Phil Parkinson may now be regretting one decision he made at Wrexham earlier this season.
Wrexham were beaten 2-1 by Shrewsbury Town on January 16th, dealing their promotion hopes a blow.
They are now behind Wycombe Wanderers via goal difference having played a game more and have allowed Birmingham City a chance to extend their lead atop of League One even more this weekend.
Eoghan O’Connell’s defensive woes cost Wrexham against Shrewsbury but conceding goals has not been their main problem this season.
Instead, the main area of concern is up front, with every centre-forward barring Steven Fletcher well below par in 2024/25.
Paul Mullin’s form has been poor and despite being their all-time record goalscorer, is sitting on just two goals in League One this season.
Meanwhile, Ollie Palmer was left out of the matchday squad altogether for the midweek defeat at New Meadow.
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Wrexham fans are already tired of Ollie Palmer
Palmer has been a regular feature for Wrexham this season, starting all but two of their 26 League One fixtures.
Like Mullin though, the centre-forward’s been well off his game in 2024/25, scoring just three in 25.
Despite picking up a 1-0 win, Wrexham fans slammed Palmer versus Peterborough United earlier this month, with one labeling him ‘really poor’.
Phil Parkinson has also seemingly decided he’s not good enough at the moment either, leaving him out on Thursday as Modou Faal, Mullin and Jack Marriott all earned places on the bench ahead of him.
However, it’s now very unlikely the striker can leave the club after Wrexham decided to hand Palmer a new contract in October 2024.
Parkinson’s decision was questioned by an expert at the time, suggesting it was a call he probably didn’t need to make.
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Ollie Palmer Wrexham decline in stats
Now though, Wrexham are likely stuck with the 32-year-old until 2026 as it’s hard to see any team being willing to put an offer in for him given his form of late.
Palmer has never been the most prolific goalscorer but his decline over the last year or so has been pretty major.
| Season | Ollie Palmer’s league goal contributions | Appearances |
| 2021/22 | 15 | 21 |
| 2022/23 | 17 | 45 |
| 2023/24 | 10 | 39 |
| 2024/25 | 5 | 25 |
Another striker is expected to arrive at the Racecourse Ground in January, meaning we will likely see the forward left out of more and more matchday squads in the coming months.