Ancelotti
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney | Wrexham AFC Watch
- Thread starter Salt Bailly
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Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) discuss United's fantastic win away against Athletic Club in the semi-final of the Europa League.
They also pick out the positives of United's 4-3 loss away at Brentford, and Nik reviews a day out at Old Trafford watching Manchester United Women qualify for the Champions League.
Ancelotti
Incorrect, as correctly guessed the answer is Steve Bruce
They got screwed in the past by previous owners. The club owned more land eg the student flats.
I wonder if R&R plan on buying the student flats and demolishing them as they're a symbol and constant reminder of poor ownership.
Doing that is probably the easiest thing to do, in fact if they found some space to have new flats built and did a deal with the uni, with both parties being happy it would be perfect. They'd probably need some more of the land behind the flats as well. I should have mentioned that behind the Kop end, they've got the railway line, which as we know ourselves presents issues building over, hence why the current plans only allow a further 2 or 3k seats to be added if needed later to the new build.
A move would probably be better, but it isn't on the cards, they rightly want to redevelop the Racecourse Ground. It will probably end up some sort of mish mash of stands once redeveloped completely, which will be pleasing in a way, as every other new stadium is a bowl these days.
Mourinho
I mean, if Leeds could get Bielsa in the Championship.... JM's a media-hog, likes hanging with celebrities, and is a self-confessed aficionado of English football's more blood and thunder aspects. I could see an outside chance he'd give the Championship and the whole muck and nettles a season as well as potentially accumulating a bit more folklore for his CV, legend status at another club (being the first guy to get Wrexham to the top-flight) etc. Maybe they'd have to part-pay him in club shares though, or residuals from the documentary...
Mourinho
They definitely won't move. That would be sacrilegious.
The student flats were sold for 11m in 2018, which is a lot of money now, but isn't to a club in the PL or either to a club with PL ambitions. So I can see them buying them and demolishing but the University might not want to sell.
They've said recently that they can get 28,000 onto the current site but I wonder does that mean buying back the student flats or building around them.
As long as they keep doing good community work, I think the council and university will be more helpful with planning and land acquisition.
But 20,000+ I think is plenty for their needs. Over 40,000 would be a white elephant.
If they reach the PL, they will be the smallest town/city to reach the PL.
Mourinho is bigger than Wrexham and even Ryan Reynolds - if he came in and was affable and fully intent on aiding them, he could be the greatest asset imaginable. If he came in and went full Jose, it could be absolutely ruinous for the club and good energy and vibes they seem to foster.
You really don’t want to open Pandora’s Box unless you’re sure you can handle the contents… Jose elevating or tsunamiing your club is a very risky business for such wet behind the ears, naive owners.
I could see them going for Kieren McKenna if he became available.
He's young and modern and could stay there a long time.
Parky's been brilliant but there might be a ceiling on his abilities.
Excellent shout.
Steve Kean available, or Troy Deeney?
All for this if it stops his face appearing on BBC Sport as often.
McKenna would be a more 'sensible' choice, but he's on good money at Ipswich, and probably wants to give them 2 more seasons (another promotion; then proving he can keep a side in the PL league) before moving to a top-six side or well-backed aspirant. Maybe if Wrexham make it into the PL and have even more financial backing behind them come 2027 (the Americans taking on someone else with serious cash as an investment partner), he might move.
Ipswich obviously love him so it would be a surprise if they fired him though so who knows.
He might prefer to live in the NW.
Ipswich will be strong favorites for promotion but if they don't go up, he might be open to a move.
I don't think he'll get a top 6 offer soon. But he might be attractive to smaller teams.
I could see him at Tottenham (again, in 2027) once they spit out Ange's replacement, but, yeah, I don't think he's moving imminently before he raises his stock slightly back up again (though I guess relegation didn't hurt Kompany too much...)
I was thinking Spurs should get Brendan Rodgers. His talents are wasted at Celtic really although maybe he wants to be the manager to surpass Rangers in league titles.
I bet they're after Iraola though or Thomas Frank.
If Iraola or Frank move clubs, then maybe McKenna will be approached by their clubs.
I don't think relegation has done his reputation too much harm.
Scott Parker? McKenna? Anyone else who is versed in promotion to the PL.
