Wrexham fans are visibly unhappy with yesterday’s Jay Rodriguez return announcement and are even making calls for former Wrexham hero Steven Fletcher over him.
Yesterday, Wrexham fans began the weekend fighting off the Swansea City lowdown from the past week. A majority of them will have even checked a thing or two about the next opponents in town, Sheffield United.
Hours later, Wrexham came up with a surprise evening announcement and changed the fanbase’s mood. Jay Rodriguez is the man of the hour, and his lengthy return to Phil Parkinson’s squad is the hot topic for discussion.
Jay Rodriguez’s prolific Premier League and Championship career
If you’ve forgotten who Jay Rodriguez is being a Wrexham fan, then binge watching a couple of his highlight reels won’t be a bad idea. For a start, he has lined up for two current Championship clubs Southampton and West Brom both in the Premier League as well as the second tier.
His goals are also celebrated at Burnley among a few other clubs, and so far this description would suggest that Rodriguez will become a Wrexham fan favourite in no time. Probably, the Red Dragons also thought the same way while adding him on board.
Except the reality is entirely miserable.
The last time Rodriguez pulled on a Wrexham shirt in a league game was during last season’s League One days. He didn’t go scoreless though, with 2 goals that don’t add up much excitement for Rodriguez at the Racecourse ahead.
Wrexham fans are unhappy with Jay Rodriguez’s return
Instead, Wrexham fans are visibly unhappy to see Rodriguez back in the fold. Multiple fans hopped onto the club’s official Facebook account and gave up on the 36 year old’s ability to come any helpful for Phil Parkinson’s men.
Moreover, the fanbase was rallying helpless calls for Wrexham hero Steven Fletcher to be brought back at Jay Rodriguez’s expense. One fan started these Fletcher chants saying: “Fetch back Fletch.”
Others too, joined in adding: “I couldn’t agree more. He did more than Rodriguez did”. Rating Fletcher more than Rodriguez based on their Wrexham careers is a no brainer, still writing off Jay Rodriguez is entirely wrong.
He can bring some crucial super sub energy in the final fifteen minutes or so, but fans still prefer Fletcher for the task.
A Wrexham supporter detailed his thoughts on Fletcher vs Rodriguez saying: “Looking at the bigger picture, can you imagine the difference that Fletcher might have made for the last twenty minutes in those games we have dropped points. Wishful thinking I know, but I would swap him for JR without hesitation.”
Needless to say, but if anybody ever believes that Wrexham fans will forget the past contributions of former forwards like Paul Mullin, Ollie Palmer and Steven Fletcher, they have their answer here. A plain no.
In fans eyes, boss Phil Parkinson is already a coach under borrowed time at the Wrexham hotseat and one of them even blamed Jay Rodriguez’s transfer on him. The fan lamented: “One of Parky’s many bad signings. Fletch was a hundred times better.”
The Fletcher part is true, again no doubt about that. Yet, injuries have prevented Rodriguez from delivering the goods for Wrexham and Sheffield United at home is a welcome chance to earn some respect back.
On the opposite, there’s a huge risk of Rodriguez’s inclusion getting questioned among the home fans should Wrexham lose to Sheffield United and the experienced attacker leave the pitch in a helpless manner. At this stage, Rodriguez has twice clinched promotion from the Championship and thus, has good chances to be Wrexham’s lucky charm.
Regardless, everyone admits it’s hard to back a natural finisher if the goals don’t come for a long time. With Rodriguez and Wrexham, let’s see how correct this decision turns out to be.
