Wrexham AFC: Paul Mullin issue is surely a cause for Phil Parkinson’s concern – View

No player has garnered more headlines during Wrexham’s Hollywood revolution than Paul Mullin.

His 88 league goals in three seasons at the Racecourse Ground has undeniably played a large role in the club’s newfound League One status, but the talisman is struggling to adapt to England’s third-tier.

Be it his wages or his goal tally, it felt for all the world that when the man from Merseyside signed for Wrexham he was to be a League One quality striker playing National League football.

It is this perceived truth that has left everyone surprised that despite the Welsh club’s fine start to the season, Mullin has been involved in 0 of their 14 goals thus far.

So for a man whose talent and goal scoring prowess are undeniable, what factors have contributed to Mullins slump in form?

Playing through the Pain

In the summer of last year, Mullin suffered a horrific injury during a pre-season friendly against Manchester United, the result of which included a punctured lung and broken ribs, though it was an injury to his lower-back that caused the greatest long-term damage.

Talking to Wrexham news outlet theLeader, Mullin speaks of his ongoing back issues.

“I think the impact on my spine I had from that injury made things a lot worse”

Mullin reportedly played through the injury for the duration of the 2023/24 season, scoring 24 goals as his side were promoted from League Two. That summer, he decided enough was enough and opted for minor spinal surgery.

“It’s something I’ve struggled with for a while. Because I was managing to play with the injury, I wasn’t sure about having the operation, but the pain was getting worse. I couldn’t even put my socks on the day after a match.”

The surgery, a successful one, took place in June, resulting in the striker missing the club’s pre-season preparations in their entirety.

Having missed the club’s opening two league fixtures, Mullin returned to the pitch on August 24th, a 17-minute cameo against Reading.

Every player has their limits.

Since his return, Mullin has amassed just 203 league minutes, and remains yet to claim a goal or assist in a typically free-scoring Wrexham side.

While it is vitally important to reiterate this is an extremely talented footballer recovering from surgery, Wrexham’s three-time player of the season still has demons to exorcise at this level.

His high-profile transfer to Ryan Reynolds’ side came after an emphatic 32 goal season with Cambridge United in League Two, who achieved promotion with a second-place finish.

Many believed this was a controversial and unromantic transfer as scoring at such a rate in the fourth-tier implies at the very least enough talent to become a high-end League One goalscorer.

The view was largely that Mullin had chosen money and notoriety over challenging himself athletically, and the longer Mullin fails to deliver on his biggest stage yet, the more his critics will be vindicated.

Seemingly back to full-fitness, the next few weeks will be imperative to realising whether the forward was just taking it easy, or whether League Two really was his limit.