Dyche
He plays horrible football. I don’t think they’ll look in the direction of negative football for someone like him.
Wrexham's transfers this Summer will be interesting to keep an eye on. I don't think they'll go for the likes of Jamie Vardy and Kieffer Moore. More credible rumours are linking them more towards younger players; the likes of Rob Apter, Charlie Savage, Joe Low, Harry Darling, Nathan Butler-Oyedeji and Emil Riis. Wouldn't be surprised if they went for a couple of loanees too such as our own Harry Amass and City's Charlie Gray.
Parker will probably be available at some point next season or Summer 2026. That guy is pretty well versed in either talking himself out of a job or having his teams relegated with a good defensive record but zero attacking intent in the PL. Unless of course, Burnley are happy with just yo-yo'ing which is a possibility.
They'd have to knock down the Turf as well if they do the Mold Road stand, which won't go down well
They'd have to knock down the Turf as well if they do the Mold Road stand, which won't go down well
I think they could build around it and over it.
That will be the last stand done anyway I think.
Completely agree. Journey men will get you promoted to the championship but you need a good squad of players pulling together to make it to the PL. Charlie savage is a good shout considering his dad is a Welsh legend
For sure. It'll be interesting also to see what they do with Phil Parkinson. He is not a glamorous guy and has failed at Championship level in the past, but one would have to think he's earned a stay.
They've got some veterans that fans are divided on whether they stay or go - McClean, Fletcher, Mullin, Rodriguez (most want him out seemingly), O'Connell and Howard. I suspect they will have to be more ruthless than not.
He strikes me as an old fashioned lower league manager. Not convinced he has what it takes, but I think he should get the time to try. He’s won that right.
Crikey. They have a lot of older players don’t they. It’s gonna be a big job this summer building a squad to hold their own in the championship
His dad is from Wrexham.
He failed under difficult circumstances though. I wouldn't call it outright failure.
It will be difficult to move on players under contracts but I guess they will in time.
I'd imagine they've a 2 year plan to get promoted.
Might get some United academy players now they’re in the Championship… not many NW clubs in it.
And a local lad.
I love old style grounds with piecemeal development and distinct stands more and more when I see the new stadiums. There seems to be a lot of value placed on designs that look integrated but they just look generic and characterless to me.
Blimey.
Just saw Rob McElhenney on a YouTube video where he mentioned that some American data gathering research in America shownEd that Wrexham are the 3rd most popular club in the country, we are 2nd and 1st is Richmond FC ( the fictional Ted Lasso team).
The one where he's at the classic football shirts shop?
Saw that too. As someone who hasn't folllowed them too closely and has never watched the documentary I was surprised by some of the things he said in that.
I had no idea it was the plan all along that a documentary would go hand in hand with taking over a club. For some reason I thought it just sort of happened afterwards. Perhaps someone in Hollywood approached them after reading they'd bought a club, or they came up with the idea off the cuff while brainstorming what to do with the club after they bought it.
I'd have known if I had watched it because Google tells me the takeover happens in the first episode.
Paraphrasing, he also talked about wanting to find a team in a depressed area and selling a story.
It seemed like pretty genius marketing either way, but I didn't know it was all so clinical. Not sure if that's good or bad to me.
Respect the hustle , and I never thought it was as much as a fairytale as some so in a way it's even more genius to formulate it all in advance. The way they've gone about marketing the club, bringing in unique revenue streams is really clever. A bit disappointed that it wasn't thinking on the fly and in the moment though, like a lightning bolt of inspiration after they took over, or that the documentary sort of just came to be by chance afterwards with them realising what an opportunity it was and making the most of it from then on.
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As a Manchester United fan, I wish we had owners clearly as invested as R&R are in Wrexham.
As a (relative) local to Wrexham that went to a fair few matches there growing up, it's amazing what they've done.
However, the "tourism" angle will remain hilarious. Wrexham was my closest Primark and occasionally was host to a gig I wanted to go to. I'm not local anymore but, as far as I'm aware, not much has changed in that regard except there's now a Primark in Llandudno.
Every time an American (or other foreign fan) asks about visiting Wrexham, once they've got past a quick trip to the stadium and the pub, they're inevitably advised to leave. Chester is nice. Snowdonia is nice. As actual, modern cities, Manchester and Liverpool have their obvious draws.