Welcome to Wrexham 1x11

1. Everybody knows the aim of the club

2. is to get promotion out of the National League.

3. With the new ownership coming in

4. and funding, you know, put into the squad,

5. expectations have risen.

6. But we try not to create a tension in the group.

7. We're trying hard to keep the focus

8. on the process of each game.

9. Obviously, at this point in the season,

10. it would be better to be right in contention

11. at the very top, but as a manager,

12. you've gotta be focused on what you need to do.

13. Every game, it's a process.

14. I speak to a lot of supporters

15. in and around the ground,

16. not just match days during the week,

17. and I'm so determined to bring this town success.

18. If results don't go well,

19. I personally take the responsibility.

20. As a football manager,

21. you know, you're gonna get sacked.

22. We gotta accept it's the nature of the industry.

23. You know, the lifespan of a manager

24. at any club gets shorter each year,

25. and, uh, that's it.

26. Every day it's a-gettin' closer,

27. goin' faster than a roller coaster.

28. Love like yours will surely come my way.

29. Hey, a-hey, hey.

30. Every day, it's a-gettin' faster

31. Everyone said, "Go out and ask her."

32. Love like yours will surely come my way.

33. A-hey, a-hey, hey.

34. Love like yours will surely come my way.

35. The outcome thus far has been

36. just to this side of acceptable.

37. It's been more of a struggle

38. than we would liked it to have been.

39. But equally, we knew we had 10 games

40. against tough opposition.

41. And that being the case,

42. where—where we've wound up at the end of it,

43. sort of not ideal for us,

44. but it's not disastrous.

45. The next 10 games, we do need to see

46. a kind of marked improvement, I think.

47. And if we don't get an improvement,

48. then pressure mounts, you know, on all of us.

49. But the guys that we've got here and the management staff

50. that we've got here, we expect them to click.

51. And if they don't, then awkward questions abound.

52. We've got some good players.

53. We've got a decent squad, but, you know, Hyde is injured,

54. which is not gonna be short-term.

55. Kwame is back, but it's unfair to expect him

56. to go Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday.

57. So we just don't know.

58. God bless the January transfer window.

59. Ultimately, a football club can only sign new players

60. at two times a year:

61. during the close-season before the season starts

62. and then for this calendar month of January.

63. The challenge, of course, is,

64. we're only wanting to sign players

65. that other clubs are already using or want to keep.

66. Robert and Ryan are great for the club,

67. and the financial support that we get is great.

68. But they're also our biggest problem...

69. Yeah, yeah.

70. In that they create a level of expectancy...

71. Yeah.

72. And financial ability that other people believe we have.

73. But everyone's— then that's the key.

74. Rob? Hi, Shaun, how are you?

75. Mm-hmm.

76. Well, I definitely feel fully in the loop.

77. I don't know if I feel 100% comfortable.

78. We play the rest of the season with this new squad,

79. and we don't go up,

80. we will be significantly over budget next year.

81. yeah...

82. Yeah.

83. "After nearly 19 games,

84. "there appears to be very little improvement

85. "in the team's performance.

86. If we can't change the players, we must change the manager."

87. "Shit formation—haven't got the players to play it."

88. "Shocking stuff.

89. "I want Parkinson out after Torquay,

90. and I have not changed my mind—dreadful."

91. "Too slow, appointing a manager

92. who inherited a strange retained list."

93. "What the fuck is going on here?"

94. Oof.

95. Rough.

96. "If it's not a win, Parky needs to go,

97. "and feel free to dig at me. I don't care.

98. Stop being shit."

99. I'm gonna have a T-shirt made that says, "Parky out."

100. If you let him go now, I feel like—

101. first off, like, it was a coup that we even got him.

102. Yeah.

103. You let him go seven months later,

104. I think it's just as bad a look.

105. I think you can't do business like that.

106. Mm-hmm.

107. You can't work with people like that.

108. I don't mind giving him... time.

109. The problem is that he's asking

110. for a significant amount of money

111. for the January transfer window.

112. The decision we have to make is whether or not we—

113. not only do we keep him— okay, that's one thing.

114. - Mm-hmm. - Give him a full season, fine.

115. But we're essentially doubling down not only for this season,

116. but for next season, because the players we sign,

117. it'll be two- to three-year contracts.

118. He inherited 80% of a plan. Yes.

119. By the way, that's—that's one of the things, so I—

120. Is this the kind of house you—

121. Ask Blake. I have no idea what—

122. Are you fucking kidding me?

123. - Yeah. - Is—

124. It's a house of horrors. - Is this—is that a prop?

125. No, that's a—

126. No, this is supposed— oh, I see, it's therapy.

127. Ah, yes, exactly. - It's for ther—

128. it's for therapy. That makes a lot of sense.

129. We decided that before

130. we entertained spending more money

131. on players for Phil in January,

132. we needed to see some improvement from the team.

133. Phil basically has until the new year to prove

134. that he can do the job.

