half, the worst time to concede according to the pundits, was not what we've been doing over the last year or so.

Of course these are early days for Little, but it was a debut which will bring hope against a decent Chester side. Three away games now follow, all winnable, which might just go a long way to shaping our season. If we can play like we did today in all three, we should be in more optimistic mood by the time we return to The Racecourse.

A Chance For A Get-together?

I wonder if the Peterborough game will give Brian Carey and Darren Ferguson a chance to reknew acquaintances, or will we be under new management?