Ryan Manning Wheels Away After Scoring
The week since the final friendly of preseason has been and gone and now we await the visit of Wrexham for the opening game of the Championship season for Saints in 2025/26. Of course we are the 12:30 kick-off because we can’t have a Wrexham game without it being on the TV now, can we?
Wrexham fans feel that they’re in the situation where no one likes them because of their meteoric rise with three promotions in three seasons from the National League through to the Championship. Personally, having just come from the Premier League where some of the ownership structures are somewhat dubious – oh look over here at our shiny Saudi Government Sports washing Performance Improvement Fund team and don’t look over here at the human rights atrocities and dead journalists – I have zero problem with a couple of A-list Hollywood actors owning a football club and growing it. Anyone who has a problem with it is of course talking from the point of view of jealousy. As far as I can see, they are bringing in investors, investing in the ground, tapping into the American market and generally doing all the things that you should do if you are trying to develop a football club the only thing I can see fans of other teams getting annoyed about with some justification, will be the amount of coverage that it generates for Wrexham and the fact that they will probably be selected for live TV games, many more times than their League position would normally merit. However, what’s the difference between that and what happens with Manchester United every season? Wrexham fans who have been there a long time, may well of course have to deal with the Johnny Come Lately’s, who will no doubt be very annoying as they descend on a club that they will never have heard of until three years ago.
On the pitch they have some decent players and some Saints connections. Tom O’Connor was signed by us from Ireland and went through our academy and Jay Rodriguez moved there in January of last year. Manager Phil Parkinson was a Saints apprentice forty years ago as well. As for players of note, we there’s the ever popular James McClean and they recently made a few eyebrow raising signings this summer, with Conor Coady, Josh Windass and Kieffer Moore all joining.
While Wrexham have been preparing for their first game in the second tier for over 40 years, Saints have been doing their usual and dealing with speculation regarding our better players moving into the Premier League meat grinding machine. The media has descended, mainly on the story linking Tyler Dibling with Everton and whilst we’ve had relative calm over the Mateus Fernandes moving to everyone story, that will no doubt pick up again pretty soon.
A Man With His Head Somewhere Else
Regarding Tyler, you know the drill…
- Prem club (Everton) derisory bid
- Entitled fans from Prem club (Everton) giving it the “they should accept what we want to pay” bullshit
- Bid rejected
- (Everton) client media pile on
- More Prem club (Everton) fan entitlement and hypocrisy – forgetting that they dug their heels in over a fee for one of their players (Branthwaite) this time last year
- #FreeTyler or whatever
- Another slightly less derisory bid
- Social media full of AI ‘head on (Everton) kit’ pictures and ‘this is how he fits in’ videos.
- Another rejection
- Prem club (Everton) fan “he’s shit anyway, walk away” anger.
- Media stories about player asking to leave – no quotes or sources of course
- More Prem clubs linked by media in pretty baseless fashion – maybe a link from two years agao
- Player left out of training / match to get his head right
- Someone (probably not Everton) gets real and bids an acceptable amount
- Move happens
As I write we’re at step 12. Que Sera Sera, whatever will be…
There was one of those box ticking fan forums this week where at least the messaging was consistent, with Phil Parsons giving a response that you cannot dispute, saying that every player has a price but we will not roll over and if you want to bid for one of our players then please be serious about it… Or fuck off. I’m paraphrasing a little bit there.
With regards to Tyler Dibling however, he is probably worth more now than he ever will be to Saints in purely financial terms. We have been burnt a few times in the past few years when players we would ideally of liked to keep have let their contracts run down – Stuart Armstrong, Che Adams and KWP spring to mind we would ideally have either got them signed up on extended deals or sold them when they were about two years out from the end of their contract, which is exactly where Tyler is now, and I would say there’s very little chance of getting him to sign a new one. In an ideal world we get him to sign some sort of contract with a release clause in the event of non-promotion, but you’re more likely to find a unicorn than to see a contract like that for a player like him at this stage. We made the mistake of thinking that we could convince players to sign a new deal when they get towards the end of their current deal but more and more these days, with Bosman moves being so lucrative, it just doesn’t happen.
