If there’s such a thing as an enigma in this season’s League Two, then it is surely Wrexham.
With four wins from nine games since returning to the EFL, Phil Parkinson’s side occupy the final play-off place. That’s the good news. The bad is that they have already conceded five goals on three different occasions and only bottom club Sutton United have let in more than the 20 shipped by Wrexham.
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No wonder Parkinson was left scratching his head on Saturday evening after watching Stockport County cruise to a 5-0 victory in the battle of the last two National League champions.
“We had got ourselves in a strong position with recent performances,” he says. “But that was as bad a first half as I can remember. Now, we have to look at the reasons why it didn’t go right against Stockport. We will do that and put it right next week.”
Wrexham’s problems were clear to see. They surrendered possession far too cheaply in dangerous areas via passes that were either over-hit or carelessly booted straight into touch.
As these basic errors became more and more commonplace, too many took the easy option of a pass backwards rather than playing the ball into the channels and trying to build some momentum by winning throw-ins and the like.
To further compound these failings, once possession had been squandered cheaply, there was then very little attempt to rectify matters, with everyone sporting white shirts waiting for someone else to take responsibility. This worrying early season trait seemed to have been stamped out in recent weeks only to return with a vengeance at Edgeley Park.
Never was this more apparent than the first goal of Tanto Olaofe’s hat-trick. After a passage of play that included both wing-backs, James McClean and Ryan Barnett, being brushed aside in 50-50 challenges on their respective flanks, Stockport rolled the ball back towards goalkeeper Ben Hinchliffe.
Wrexham should, in theory, have been well set at this stage, with play switching from their left flank to the right and now back to the goalkeeper taking 15 or so seconds. Instead, Hinchliffe was able to open up the visitors with a simple, if deadly accurate, 70-yard kick that needed just one touch from winger Will Collar to put him in behind Elliot Lee.
A rolled pass across the face of goal then presented Olaofe, who had by now muscled his way goal-side of Ben Tozer, with a simple tap-in from close range.
Desire is usually a given with any Parkinson side. It is why the 55-year-old boasts such an impressive CV, featuring four promotions and a historic League Cup final appearance for Bradford City when they were a League Two club.
Against Stockport, however, that desire was absent as Wrexham slumped to their worst defeat since losing by the same scoreline at Luton Town in February 2014. Back then, there were mitigating circumstances in that Andy Morrell had stepped down as manager the previous day.
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No such excuse could be made this time around, with perhaps the most damning aspect being how Stockport’s players battled so hard to keep Wrexham out at 4-0 when efforts from Paul Mullin and Luke Young were cleared off the line and two home players threw themselves in front of a low drive from George Evans.
Contrast that with Wrexham’s own risibly weak efforts earlier in the game, with Tozer and Aaron Hayden beaten far too easily for the second and third goals respectively.
Paddy Madden having time to pick his spot for the fifth after initially mis-controlling the ball inside the six-yard box with his knee should also make for some uncomfortable viewing when the inevitable video post-mortem session is held at the SToK Cae Ras this week.
“This was a bad day at the office,” admits captain Young to The Athletic. “But I have no doubt in my mind — and I back everyone in that dressing room on this — that we will put this right, starting on Monday.
“The standard has gone up (since winning promotion) and we have had to raise our game. Until Stockport, we were slowly adapting to the step up and slowly finding our feet.
“This has been a step backwards and something of a wake-up call.”
As the mocking locals chanted ‘we want six’ and ‘you can stick your documentary up your arse’ in the closing stages of Saturday’s rout, it was hard not to feel sorry for the USA-based fan who had flown in to watch her first match after falling in love with the club via Welcome to Wrexham.
She did, at least, enjoy the atmosphere and promised to return in the future, hopefully to see a win.
From the moment I watched @WrexhamFX I feel in love with the team and town. Visiting has only enhanced that. Thanks to the insane kindness of @r77ulr I’ll be at the game today, cheering on the team in person. Words cannot express my extreme thanks!@Wrexham_AFC pic.twitter.com/gVnpKSIBn3
— BurkeyShark (@BurkeyShark) September 23, 2023
League Two being the inconsistent competition it is, there’s every chance that return visit will yield three points. Likewise, Wrexham have every chance of being successful across a 46-game season despite these defensive horror shows against MK Dons, Swindon Town and now Stockport.
Unlike the National League, where any defeat felt like a potentially fatal blow to a team’s hopes of going up, the fourth tier carries much more margin for error. That much was clear last season when Stevenage and Northampton Town both clinched automatic promotion despite losing nine games apiece.
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Salford City, only denied a place in the Wembley play-off final on penalties by Stockport last May, were beaten a whopping 15 times in the regular campaign to further underline how forgiving League Two can be compared to other divisions.
Saturday’s victors are perhaps the best illustration of this. After 11 games of their return to the EFL last year, Dave Challinor’s side were 19th in the table with just two wins and nine points.
Come the end of the campaign, however, they had finished fourth after giving Northampton an almighty scare during the run-in. Proof, if proof were needed, that while Wrexham must work hard to eradicate this costly trait of conceding goals in clusters, their promotion hopes remain very much alive.