Rob McElhenney takes his duty of care as a co-owner of Wrexham seriously.
The boss was contacted shortly after the 5-0 defeat to Stockport County in September when Phil Parkinson was still coming to terms with the club’s return to the EFL after 15 years in non-league exile. his manager through text.
Hollywood actor and author McElhenney did something similar during Paul Mullin’s recent eight-match run without a goal – the striker’s least goal-scoring stretch in nearly five years.
The cool-headed Scouser’s reaction was no surprise. “I feel good,” he told McElhenney, “it’s just a matter of time.”
Mullin’s inner conviction reassured his American boss, but it was not an act. Talk to anyone close to the player and they will speak glowingly of how adamant he was that the scoring tide would soon turn on him, even if Wrexham failed to secure promotion to League Two.
No one is going to re-watch old clips of him scoring for fun, as many footballers do on this scoreless run. Mullin wasn’t bothered by the chance of escape either. He simply told anyone who asked, including McElhenney, that the next ball would be in the net.
This unwavering belief explains why Mullin equalized with a stoppage-time penalty against Forest Green Rovers last Tuesday, ending a 649-minute wait for a goal in less than three seasons. Just four days after celebrating his sixth hat-trick, they played the North Wales club.
Putting an end to this unnecessary run is not only a lesson in staying confident, but it’s also a timely reminder of what players do best. The day before the 1-1 draw with Forest Green, Mullin took part in a one-man shooting drill that, to onlookers, looked no more scientific than simply being asked to hit the ball as hard as possible.
Putting himself through this extra effort earlier this week, when he was still nursing a back injury and required injections of painkillers, underscored his determination to end an unprecedented drought — in recent memory, anyway — drought.
Mullin scores from the penalty spot against Forest Green Rovers (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Last season, for example, the longest stretch Mullin went without scoring was two games (which happened three times). The previous year – his first at Wrexham – there was a five-match gap between goals around Christmas, but the team won three of those five games anyway , so the focus is mainly elsewhere.
This time around, the 29-year-old’s goals have dried up and the team’s record has been abysmal – five defeats in eight games and just two wins, without his dramatic 93rd-minute strike An equalizer would also see Forest Green beat Wrexham.
It’s no wonder that February’s coaching staff’s priority is getting their talisman back to his natural best. Not only in terms of goals, but also in terms of movement behind the defence, which was crucial to Wrexham’s game.
This has become less and less the case, which means the chances of the ball in front for the midfielders and full-backs to move forward collectively have also taken a hit. The result is a team that looks as disjointed as their results suggest, especially on the road.
After practice, conduct individual shooting drills.
The whole process lasted less than 10 minutes, with assistant coach Steve Parkin on hand throughout, urging the striker to kick the ball away. Some shots flew past the goalkeeper and into the top corner. Others did no damage and missed the target. But it doesn’t matter. Instead, for those watching from the sidelines, the purpose seemed simply to remind Mullin how much power he had in his boots.
We’ll never know if that would have played a role in the scoring resumption the following night, but there was a brutal savagery to his penalty – and an earlier shot that went just over the crossbar – that was What was lacking when facing MK Dons and MK Dons. Gillingham over the past eight days.
The second goal of the hat-trick in Saturday’s 4-0 home win over Accrington was similar. Mullin’s 25-yard shot was so confident that goalkeeper Radek Vitek had no chance.
All the extras that make Mullin a key cog in Wrexham’s attacking machine are also evident, including a quick run behind the opposition defense that led to the forward assisting Elliot Lee’s goal before half-time. ball.
Their main characters are back.
This weekend’s visit to Morecambe will see Mullin return to familiar ground.
He was released by Huddersfield Town in 2014 at the age of 19, where he spent three years as a teenager but made no senior appearances.
Mullin was never going to get rich in Morecambe. His first contract was worth just £200 a week. But those three seasons brought a valuable foundation. He also scored 25 goals in 122 league games, more than half of which came as a substitute. Mullin believes he deserves the starting role.