As it stands, I’m not expecting Tyler or Matty to be involved against Wrexham and if I had to guess, we will start Baz in goal, back three of Josh Q, Captain Jack and Ronnie… wingbacks of Welington and Sugawara, midfield of Flynn and Shea and forward line consisting of Wee Man, Archer and Arma. Damion Downs could easily start (Ross Stewart would be my choice), as could Ryan Manning. I would anticipate Jay Robinson coming off the bench. This selection of players gives you the option of swapping to a back four, probably with Ronnie Edwards going to right back and Sugawara pushing further forward.
Whilst our pre-season has been underwhelming in virtually all aspects, I remember feeling this way two years ago when we went to our first game at Sheffield Wednesday and then realising just how poor the standard was when compared to the Premier League. As long as our uninspiring forwards can provide some sort of threat at this level, we should be okay.
Team and news and as expected really but what’s that forward line? J-Rob is starting and fair enough and Wee Man is on the wing with Arma up the middle. I’m saying nothing now but I know what’s going to happen. Flynn Downes is fit to start alongside Shea Charles and the surprising news is that Mateus Fernandes is on the bench. Our bench is obscene for the Championship. Strikers Stewart, Downs, Archer and BBD. Fernandes for midfield, as well as Manning, Wood, Matsuki and McCarthy. I’m having flashback to two seasons ago when we won so many games off the bench.
Away we go and from our first attack, a very dynamic looking Wee Man picks up the ball and runs directly at the defence and it’s a decent that is past both the keeper and the far post. At the other end we have a bit of an alarm as Wrexham winner corner and play it short before it eventually comes in and we’ve all dozed off and Conor Coady steals in behind Welington and shins it over the bar
With their unofficial title of Hollywood FC, Wrexham’s tactic is not one with a clever script. It involves launching the ball on top of the giant Kieffer Moore and Ronnie Edwards is in a battle that he is never going to win. From one such pump forward, Moore wrestles Edwards out the way and knocks it down to Windass, who is not closed down quickly enough and he curls his shot over Bazunu and it bounces off the bar.
The first goal of the game seems inevitable as we build down the right with Fraser, before the ball gets laid back to Charles, who crosses low into the box to Robinson who hits it first time but close enough to Ward for him to parry it away, back it comes in again and Armstrong tees up Robinson who shot is blocked out to Downes on the edge of the box And his effort is flying goalwards until it hits Coady and deflects wide. Shit – how did that not go in?
Sugawara deservedly got a load of stick last year about his defending in general, but he then found something else that he needs to practice and that’s throw-ins. Firstly, he threw one at Ryan Fraser’s throat which he couldn’t control, which can kind of be excused because it’s the Wee Man, so throat level on him is chest level on a normal sized player. Flynn Downs is normal sized however, so another throat ball seved up by Sugawara, gives Wrexham the ball and Windass plays it through and Moore is galloping through on goal and Edwards, with his head clearly fried by losing the physical battle with Moore, pushes him over for a clear penalty. Windass puts it away.
Dumb Challenge Ahoy!
The long ball is going up towards Moore with more regularity now and Saints seem shaken out of whatever stride they might have been in. Edwards in particular is really struggling and there’s another wrestle and the ref once more fancies himself on the Holywood Documentary and gives it to Wrexham. In it comes and another free header over the bar. It looks offside but they don’t get given in this league.
Other things that don’t get given it this league include handball. Within a couple of minutes you have two incidents of Wrexham players charging down the ball with both arms raised, the ball hits them and the referee does absolutely fuck all there’s another incident where Flynn Downs gets trashed on the edge of the penalty area and the ball runs loose to Adam Armstrong. The referee plays advantage which is over in less than half a second because Arma passes the ball straight to Wrexham player, but we don’t get the free kick.
