Partially agree. No I don’t think they would have gambled on a National League manager if it wasn’t an ex player.
But win ratios can be deceiving. Dean Smith’s isn’t very good here for example, but it’s pretty hard to argue he didn’t do a good job. Wrexham were very poor when he came in and he did a decent job turning them around.
It’s a little revisionist to complain about the appointment at the time. Not many people were arguing with it.
It took Smith a couple of seasons to settle into the job, build up his squad over several transfer windows and develop a style of play.
Also managing Walsall in League One is difficult. It could be argued that any manager who keeps us out of the relegation zone has over-achieved, based on our budget. Perhaps we need to reassess the records of Mullen, Hutchings and Whitney (not likely to be a popular suggestion).
I have not called for Keates to be sacked, even though he has made a lot of mistakes. I am still waiting for him to show a sign that he has the spirit to lift the team out of this crisis.
If you were I wouldn’t argue with you.
I’m just pointing out that win percentages, as with all stats, require a context. You’ve given Smith’s and why he did a good job. Keates took Wrexham from a leaky bottom half team to one that was 8 points off the leaders when he left.
I banged that drum for some time but it has got to be said, our extended form is worse than relegation level at this stage. I don’t think the board the manager or the players are covering themselves in glory at the moment. The whole club is ■■■■■■.
A fiver says you would.
Gary Mills, the previous Wrexham manager’s record was P64 W26 D13 L25, which is a win percentage of 40.6% (which is better than that of Dean Keates). He had taken Wrexham to the edge of the play-offs in his first season in charge, but was sacked after starting the new season with a P15 W5 D4 L6 record, leaving them 15th in the table. I think it is a bit harsh on Mills to say that is “very poor”.
Keates had one brilliant spell in his first season at Wrexham of 11 matches when they won 7 times from Boxing Day 2016 to March 2017. They then only won one of the last ten matches that season to finish 13th.
Like I said, win percentages aren’t everything. To pretend Wrexham weren’t a leaky lower table team when Keates came in is ridiculous. Good for Gary Mills that over 64 games he managed a decent win percentage. It means literally nothing. You have to look at the circumstances of a team.
Actually take Dean Keates himself. he’s got a 30 percent win percentage as Walsall Manager. Pretty run of the mill, maybe slightly lower than average. Would anybody with a sane mind describe the position we are currently in as “run of the mill”? We’ve been dreadful lately! You have to look at things in context.
Wrexham had been a top half team the season before Keates arrived, and were a mid-table team when Keates arrived after 15 games, and remained a mid-table team during the rest of his first season. They began well in his second season, but the good results stopped and the team was on a long poor run (4 wins in 16 games) when he was recruited by Jeff Bonser.
The reason I have pointed it out is that I used to believe the myth that Keates had gone to a struggling side and by turning it round had dramatically changed its fortunes. I did not check the facts for myself. Now I know that his record at Wrexham was nothing special, and certainly not good enough to prove that he was ready for League One.
Yeah it’s a myth he took a struggling team from bottom half to promotion contention. BUT WIN PERCENTAGE 
Judging them from the season before or any season other than the one a manager takes over in is completely and utterly pointless! But you’ve ignored that point over and over again so lets just leave that there.
