Jack Marriott and Luke Bolton have endured frustrating starts to their Wrexham careers and have now received criticism for their performances.
Wrexham made a huge statement of intent when they captured Fleetwood Town’s Jack Marriott and Salford City’s Luke Bolton on transfer deadline day.
Marriott arrived with vast experience after scoring goals higher up the football pyramid while Bolton rose to prominence as one of the best wide players in League Two.
The rest of the division admired the business that Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds had pulled off, but it is fair to say the beginning of their careers in Wales have been underwhelming.
While Marriott is yet to score, Bolton hasn’t impressed as a right wing back in Phil Parkinson’s system with Ryan Barnett looking the better of the two.
Of course, it is still early days, but their poor form is a worrying sign considering the hype that was surrounding their transfer.
‘Disappointment’ verdict now emerges on Jack Marriott and Luke Bolton
After making such high-profile signings in the January window, at least for this level, pressure was ramped up even further on Parkinson to deliver promotion.
Wrexham are currently in a worrying slump of form having won just two of their last nine matches, and journalist Nathan Salt believes it is “not looking good” for their new signings.
“It’s early days but it’s not ageing very well for Wrexham,” Salt said on the Rob Ryan Red podcast. “It’s not looking good in terms of Marriott and Bolton. Early days but they didn’t seem to arrest issues in that window so far from what we’ve seen. I said at the beginning of the season that if Wrexham didn’t go up it would be a disappointment, I stand by that.”
Marriott and Bolton haven’t resolved key Wrexham issues
Wrexham have had issues delivering telling quality into the box and possessing a clinical striker, aside from Paul Mullin, to fire in the goals needed for promotion.
Unfortunately, Bolton has only provided one goal contribution while Marriott is yet to get off the mark in League Two, and that will be a concern for Parkinson.
You could put it down to the duo needing time to adapt to a new system and learn how their teammates play, but it has still been an underwhelming start for the pair.
That said, there is still plenty of time for them to play a major role in their promotion ambitions and you feel as though once Marriott bags his first goal, he will go through a purple patch.
The disappointing duo will hope to start against Accrington Stanley tomorrow afternoon and put in the performances that people know they are capable of.