We do have one more effort before halftime with Welington and Robinson building down the left and a ball inside which Fraser manages to reach before it goes out and hooks it goalwards and it hits the unsuspecting Danny Ward and deflects wide. We’re back in the game now and Sugawara picks up the ball on the right and slings into the mixer where it’s met by Robinson and he gets it past Ward but off the far post and it rebounds straight to Adam Armstrong who must score…. but he clinically manages to hit the only defender on the line
Half time when you do wonder whether we need to persevere with three central defenders and how soon still will use the bench, where as discussed, we have plenty of options. Nothing at half time however. Saints come out looking the better side, with Charles having an effort which is clearly handled and flicks wide but the pillock with the whistle is at least consistent with his incompetence from the first half and doesn’t give it and instead gives us a corner.
Shea Charles is involved again just after that as there is a 50-50 ball on the edge of our box and it’s between him and Kieffer Moore and there is absolutely no quarter asked for or given and bang, Charles emerges with the ball and Moore is left on a heap in the ground. A few minutes go by and Wrexham‘s only attacking threat is no more and has to go off.
On the hour mark Matty Fernandes comes on for Sugawara with Wee man going to right wing back. There is also a straight swap with Adam Armstrong been replaced by Damion Downs. Ten minutes later and it’s Manning for Wellington and Archer for Downes… Flynn, not Damion.
Wrexham players are beginning to go down now, which is an indication of two things. One is that they’re getting tired and two is that they are just trying to shithouse it to the final whistle. There is little attacking threat at all from the visitors now, just one incident where O’Brien found himself bearing down on goal but as Stephens closed in, he looked more like he wanted to collapse in a heap then get a shot away and Captain Jack came away with the ball whilst O’Brien and the Wrexham fans, hoped for a penalty.
It is beginning to look like it isn’t gonna happen. We’ve gone 4-4-2 now with Ross Stewart on for Ronnie. Josh Q tries to get on the end of a cross in the Wrexham penalty area and is virtually having his shirt ripped off his back, but that’s another thing that this fucking referee can’t see but then Josh has a bit of a mare as the ball is poked back towards him and he takes a shit touch and Hardie is clean through against Baz but Baz again shows that his shot stopping may have improved by flinging himself to his left and getting the finest of touches on it to take it wide. That was the game right there with just a couple of minutes to go .
And the Season Starts
90 minutes and we’re running out of time of course, but we keep playing with Fernandes playing the ball into Shea Charles and for about the fifth time, a Wrexham player goes through the back of one of ours near the penalty area and this time the pillock with the whistle actually gives it. Ryan Manning is the only player near the ball and we need him to be possessed by the spirit of Gareth Bale in a nice little Saints / Wales thing. Up he steps, over the wall, down and in and fuck me, brilliant goal. Goalkeeper no chance at all as it’s hit the inside side netting on the right hand side of the goal. Absolutely brilliant free-kick. Six extra minutes left, they are dead on their feet and we can fucking win this.
A few minutes go by and once again it feels like it’s not gonna happen until Charles picks up the ball on the halfway line and pings a diagonal beautifully over the top of the right back onto the chest of Manning who gets it across the box, Damion Downs plays an air shot and what the fuck is Jack Stephens doing there? Knocking it into the roof for the fucking net is what he’s doing there, and the place goes absolutely mental. Fucking get in. Talk about a change around. One free kick pumped forward later with Ross Stewart now in central defence and it’s over.
Get the fuck in there. A win, an actual fucking win!
Well that was a classic case of it all worked out well in the end. Up until the last six minutes it was a game of many frustrations – the shit goal we conceded, the diabolical referee, the total lack of attack and not forcing Danny Ward into any serious action. However, the five sub rule which absolutely killed us last season, is definitely going to be our friend this season. Though he is a big donkey, Kieffer Moore was absolutely vital for Wrexham and when he went off they had absolutely nothing up front and we were to be able to bring on players like Downs, Stewart, Archer and Fernandes and basically go all out attack, which enabled us to win the game. I had a thought on about 70 minutes that if we got one we would get two but when the first doesn’t arrive until 90, you are just pleased to not be losing.
