'Will the real Kevin Russell please stand up?' Two men stand up. 'Which one of you is the REAL Kevin Russell?' the voice booms above the thunder. 'I am', they say in unison. 'I shall repeat my question, who is the REAL Kevin Russell?' Again, the same reply: 'I am,' from both men. Brian Flynn turns away for a moment and sighs; he looks at Joey who shrugs his shoulders at him in response. Brian turns to the man on his left; he is looking rough, unshaven and very tired. 'Who are you?' The man looks up slowly as more thunder breaks the dead night. 'Kevin Russell '96-early 2000, the slow midfielder with no fans,' the man replies with a tear in his eye, 'more disliked than Chester by the Wrexham faithful.' He breaks down and cries. The room lights up as the lightning cracks near by. Brian turns again to Joey and Kevin Reeves; they both remain silent, looking blank. Brian turns to the second man: 'He’s Kevin Russell, so you are…?' The man, looking bright, cheerful and full of energy replies: 'I am Kevin Russell, '87-90 and late-'99 and mid-2000 to the present.' Brian walked around his office. 'Let me get this straight. You are the new Kevin Russell who returned from Notts County to become a slow midfielder with no control or fans. And you are the old Kevin Russell who has returned to end on a high?' The pair nodded. 'Why return then?' Rooster smiled, 'Because I am back to my best and am going to stay in this team for the next two seasons, scoring goals at will before I take your job.' Brian looked worried. What did he want? A slow midfielder or a goalscorer after his job? Pryce walks in: 'Brian, Joey, Kevin, I must congratulate you, where did you find such an extraordinary player?' The chirpy Kevin Russell looked Pryce in the eyes and slowly said: 'I've always been here, waiting, waiting for my chance to come again, to play upfront, to score, to be loved, and now I have it'. Pryce nodded, a small corgi howled by his feet and the thunder boomed outside; he slowly put his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small vial of Holy Water. He threw it at the old-looking Rooster who turned, screaming before imploding with a puff of foul smelling smoke. 'Let it be known, Rooster is back,' Kevin said as he turned to walk out of the office.

You're probably wondering what I've taken or been drinking, but that is the true story of what happened after the Man United game, maybe. Rooster has no place in midfield; last season he was deployed in front of midfield on the right and was a revelation. He still wasn’t at his best though. Now Kev finds himself back in contention for a striking role and I’m glad to see it. I know I've criticised his pace (or lack of) before now, but I now realise his ability to read the game and time his runs means he can create havoc. 

Hector Sam has dropped somewhat in my opinion. I don’t think it’s his fault he’s not scoring but I think that defences are getting wise to him. I read in a pre-season interview that he would have to bulk up a bit and hit the weights to cope with the tougher defences of the British game. I can see why now. He’s always on his butt! I recommend that Sam tries standing up to his markers more; he can turn defenders inside out but has to be on his feet to be doing this. On the subject of Strikers, Faulcs has been doing a good job recently; you can’t fault his workrate. I think the lads need a bit more service and a bit of luck; then we’ll get a 20-goal-a-season striker.

There’s a good picture of Darren Ferguson the back of the Daily Mail clashing with Jaap Stam; funny how all the nationwide Wrexham coverage revolves around Fergie Junior! Don’t’ get me wrong. Fergie is a God, his performances have been inspiring and I hope we don’t lose our best player, but the other lads must get ****** off with the lack of coverage they receive. There’s also an article inside warning Arsenal: 'Just think about Wrexham as you travel to Carlisle.' There’s a great picture of Mickey Thomas (God) and Steve Watkin (demi-God).

On the subject of photos, for Christmas I received Images of Sport – Wrexham FC 1872 – 1950 by Gareth M.Davies and Peter Jones. It’s a fantastic read for anyone interested in the history of the club. My favourite pictures are of the team training at the Racecourse in 1926; they just leap frogged over each other or had piggyback races. Beats the gym any day! The book is easily as good as The Racecourse Robins - and I'm really looking forward to the next instalment from Mr Davies and Mr Jones. Good work fellas.

Well, I guess that’s it from me apart from the usual 'Keep the Faith'… which I have to say is spreading to other pages in this publication. I may start charging people for the use of that phrase, or start merchandising. I can see it now: bright red t-shirts…white lettering…KEEP THE FAITH on one side, PLEASE on the other (to be polite). I’m sure the church use that phrase as well; am I allowed to sue God? Give the money to the club, I can see it now…

Keep the faith, Matt Wedderkopp