Chelsea and Tottenham have been told of a crucial lesson they can take from Wrexham‘s rise to success.
The Welsh team, under the guidance of 57-year-old former Bolton and Bradford manager Phil Parkinson, have secured consecutive promotions from the National League and League Two in the past two seasons. Wrexham, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, are currently battling it out near the top of League One, with their sights set on an extraordinary third successive promotion to the Championship.
Their aspirations of taking one of the two automatic promotion spots took a hit on Tuesday night, though, when they suffered a 2-1 home defeat to play-off chasing Leyton Orient. However, former Wrexham and Manchester United shot-stopper Ben Foster has lauded the owners and Parkinson for turning the club’s fortunes around.
The ex-England international credits the manager’s autonomy over player-related decisions as a key factor in their success. The approach starkly contrasts with the strategy of many Premier League clubs, who often favour a head coach over a manager wielding full control.
The model, which assigns recruitment and transfer responsibilities to other members of the club’s hierarchy, has proven successful for some top-flight teams. But other big teams like Chelsea and Tottenham have floundered after going through numerous head coaches, with both Enzo Maresca and Ange Postecoglou currently facing scrutiny.
Foster’s old club United are also enduring a difficult season with newly-appointed head coach Ruben Amorim at the helm. The 41-year-old has now hinted that struggling teams might want to take a leaf out of Wrexham’s book in their quest for success.
Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “I like the way that Wrexham have done it. They’ve invested in really good, solid players who know that league really well. Phil has done an incredible job as well.
“It’s one of the football clubs that if a Premier League team could give a manager that much control, I think you’d see clubs thriving again. Their model is fantastic and Phil has his say from top to bottom on that football club.
“With every single player that comes in, he finds out about them, he does due diligence and knows if they’ll work well within the group. Even if they’re a fantastic player, if the other boxes aren’t ticked then he’s not signing them up.”
(Image: Getty Images)
He added: “If big Premier League clubs could take note and follow suit like that, we’d have some unbelievable teams in the Premier League.”
Foster had a close-up view of Wrexham’s operations after ending his retirement in March 2023 to aid the team in clinching the National League title. He recently shared details about the straightforward discussion he had with Parkinson before making his surprising comeback, which was prompted by an injury to the club’s first-choice goalkeeper Rob Lainton.
With a resume that includes a five-year stint at United and an impressive tally of 390 Premier League matches, one could easily assume that managers would be quick to snap up a player like Foster. Nonetheless, in a revealing moment on his Fozcast podcast, Foster admitted that joining a new club wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed – even for him.
Foster recollected being intensely questioned by Parkinson about his motivations for playing. He said: “I was properly on the back foot at nearly 40 years old, when I had Phil Parkinson grilling me. He was very clear with me and very honest.
“He said: ‘Listen, if you’re coming here just for a bit of PR, then that’s not what we’re looking for. It’s not going to work. But if you’re coming here to work hard and help get us over the line, then this can be something’.”
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