So, how did we get there? Well, the key moment and the second half aside from the goals was Bazunu‘s save at 1-0. A second goal for Wrexham then would’ve killed the game and we all go home miserable and the atmosphere would have been awful and not one person would have been looking forward to Ipswich away next week. But Baz kept that out and a few minutes later we were level as Ryan Manning was possessed by the spirit of Gareth Bale. Manning is in a fight with Welington for a place at left back this season and to be honest, they are both at a very similar level. However, if Manning can score free kicks and deliver corners into the right area then it’s definitely a difference maker in his favour. Another key moment was Shea Charles taking no shit and hammering into that tackle that ultimately lead to Kieffer Moore having to go off. Brilliant tackle, proper Championship. Since the end of last season we were all looking at what players we were likely to have and picked out the potential partnership of Shea and Flynn Downes in midfield. Today we saw it for the first time and it hinted at just how good it’s gong to be. Shea looks a different player to what we had a year ago.
When the team was announced, it was more or less what I expected it to be, but the sharp intake of breath, was at Adam Armstrong being picked as the central striker. We all know that he can’t do it and he adds very very little to general play when he plays there. There was absolutely no one to hold the ball up in the front three and when you pick a three where Ryan Fraser is the most physical, then you really are struggling. We could’ve scored in the first half, but a couple of ricochets didn’t go our way and Wrexham made a couple of good blocks. We looked much better when we went more basic, especially when Ross Stewart came on and we had two targets to aim for in the box, with him and Damion Downs both giving the defence something to worry about. Cameron Archer also made a difference with the energy he added on the left-hand side. A word though for the Wee Man who played as a number 10 in preseason, as a right winger from the start today, then a right wing back, then a right back and his natural position is left-wing. He looks good to be fair, as did Jay Robinson. Personally, I think that Ross Stewart should be the one starting games at centre forward and when he inevitably needs taking out of the side in four or five games, Damion Downs will hopefully have got up to speed a little bit more, because he looks miles off at the moment. Still clearly wants the central striker to stay high and central and not venture away from that channel. That doesn’t suit Arma at all because it brings him into close contact with defenders and that just doesn’t work.
It’s funny how football throws you those moments when it appears that all the planets have aligned and the Karma Gods are looking down. At the end of a week where some pretty disrespectful questions were asked at the fans forum about why Jack Stephens has a new contract at all, it’s amusing that he scored the winning goal in the 96th minute. You would never have had him down to score the winner, and you would not have had Ryan Manning down to turn into Gareth Bale but here we are. It’s the Championship and mad things happen.
The Whole Ground Wonders What Jack Was Doing There
The Championship – home to no VAR and home to dodgy referees and linesmen. It is so nice to score a goal and celebrate it and not be wondering if it’s gonna be ruled out in 10 minutes for some desperately searched for offence. VAR of course makes no difference to handballs that are not in the penalty area but fucking hell, the referee today – couldn’t find his arse with two hands when it comes to handball. Wrexham players charging the ball down with two hands raised and the ball hits them, that’s handball mate. Blocking shots with outstretched arm – that’s handball mate. I saw that one from about 100 yards away but you didn’t from 10 yards. He seemed to want to play advantage at every opportunity, but when we get chopped down at the edge of the box, you’ve got to come back for it straight away if the advantage doesn’t occur, which it invariably didn’t within a second or so. The free-kick he eventually gave us which Manning scored from, was probably the first one he’d actually given to us for a challenge in their half, all fucking game.
