Key events
53 min: Looks like Big Kieffer is done, having been such a major force in this game.
Joe Pearson gets in touch: “On the commentary for yesterday’s Birmingham – Ipswich clash, they mentioned that the Blues had become accustomed to winning as they played their way into the Championship, while the Tractor Boys had become accustomed to losing in their futile relegation battle. Are we seeing something of the same dynamic today?”
Feels a bit that way, definitely.
51 min: Adam Lallana and the Saints staff in conference with Will Still. Will Fernandes come on? Saints look short of firepower. Moore limps off, towering over the physio.
50 min: Big Kieffer Moore in down, and it looks painful, the result of a block tackle, often the cause of big problems. His ankle is sore.
48 min: This being the Championhip, Southampton go down the other end, and Charles shoots. Did that come off Cleworth’s hand? It looked it. That’s a let-off. Next, as the ball loops in, Armstrong misreads the angle and heads wide.
Back away we go
46 min: Josh Windass is alert and ready, and tries to fox Gavin Bazunu almost from the get-go.
It’s 0-0 between Coventry and Hull, and the same between Charlton and Watford.
Mary Waltz is here too: “John, greetings from still pitch black California. Great to have Championship MBMs back. CBS has given us Hull v Coventry to watch. Lampard’s side is controlling the match so far but are finding the Tigers hard to break down, still nil nil.”
Jon Collin: “Tyler Dibling… isn’t playing. You mentioned him a couple of times but he’s busy wanting away, no?
Ah yes, some confusion here. Mine, mostly. Fernandes is in the squad, Dibling not as he would like to go to Everton. There was a long delay in the teams coming on the wires but to repeat, he is not playing.
Half-time: Southampton 0-1 Wrexham
A highly entertaining half, Wrexham look to the Championship manor born. Saints are full of decent play but maybe lacking a cutting edge and confidence. They might have fallen two or three behind but had the Disney club on the ropes by the end.
45+2 min: Armstrong smashes the post with a volley, meeting a fine ball, and Coady’s nous forces the striker to embrace the wide angle. Wrexham bundle away for a corner that’s cleared for one last run for Moore. The striker’s radar fails him; Windass was waiting.
45 min: We are told that Rob and Ryan aren’t here today. Josh Windass leaves the field, and comes back on.
44 min: Long throw into the Wreham box but there looks to be a head injury. Windass was actually hit on the thigh. He’s receiving treatment.
42 min: Wrexham being pinned back, and look to Moore but he’s offside….and Ward has to make a save when Fraser scoops a ball that looked to be going out. Both teams attacking whenever opportunity arises.
40 min: Saints fans want a penalty – twice over, make that thrice. Robinson was knocked over, then Downes, then finally a free-kick, outside of the box, is won.
38 min: Saints coming back into the play but struggling to piece together something….Downes hustles through and Adam Armstrong shoots, but straight at Danny Ward.
35 min: The home fans seem to think James Bell is against them. The truth is that Wrexham are playing better; O’Brien steps in to stop Robinson having a chance to shoot from Armstrong’s pass.
33 min: Fraser commits a foul chasing down a long ball. No target man for Saints, Tall Paul Onachu is at Trabzanspor these days.
32 min: Phil Parkinson is booked for some touchline remonstrations. Will make for good content….
30 min: Close again for Wrexham! Will Still pictured on the sidelines. He’s got work to do. Kieffer Moore is fouled again; he resembles a rugby player winning penalties at the line-out. O’Brien’s free-kick and Brunt should have made it two.
28 min: Wellington seems have to recovered from his earlier muscle issues.
26 min: Windass bursts beyond the Southampton line. This time he’s offside but the high line Saints employ invites on their opponents. Last year in the Premier League it proved fatal.
25 min: “Up the Football League we go,” sing the Wrexham fans. Can they do four in a row? They also sing for Joey Jones, a European Cup winner for Liverpool in 1977.
23 min: It was Ronnie Edwards who made the last-man foul on Moore. Was he playing the ball? There’s the possibility he could have been red-carded there so some relief for Saints.
Goal! Southampton 0-1 Wrexham (Windass, 22 pen)
Windass lashes the ball beyond Bazunu, low and hard.
Penalty to Wrexham!
20 min: Wellington seems to have an issue, and suddenly Wrexham are away. The ball is soon sent by Windass to Moore, and suddenly, he’s brought down.
18 min: Saints move the ball quickly, and suddenly Downes has a chance, and it takes Coady throwing himself at the shot to stop it flying in. Good, doughty defending, as you would expect from Coady.
