Phil Parkinson has to take Wrexham AFC action immediately and ignore big financial talking point | OneFootball

Wrexham coach must drop former Premier League star for top League One performer

With the League One campaign nearing its end and Wrexham in a heated battle with Wycombe Wanderers for that final automatic promotional place, the margin for error is nil.

The Red Dragons missed a golden opportunity to leapfrog the Chairboys for second place on Tuesday, losing 2-0 to Reading in a match in which the attack looked disjointed and particularly flat in the opening 45 minutes.

One of this team’s big winter signings was especially poor once again, as Jay Rodriguez played 70 minutes on Tuesday and provided very little going forward.

Phil Parkinson cannot afford another slip up from his team if they are to finish in the top two, and that means he’ll have to be cutthroat in his lineup choices from now on.

Jay Rodriguez hasn’t earned his wages at Wrexham

Signing veteran striker Jay Rodriguez came at a hefty price for Wrexham during the January transfer window. The 35-year-old came to North Wales from Championship side Burnley on an 18-month contract, with the club paying him an estimated £15,000 weekly, according to the Daily Telegraph.

His experience at the highest level of English football was supposed to be what the Red Dragons needed to earn a third consecutive promotion up the EFL pyramid. Rodriguez had played in over 250 Premier League fixtures, with Southampton, who paid a reported club-record fee of £7 million to acquire him in June 2012.

Rodriguez got his big salary at Wrexham due to his experience at a higher level and his goalscoring track record. He netted a dozen goals or more in three Championship campaigns, two at Burnley and one with West Bromwich Albion, while also leading the Saints with 15 goals in the 2013-14 Premier League campaign.

Rarely have we seen Rodriguez display the quality and creativity that many had expected when he joined the Red Dragons at the end of January.

Parkinson must drop Rodriguez

It is getting past the point of giving Rodriguez more time to integrate into this group because, quite frankly, Wrexham are running out of time. Rodriguez has provided next to nothing going forward since arriving, creating a mere six chances per FotMob, while he’s had few touches in the opposition’s box (17) and been dispossessed more often than not.

His pass accuracy is just above 50% in 565 League One minutes this season (53.3), while he has 12 targeted efforts and an expected assists ratio of just 0.25. For a player who had such a strong resume when he joined Wrexham, he’s been massively underwhelming.

Parkinson has given him plenty of chances to adapt and gel with his new team, starting the Burnley native in every one of their domestic encounters since he put pen to paper. At times, he’s had flashes of strong play, setting up the only goal against Rotherham United and having a nice long-range effort saved against Huddersfield Town.

At the same time, he’s not stepped up when needed, and his distribution has been all over the place, which is rather startling for a man of his age (35) and the kind of experience he possesses.

Maybe Rodriguez thought that coming to League One would be a cakewalk, and he’s just underestimated how competitive this division is, but in any event, he’s been a nuisance for this group more often than not.

Second place has to be the goal for the Red Dragons between now and the end of the season, and that means Parkinson needs his best 11 starting, and at the moment, Rodriguez isn’t that.

Marriott the obvious choice to replace Rodriguez

While Rodriguez has wasted most of his opportunities, it would be fair to say there aren’t many other in-form attackers for Wrexham at the moment.

Sam Smith has to stay as he’s their most opportunistic striker and is the most likely to find the back of the net. The former Reading man had high praise for Rodriguez last month, saying, via the BBC: “He’s a clever player. We’re trying to build a relationship as quickly as we can.”

After eight League One fixtures, it should be time for this relationship to end and Parkinson to find someone with whom Smith can truly connect with. Smith is having to work far too hard to get the ball in good scoring areas, and Rodriguez isn’t helping.

The most likely replacement to Rodriguez would be Jack Marriott, who hasn’t scored since October, suffering a lengthy layoff when he injured his leg last year.

He’s not played more than 18 minutes in a League One contest this year, but he knows this league well, with 133 League One appearances and 55 goals. He scored five goals in his first 10 matches for Wrexham this season.

Marriott has some strong statistical numbers versus many of Wrexham’s opponents down the stretch of this domestic campaign. Of their final 10 opponents, only two teams, Stockport County and Burton Albion, have kept League One’s top goalscorer in 2017-18 (27 goals) off the scoresheet.

Against those other eight opponents, Mariott has netted a combined 23 times. Wrexham are on the cusp of another promotion, and it’s time Parkinson entrusted the man with a proven pedigree for goals at this level.