Let's face it . . . this was rubbish

Wrexham 2, Posh 0

Barry Fry presented Denis Smith with an award before the game for his 1000th game as a manager

NEVER has Christmas shopping seemed so appealing.

Two terrible teams trying, and failing miserably in the most part, to perform in a blustery wind on a sodden pitch was enough to wipe the 'ho, ho, ho' from Santa's vocabulary.

Add the sort of empty atmosphere normally found inside Gazza's head and even the most fanatical of supporters could have been forgiven for heading out of the ground early straight to the nearest discount store - a place where they may soon be meeting Posh boss Barry Fry.

Fry was so incensed as the final whistle sounded on a 2-0 reverse he immediately pledged to start bartering for new players, (better than those on view at Wrexham he said, so he may be starting his search in the Pound Shop).

It was a terrible day for the whole club and for the manager in particular. The last thing he needed after accepting a modest bid for his star striker was a performance so shot-shy Wrexham's pensionable goalkeeper Andy Dibble would have been excused for demanding extra insulation.

"Rubbish," "sloppy" and "inexcusable" were some of the descriptions from the Posh players themselves and Fry will be even more upset when he discovers he was out-joked by his opposite number Dennis Smith.

"I don't know what we were watching in the first-half," Smith, who was presented with an award by Fry before the game for managing in 1,000 Football League games, mused. "But it will never replace football."

Fry's own comedy input to the afternoon was more practical as his reaction to a 2-0 deficit with 15 minutes to go was to replace two attacking players with two defenders, although Richard Logan's departure was caused by injury.

Indeed Logan had been the sole Posh player who looked likely to break the deadlock in that appalling first 45 minutes. The one-time Ipswich youngster had the double motivation of impressing in his final game on loan and of having first crack at filling Leon McKenzie's enormous boots.

He'll never do that course (it would be like expecting a Pop Idol nonentity to match Pavarotti), but the 21-year-old has the hustle and bustle to make an impact as a squad player.

Logan's own battling created an eighth-minute half-chance as home central defender Brian Carey was brushed aside close to the by-line and Dibble had to flop out quickly to smother a close-range shot.

But Dibble was a spectator when Logan met Matthew Gill's free-kick and planted a header just outside a post three minutes before a much-needed break.

Players on both sides had been slipping and sliding on a heavy pitch in the entire first-half which saw Sean Thomas head the home side's best opportunity over the bar from a set-play.

The 22 players sides left the field to a show of withering indifference from a paltry crowd which included the most half-hearted band of all time (two bursts of Men of Harlech and one attempt at relevance with the theme from 'The Muppet Show') and a red dragon who appeared to be suffering from hypothermia.

But Wrexham obviously felt guilty enough to put on a form of entertainment after the interval and they spurned several chances before clinching victory with two goals in nine second-half minutes.

Shaun Pejic was in splendid isolation when he cleared the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area, top scorer Lee Jones chose to cross rather than take advantage of a clear opportunity inside the penalty area, possibly because a minute earlier he'd scuffed wide from eight yards, while Posh winger David Farrell did superbly to cut out a cross from Carlos Edwards which even Jones may have converted.

But in the 66th minute Carey looped a 16-yard header over Mark Tyler from Jim Whitley's free-kick into the net and in the 75th minute substitute Hector Sam latched on to a long ball over the top and lobbed a goalkeeper who had failed to act decisively enough.

Tyler did make a brave save to deny Sam a second goal in the closing minutes, but by then the match was dead as Posh struggled to retain what little possession they won for any length of time.

Steve Thomson did fail by an inch or two to reach Farrell's cross and the winger himself failed to get a shot away when played through by Logan immediately after the opening goal.

And just to rub it in substitute Simon Rea's six-minute cameo as a striker was spoilt by a horrible mishit in injury time following a headed pass by Newton which left him with just Dibble to beat.

In mitigation better teams than Posh will come to the desolate Racecourse Ground and lose, and Fry's team still have an away record in which to be proud.

But they also have a defence that's dead as soon as the ball is played behind them, because collectively they have the natural pace of Vanessa Feltz, and the absence of a potent attacking threat now that McKenzie has joined a club which judging by the weekend results don't actually need him.

For all the promptings and determination of captain Curtis Woodhouse they are huge cracks to fill and will test the manager's ability in the lower reaches of the transfer market.


Fry blasts players

Barry Fry

once they took the lead we had no chance because we never looked like scoring a goal of our own

THE Posh players were given the mother of all tongue-lashings after slipping back into the Second Division relegation zone.

Posh went down 2-0 at Wrexham after a display lacking spirit, passion and heart, according to the club's management team of Barry Fry and Andy Legg.

Fry was clearly furious and it would appear that some players are on a final warning to start performing.

Fry said: "I want players who have heart, passion and hunger and there weren't too many of them out there at Wrexham.

"We were poor in the first half and yet we were also the better side. But I warned the players at the break that there was no way Wrexham would be as bad in the second-half as they were in the first.

"And they weren't. They created a few chances before they scored and once they took the lead we had no chance because we never looked like scoring a goal of our own.

"I can't remember a shot on target never mind a chance we created and it was awfully disappointing. We could have played for three days and not scored a goal.

"Obviously I can't allow it to happen again and some players will need to improve if they are to have any chance of having a role in the rest of our season."

First-team coach Legg was equally scathing. He couldn't believe what he was watching, especially the goals that Posh conceded in the second-half.

Legg said: "We had no spirit and we had no shots on goal - that's simply not good enough.

"We still might have scraped a draw, but we lost concentration at the back. The first goal came from a free-kick which travelled an awfully long way and the second goal came after a mix-up between three of our players.

"It was terrible to watch and it's back to basics for us now. We have to learn how to do the simple things right and go from there."

Fortunately for Posh none of the other teams in the thick of the relegation battle managed to win, but Stockport's home draw was enough to push Fry's side down a place to 21st.