135. Most important, the manager is trying to build a relationship

136. with players to find out what makes them tick

137. on a individual basis.

138. Coming

139. Change is coming

140. Wrexham have the lead at the Recreation Ground!

141. It was Aaron Hayden who headed it

142. into the back of the net.

143. And he fires back out—

144. into the net!

145. With that, Wrexham have got a second goal!

146. It goes into the back of the net!

147. It's in! It's in again!

148. And it's Hall-Johnson for Wrexham!

149. What a goal for Wrexham! Volleys!

150. And there is the touchdown.

151. And the whistle is blown.

152. It's been an absolutely incredible evening

153. here in Aldershot.

154. Wrexham! Wrexham! Wrexham! Wrexham!

155. After smashing Aldershot,

156. things are looking up.

157. Now Wrexham hoping to keep the momentum going

158. as they take on Kings Lynn Town.

159. Fucking yeah!

160. Come on!

161. Come on!

162. When was the last time we scored five in two games?

163. Never. Never in the history, never.

164. Fuckin' amazin'. Amazin', bruv.

165. Yeah!

166. 6-1!

167. Let's go!

168. Fantastic. Wrexham set a new club record.

169. We scored 11 goals in back-to-back away games.

170. Well, you can't complain about that.

171. Well, those are the two weakest teams in the league.

172. Oh, so you can complain about that.

173. I'm just sayin'. What are you saying?

174. That we should be beating these teams.

175. We did beat these teams. Yeah, I'm just sayin'.

176. You've been reading too many mean tweets.

177. Coach! Hey, how you doing?

178. How are ya? - Big fan.

179. Rob—damn, man, I'm a big fan of yours.

180. Yeah, a really big fan.

181. Congratulations on the season so far.

182. Thank you. I appreciate it.

183. Yeah, we gotta keep it— keep it stringing—

184. Kinda feels like the momentum's happening though.

185. Right? - Yeah.

186. - Goddamn, that was— - It's happening, yeah.

187. This is my—

188. I coached at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

189. Okay, yup.

190. And this was my recruiting area.

191. I liked it when I was recruiting,

192. and I like it now, so... Well, when they love you,

193. they love you. - Yeah.

194. And then when they don't, they let you know.

195. Right.

196. But it's crazy that Coach Pederson—

197. I mean, 2017, I'm like, God, that was—

198. That wasn't that long ago.

199. It was like yesterday. - I know.

200. If you had to distill down one piece of advice—

201. What would it be? - What would it be?

202. One, enjoy every minute of it.

203. Sports, the reason it's popular is because it's unpredictable,

204. and the moment you think you've got a really good team,

205. um, you'll probably have some bad games, and it'll kill ya.

206. I'm on a text chain with a group of my friends

207. from Philly that I grew up with.

208. Yeah.

209. And over the years, I had the luxury of on Sundays,

210. having any opinion that I want to have.

211. Totally.

212. About what plays are being run...

213. Yup.

214. What players should be benched...

215. Yeah. - What coach should be fired.

216. Yeah. - What's Howie doing?

217. Yeah. - Right?

218. Yeah. - And it's a release.

219. Absolutely. - And it's easy for us, right?

220. Yeah. - Because we have—

221. we can have very strong opinions,

222. but now I'm on the other end of it,

223. where those conversations that are having—that I'm having,

224. those are— those are real people.

225. They're no longer characters on my television screen.

226. It forces you to have to really

227. think through a lot of decisions

228. and think about things not just in the short-term.

229. What's gonna gratify me for the next month of my life?

230. What is best for the team over the course

231. of the next 12 months, 24 months, five years?

232. Um, and what are your values

233. in terms of what kind of coach do you want?

234. What kind of collaboration do you want?

235. What kind of culture do you want?

236. - Mm-hmm. - That, to me,

237. is something I never thought about as a fan.

238. Mm-hmm.

239. But then you've gotta also then identify

240. where do you think the trajectory is gonna go?

241. And that's where the hard decisions are.

242. Mm-hmm.

243. If you thought you were on a upward trajectory

244. and you had a down year

245. and you'd say, "Okay, that was a down year,

246. "but we're really on a upward trajectory

247. with that coach and with that coaching staff,"

248. then, you know, you continue.

249. If you reach the conclusion that you think

250. you're on a downward trajectory,

251. and you needed a fresh leadership...

252. Mm-hmm.

253. Then you gotta make a change.

254. And don't be afraid to make a change.

255. At the same time, don't be afraid to keep a great coach,

256. like I did with Andy over the years.

257. There was a lot of criticism— "Why would you keep Andy Reid?

258. We didn't win the Super Bowl that year."

259. Well, you know, many of the years,

260. we were, uh, in the NFC championship game.

261. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

262. So you gotta—you kind of gotta decipher that,

263. but make your own judgment,

264. and don't shy away from really tough decisions.

265. because you can drive yourself crazy if you do that.

