RUTHLESS RYAN REYNOLDS & ROB MCELHENNEY! WHY MORE ‘STALWARTS’ LEAVING WREXHAM IS INEVITABLE IN PURSUIT OF PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL

  • Eight players released in 2024
  • Work to do on and off the field
  • Hollywood co-owners committed

WHAT HAPPENED?

The Red Dragons have already started that process, with eight players being released on the back of promotion out of League Two being secured. Cult heroes such as Ben Tozer and Luke Young are among those being moved on, freeing up funds and squad space for new recruits.

WHAT KER SAID

A similar theme will play out if Wrexham continue to climb the EFL ladder, with executive director Humphrey Ker admitting as much. He has told The Athletic on difficult decisions being taken and the need to take sentiment out of a results business: “We’ve had three seasons of unparalleled success. Everyone has got used to that. But the reality is — and maybe I’ll be proved wrong in the coming season — you can’t sustain that year after year after year. Manchester City don’t even manage that. There will be difficult patches along the way, not just on the pitch. Take this summer, when we are saying goodbye to some stalwarts. Men who have given an extraordinary chunk of their life to this club and played through the pain barrier. At times, taking up a position on the sidelines that they’re just not used to doing but still giving everything to help the boys over the line. We are bidding farewell to these guys and that hurts. A heartbreaking element of this is, as we go on, more and more of those figures will go. But that’s the nature of the club – it has to constantly evolve or it is in trouble.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Not all of that evolution will take place on the field, with Ker adding on the need for Reynolds and McElhenney to address as many issues off the pitch: “I’ve been very clear with Rob and Ryan, as much as I can be, over the need to say we need the infrastructure to catch up with the first team. The two of them were very big fish in a small pond as a National League club. They were still big fish in a small-to-medium-sized pond in League Two. We’re about to go into a league with clubs who can mix it with us. They are both aware of it. We need to get the training ground sorted, the Kop started. Our commercial operation has done a sensational job, as have all the departments, but they need support. They need more bodies, more office space. We need to expand our scouting network. We need to become more sophisticated in almost every area.”

WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

Wrexham are aware that rapid progress has left them playing catch-up in some departments, but every effort is being made to ensure that the club remains as competitive as possible – with life back in the third tier of English football for the first time in 20 years being fully embraced.

2024-05-10T14:07:52Z dg43tfdfdgfd