Ultimately, the game was very much like the Sheffield Wednesday game at the start of the season two years ago, in that we were clearly the better side but didn’t show that in terms of scoring goals until very late in the game when we wore them down. Wrexham were fuelled by momentum of their meteoric rise and the excitement of the first game and started the game pretty well but it was pretty basic long ball up to Moore. The goal we conceded started with Sugawara taking a throw straight to Flynn Downes’ throat and us losing the ball and not reacting. When Moore cantered into the box, Ronnie Edwards had a brain fart and there was absolutely no need to shove him over like that, especially as Jack Stephens was covering. Moore, good in the air though he is, is a complete braying donkey with the ball on the ground, so ultimately, he’s not gonna do anything skilful to beat a player. Think! Also, I was taught as a kid that if you’re going to push someone, do it with your fist clenched, as it’s less easy to spot than if you do it with your fingers splayed wide. To be fair to the referee, it was one of the few decisions that even he couldn’t get wrong.
Tactically, I could see what we were trying to do today, but for the first hour, the attack was missing. Arma was exactly as we knew he would be in the middle – on his heels, not holding the ball up, not getting involved much, missing the chances he had. I know we didn’t look good in attack all pre-season but It’s still a bit strange to take a punt on a player in a position where you’ve never seen him play, even in a friendly. We clearly were going to cross the ball in low but you’re limiting yourself and let’s face it – we’re not good enough to often pick out a perfect cross from the wings. With a bigger striker in there you’re not limited to low crosses.
I’m also really not sure that you need three big central defenders, especially at home against anybody in the Championship. I could understand Josh Q being on to combat Kiefer Moore but he wasn’t marking him. That fell to Ronnie Edwards, who Moore bullied around. Surely we should’ve swapped, with Q almost man marking Moore and Ronnie playing wherever needed, instead of the three of them remaining in their right / left / centre channels and making it easy for him.
Nice to See Bravery Get Rewarded
Josh Q looked very raw at times. His first touch isn’t the best and his short passing played Welington into trouble on a number of occasions. I felt like there was no need for him to still be on the pitch once Moore went off but Still left him on to take long throws which certainly helped build the pressure, under which Wrexham eventually cracked. When we went to a back four, Q seemed much more comfortable. Maybe he’d be better in the middle of the three, where his passing wouldn’t be so much of an issue and his pace would be more of an asset.
Wrexham actually offered very little apart from doing stuff with mistakes that we made. They pressed well and made it difficult for us to play out but a lot of their play was very basic, lump it up to the big centre forward. When he went off, however, Plan B was non-existent and they settled for trying to see out a 1-0 win. It’s not as easy as that when the opposition has strength to bring off the bench. Overall, it was a good outing for Wrexham and they can be encouraged by that. They have some decent players in Windass and Coady in particular and I don’t expect them to be anywhere other than mid-table as the season progresses. Danny Ward is strange keeper. Whenever I’ve watched him for Wales, he saves the obvious straight-at-him kind of stuff but never actually saves anything difficult. Today was the same. As for ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, I’ve not watched any of the documentary but episode one of the new series will definitely be worth a watch.
So, the Championship is back and it’s gonna be a fun season. Sort that forward line out Will, and we will be fucking flying. The change of mood when we started putting balls into the box in the second half was palpable amongst the fans and the two goals at the end completely changed the mood of everybody leaving the stadium. That’s another thing – I saw fans leaving when we were one down and I saw fans leaving at 1-1, when we were pushing for a winner. You are going to miss a ridiculous amount of goals this season if you do that because in most of the games, we are going to be the team in the ascendancy if the game is tight going towards the end of the game. We also have a manager now, who is clearly going to be wanting the ball into the box a hell of a lot quicker than previous incumbents. Our strength off the bench is what won it for us today. It won us lots of games last time in the Championship, so you have to forget about last year where we were dead and buried when we were behind. This is the Championship and this is very different.
Six minutes at the end today changed everything. It’s just one win but what a boost it is. Now we go to Ipswich and there’s not as much pressure. A win there and we will be properly up and running. If we’d lost today then the mood would have been one of expecting to get beat next week and here we go again. As it is, the team and fans and thinking about putting down a marker to the rest of the league. Ipswich are everyone’s tip to win it so let’s do it.
Up the fucking Saints.
League 1 Minus 10 
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