At the time, one of several members of the Morecambe team (managed by Jim Bentley) who was living in Liverpool on the Lancashire coast, Mullin would regularly drive to training. Groups of four take turns driving.
A lasting memory for those who took part in the 150-mile round trip was how the young forward tried to express his disappointment at not being actively selected. Some may blame the manager – to this day, Mullin considers Bentley a good influence on his career – but he went out of his way to try and force his way into the team.
Mullin’s latest goal drought is his longest at Wrexham (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
He spent his free time training by running on the town’s beach and doing grueling weight training sessions to build muscle. He wants to be more in line with the physically imposing lone forward role that Bentley’s system demands.
Over time, Mullin realized his mistake. His game has always been about skill and speed – but now, as he adds extra muscle, he feels heavy. He learned the necessity of standing up for what he believed in.
This has undoubtedly helped him not only cope with his recent poor run in front of goal, but also helped Wrexham sign striker Jack Marriott on deadline day early last month.
Two years ago, Marriott was still playing in the second division and has played more than 100 games in this level in his career. His arrival is considered a means to stimulate offense, and even Mullin’s offense has reached two number. By mid-January this season, he had been struggling for goals since the club returned to the EFL. But as Marriott showed when one player replaced another in six of his eight appearances, the rookie was actually Mullin’s direct competition.
Mullin has been dominant lately. In more than 100 league games for Wrexham, he has started just once as a substitute – and even then he is recovering from a collapsed lung and four broken ribs during last summer’s tour of the United States. This will naturally cause a stir.
But it also brings out a time-tested trait of wanting to prove people wrong. That desire has been burning inside him since he was sacked by his beloved Liverpool at the age of 16. That desire may explain why Mullin continued to attend training despite discomfort with his back injury. The problem led the medical team to use a rare free time on Tuesday this week to administer a pain-relieving injection.
Those who know Mullin well will say the same thing: what you see is what you get from a man who still lives close to his childhood home in Litherland, north of Liverpool. Life with partner Molly and son Albi is so stable that not even serious interest from the Saudi Arabian second division league last summer could tempt him. Family and friends long ago realized that trying to contact Mullin after 9 p.m. was futile, knowing full well that by then he would either be asleep, resting for the next day’s practice or game, or he would be in the nearby neighborhood. place.
Even McElhenney admitted: “Every once in a while, I want him to tell me how great he is. But it’s always the same (from Mullin): ‘I just shift, I do my job, and then Back to my family”. weekly! “
Mullin has been a key star for Wrexham bosses Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (Oli Scarfe/AFP via Getty Images)
Once again, however, this calm approach helps explain how Mullin has weathered his recent drought in front of goal.
It is his longest run without a goal – either as an unused substitute or absent – in 16 league and cup appearances for Tranmere Rovers since the end of League Two season 2018-19 and the start of next season Matchday line-up for three months. campaign in Division I.
He also has the insight that comes with four-year-old Albie’s autism diagnosis. Still, some in and around the dressing room insist the striker “looked six inches taller” after his penalty-saving penalty against Forest Green, suggesting there’s a big sense of urgency when the ball goes into the net. A sense of relief.
So what now? Firstly, he will be keen to continue his excellent goalscoring record against Morecambe, having faced them eight times in the past three games with Cambridge United and now Wrexham .
Then, if all goes well after suffering a stab injury to his back this week, he has two targets: a second successive promotion and joining the Wrexham forwards’ exclusive club to reach 100 goals. Mullin is tied for eighth on the team’s all-time scorer list and is five points short of triple digits at 129 games.
If he goes on and reaches that milestone this season, Wrexham are likely to celebrate their first ever back-to-back promotions and return to the third tier for the first time since 2004-05.
It would be a fitting end to an eventful year for their on-field talisman.
(Above: Getty Images)
