00:00Now, Wrexham have made Football League history with a remarkable third straight promotion and manager Phil Parkinson is at the heart of it all.
00:11Since taking charge, Parkinson has mastermised a meteoric rise, guiding the club from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons.
00:21His steady leadership, tactical mouse and ability to handle the Hollywood glare has been instrumental to Wrexham's resurgence.
00:30Whilst the spotlight often shines on the club's ownership, it's Parkinson's calm authority that's built a winning culture.
00:37With momentum now on their side, Wrexham now face their toughest test yet, competing in the Championship.
00:44But under Parkinson, few would bet against them continuing this extraordinary journey.
00:50We discussed it all with Wrexham expert Rich Faye and about the scale of Wrexham's achievement and what's to come in the future.
01:00Yeah, a moment for Parkinson. I mean, obviously, he's done an incredible job coming into the side.
01:08And as you say, with all the noise and this global reach, it absolutely came out of nowhere, really.
01:13Wrexham just completely spiralled into the world of football and they're so now well-known across America, etc.
01:20How good has he been in terms of, you know, getting the best out of some players as well?
01:25Because we have mentioned before, it is a bit of an ageing squad.
01:28But then you have to look at that League One table.
01:31Anyone could really still, you know, go up until the last couple of weeks.
01:34It's an amazingly competitive division, like most of them are in England every year.
01:39He's managed to take the pressure off them every single season so far.
01:43He's been at the club and he's achieved the very, very best with the group of players he's got.
01:49Absolutely. He is that constant, really, in the club.
01:52The players have changed. There's been squad overhaul.
01:55He's the one who's been there since the very start.
01:57And he's managed to adapt the squad to rebuild the squad as well as he's gone along.
02:01He's recruited players well.
02:02He doesn't just sign good players.
02:04He signs good personalities and good professionals as well.
02:07I think that was what was so key at Blackpool on Monday.
02:10You know, Stephen Fletcher came off the bench.
02:12McLean was brilliant.
02:13Matty James has been promoted before.
02:15A very experienced midfielder was excellent.
02:17Dan Scar, who led Plymouth to the Championship as well.
02:20These are the players who shone really.
02:22And it will be that level of expertise and experience that Wrexham will have to call upon
02:26if they're going to get over the line in the last two matches.
02:29And yeah, Parkey deserves so much credit.
02:31Like I said, he won't ever get the credit he fully deserves.
02:33He's almost Pep Guardiola-esque that because he's had money to spend, it almost undermines
02:38the work that he's done.
02:39But to stay that level-headed, not to be self-indulgent, not to think it's about him, to almost ignore
02:45all the celebrity and status and just to build a very good football club.
02:49That's what he does.
02:50The football is not always glamorous.
02:52It's not always attractive.
02:53There's always moans and complaints about the 3-5-2 and the long balls that Wrexham
02:57have perceived to play.
02:58But Phil Parkinson's job is not to entertain.
03:00There might be seats.
03:01There might be people there who want to come on the weekend and be entertained.
03:05But his job is to win football matches.
03:06And he does that more often than not.
03:08He's a very effective, very successful manager.
03:11And he does what his job is.
03:12He makes the tough decisions that fans don't always agree with.
03:16But he always acts in the best interest of the club.
03:18So whatever happens this season, Wrexham are probably going to record what is going to be
03:23within their top seven ever finishes in the 161-year history of the club.
03:29The seventh best ever finish, whatever happens now.
03:32And, you know, he deserves so much credit for that.
03:35Because to get promoted from the National League was one thing.
03:38That felt like something unachievable at the time.
03:41And now dreaming of the championship.
03:43And if they can get to the championship, why would they not dream of getting to the Premier League?
03:47It sounds ludicrous.
03:48But we've seen what's happened in the last three years.
03:50Why can that not be the goal for next season, even?
03:53But for the last half an hour, 40 minutes, they were on top of Birmingham.
03:56They should have won that game.
03:58And it was the fact that, you know, Wrexham had been comfortably beaten when they went to St. Andrews.
04:02But on their home turf, they were more than a match for them.
04:05And that did feel like a monumental point, really.
04:08You know, it felt like a performance that really proved that Wrexham aren't just these plucky underdogs.
04:12They're not that far off the top team in the league who have spent a hell of a lot more money than them.
04:17So I think that was one of the performances where you really did believe that they've got something about them as Wrexham team.
04:22It was a week after they'd lost the derby to Shrewsbury as well, fierce rivals.
04:27And they responded in style.
04:29I think from that moment, there was then that inner belief that they can still produce those big performances against the better teams in the division.
04:36And for me, that probably was the turning point where you felt, OK, if they can do that against Birmingham at home, they can beat anyone.
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