Things have changed a lot over the last few months for Wrexham, with the iconic strike partnership of Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer now a thing of the past.
With 149 Wrexham goals between them, many of which helped fire the Red Dragons to promotion along the way, it’s safe to say Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer are club legends.
However, Phil Parkinson decided he had no use for the pair this summer. Mullin is now strutting his stuff for Wigan Athletic while Palmer is down in League Two with Swindon Town.
Parkinson has a number of attacking options at his disposal now. Kieffer Moore has an impressive goal record so far this season, but his teammates have not quite matched him.
Indeed, both Sam Smith and Ryan Hardie are struggling to hit the heights of their predecessors, and they look a far cry from the immediately influential players Mullin and Palmer were a few years ago.
Phil Parkinson saw immediate change in Paul Mullin after Ollie Palmer arrival
When Palmer signed for Wrexham in January 2022, he bagged a goal on his debut in a home win against Grimsby Town. Mullin did the same a few months prior, on his debut against Solihull Moors.
Once the pair linked up, magic happened. Mullin and Palmer set plenty of records as a strike partnership and fired Wrexham to glory time and time again.
Parkinson clearly knew he had something special at the time, too, with the Wrexham manager talking about the positive impact of Palmer’s arrival during an episode of Welcome to Wrexham.
In season 1 episode 12, Parkinson said: “Ollie Palmer has been fantastic for us and I think he gave Paul Mullin a huge lift coming in. It’s a partnership we envisaged and has shown a lot of signs that it is going to be a successful one for the club for both short and long term.”
Parkinson was absolutely right, of course. Mullin and Palmer worked together so well as a partnership, and it’s no overstatement to say that, without them, Wrexham would not be where they are now.
Sadly, the same cannot be said for Smith and Hardie.
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Sam Smith and Ryan Hardie have not lived up to expectations yet
Smith arrived in the last January transfer window, and in fairness, his seven goals in the second half of last season were more than helpful in getting Wrexham promoted.
However, despite being billed as Mullin’s replacement, Smith has not managed to get going in the Championship this season, with just one goal in eight games.
Likewise, Ryan Hardie was one of 13 new signings at Wrexham this summer, but has not had the desired impact. The Scottish forward has one goal in the League Cup, none in the league, and has only played 324 minutes across both competitions.
Granted, Kieffer Moore’s goalscoring exploits have made it hard for Hardie and Smith to get a consistent run in the team. But, even Moore has been misfiring lately and that leaves Parkinson with quite the dilemma.
The fact of the matter is, Parkinson does not have a sturdy strike partnership he can rely on right now. In the past, it was easy to lean on Palmer and Mullin for goals and the Wrexham boss knew they would deliver.
Now, his Wrexham forwards are faltering and it’s abundantly clear that the magic the Red Dragons once had has not been replicated by this new generation of strikers.
Would Palmer and Mullin be doing any better right now? Probably not, especially not at this level. However, their replacements have simply not worked… at least not yet.