16 min: Joshua Quarshie, signed from Hoffenheim, lurches forward. Hard not to think of Nigel Quashie, to be quite honest.
14 min: Flynn Downes and Ryan Fraser running the show in midfield. Both fine players at this level for whom the Premier League was maybe too large a step. That’s no disgrace, they’re fine players, and Fraser has been decent in the PL. Downes is still young, too.
12 min: Chance now for Wellington on the burst from wing-back, but he boots wide….at the other end Josh Windass launches the Windass special, beloved of father and son, and forces a fine save from Bazunu. We are so back.
11 min: Fraser’s ball goes to the back post but Jay Robinson is too wide of an angle. Was there a foul on Tyler Dibling? He’ll be a marked young man for however long he remains in the Championship.
9 min: Saints, as you would expect under Will Still, play an attractive style, a modern style, high press and all that jazz.
7 min: Wrexham, after that slow start, are in gear. Phil Parkinson-ball in full effect…Conor Coady volleys over after a short corner. That was well worked. The training ground in full effect. Coady might have done better from Windass’ ball.
6 min: Lewis O’Brien, once of Nottingham Forest, is penalised for a foul. Yes, it’s the Champo and we are in full thud and blunder mode already. What did we do without it?
4 min: First Wrexham attack, Josh Windass runs on, and Kieffer Moore is the target. Afternoon, grapple fans, he tussles with Ronnie Edwards but no dice; he rather flopped to the floor.
2 min: Shea Charles, loaned to Sheff Wed last season, is to the fore for Saints. Wrexham having to defend deep and in numbers.
Away we go!
1 min: Phil Parkinson takes a seat on top of the drinks bin as he awaits kickoff. The weather – pretty decent. Lots of noise from those who travelled all the way from North Wales. Ryan Fraser, a fine player at this level, sets off on a mazy run.
Fernandes being in the Saints squad reminds there’s much of the transfer window to come; what will these teams’ lineups look like in Southampton.
The teams take to the field, and there’s two Tifos. In the Wrexham end, a celebration of the late club legend Joey Jones, and in the home end, a large banner that features Matt Le Tissier in the centre.
Six new signings start for Wrexham: Ward, Coady, Cacace, O’Brien, Windass, Moore all feature. Ryan Hardie, a summer arrival from Plymouth, starts on the bench.
A back five for Southampton. Mateus Fernandes is on the bench with Everton target Flynn Downes fit to start. Adam Armstrong leads the line with Ryan Fraser and Jay Robinson on either side of him.
The teams
Southampton: Bazunu, Sugawara, Edwards, Stephens, Welington, Downes, Charles, Fraser, Robinson, Armstrong, Quarshie. Subs: McCarthy, Wood-Gordon, Manning, Matsuki, Fernandes, Brereton Diaz, Archer, Stewart, Downs.
Wrexham: Ward, Cleworth, Coady, Brunt, Barnett, Dobson, Matty James, Cacace, Windass, O’Brien, Moore. Subs: Okonkwo, O’Connell, McClean, Hardie, Evans, Smith, Lee, Ashfield, Longman.
Referee: James Bell (Yorkshire)
That doesn’t prevent us linking to Ben Fisher’s Championship preview.
The Championship is already underway, with last night’s rather stodgy affair.
Interview with Will Still, the new Southampton manager, someone with a very different background.
Couple of stats here to show how far Wrexham have come. They haven’t played in the second tier since 1982.
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This is the first meeting in any competition between Southampton and Wrexham since the 1979-80 League Cup second round, when Saints won 5-0 at home and 3-0 away in a two-legged tie.
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The last league encounter between Southampton and Wrexham was in April 1960 in the third tier, with the Welsh side winning 2-1 through goals from Ron Harbertson and Bernard Evans.
Preamble
Welcome to Southampton, welcome to the Championship, Wrexham. Here comes the latest season, as Disney visits Southampton, as it regularly does with cruise ships. Southampton are under the new management of Will Still, the club’s latest appointment of a progressive manager. Phil Parkinson is in charge of Wrexham, and he’s added a few players to the cast list you may – or may not, depending on your streaming package – you recognise. Saints aim to return to the Premier League after being all but relegated by September last season. For Wrexham, the Premier League represents a season finale on the level of Game of Thrones Red Wedding or Big Pussy’s ride on Tony Soprano’s boat. It all starts here.
Kick-off at 12.30pm. Join me.