266. So I think you've gotta learn from it, take lessons,

267. and move on quickly and don't look back too much.

268. And everybody, you know,

269. wants to tell me of their passion for the club.

270. And you can sense it.

271. Yeah, he's well-known in the town apparently.

272. Very well-known.

273. I wish.

274. But, uh—

275. It's a club which should never have dropped

276. into National League, but it did,

277. and it's been some tough years for everybody in the town.

278. Yeah. - Yeah, no.

279. She converted.

280. Don't put that on camera, for goodness sake.

281. Really? - Yeah, yeah.

282. Football clubs in England and Wales

283. can lift a community.

284. My job, and obviously, not just my job,

285. the owner's job, and everybody playing for the club

286. is to do everything we can to bring success to the area.

287. oh, fuck.

288. I own a bar in Philadelphia

289. called Mac's Tavern,

290. and it's modeled after Patty's Pub,

291. the fictional pub from my show,

292. Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

293. Since I was in town, and since the last two games,

294. the team had been on a bit of a tear,

295. I thought it'd be fun to invite

296. all of my old friends from Philly

297. to come down to the pub and watch the game with me.

298. It's a full sellout.

299. And it's today? Yeah, it's a full sellout.

300. If we score a bucket of goals like we have been doing,

301. that place is going to go nuts.

302. And that's what I wanna see today.

303. That is what I'm hopin' for.

304. This is where they usually start kicking it out,

305. in the 25th minute.

306. Yeah? - Yeah.

307. Right, so we're at the game now.

308. It's the 35th minute, and it's currently 0-0.

309. It's such—

310. apparently, it's such a home team advantage sport,

311. which— Right.

312. But the last two games we won were away,

313. and we scored 11 goals. Right.

314. This is home, and we can't—

315. So Wealdstone was a draw.

316. But since I had to watch a 0-0 soccer game

317. in Philadelphia in front of everyone I know,

318. it counts as a loss.

319. That seems very petty.

320. Shut up, Ryan.

321. Come on! Yeah!

322. Passes the ball, moves, and it's in!

323. Yeah! A goal!

324. And that's a great goal! Yeah!

325. Seventh place. Not bad.

326. You're still mad, aren't you?

327. It was in front of all my friends.

328. That game was so boring.

329. It was one draw. He won the other four games.

330. All my friends were there.

331. Okay, I think we should talk about this later.

332. All of 'em. Everyone.

333. And it's 2-0 to Yeovil.

334. And fans start to leave now.

335. It's Davies.

336. And it's in.

337. Young Will reversed.

338. Ball's to Jordan Davies.

339. Peels across this man.

340. Jordan Davies chips the ball to the back post.

341. Across the middle!

342. Come on!

343. George?

344. Thank you very much.

345. Phil and his son George

346. come in on a regular basis, couple of times a week.

347. Um, he has a bit of a superstition

348. about what meal he has prior to a match.

349. Oh, the main man's here.

350. Get him on the camera. Oh...

351. Come on, this is the man you wanna speak to.

352. You see we got dressed up for this.

353. So it's quite funny to see when he comes in,

354. having his meals.

355. Come join us. - I'll come join you, yeah.

356. Yeah. We're really having a quick snack.

357. Yeah, yeah.

358. Thank you very much. - Thank you.

359. - And not the granola. - Not the granola today.

360. No, I have that every other day, don't I?

361. Usually, if I make his meal,

362. it's usually scrambled eggs on toast.

363. They're really good, nice guys.

364. Come in super friendly.

365. Nice, it's good.

366. We don't argue much at all, to be honest.

367. There are a lot of people who ask me, "Do you argue?"

368. And, uh, no.

369. I don't think it's as much as people would expect.

370. We've got a good working relationship,

371. I would say, yeah.

372. And there's the final whistle.

373. County celebrate victory.

374. Frustration, huge frustration for Wrexham.

375. When we started this 10-game stretch,

376. we were in 12th place.

377. Phil's gotten us all the way up to third place,

378. but we still can't beat the top teams.

379. But what does that mean?

380. It means we won't get promoted, is what it means.

381. So what do we change?

382. How do we get from third to first?

383. And a frustrating first half ends.

384. Yeovil Town 1, Wrexham, 0.

385. Plenty of work for Phil Parkinson's side

386. to do after the break.

387. It's a fucking disgrace, an absolute fucking disgrace!

388. We fucking turned up thinking,

389. "We're gonna fucking stroll around,

390. "we'll fucking play,

391. we're gonna fucking beat these no problem."

392. They're fucking first to every ball,

393. they won more fucking challenges,

394. they fucking won more second balls,

395. they fucking be bright on the fucking ball.

396. If you're sharp and you're closing down

397. and you fucking work, you're sharp with possession—

398. is that right or wrong, Tozer?

399. Everybody has been loose in possession,

400. 'cause that bit hasn't been fucking right,

401. first and foremost.

402. I can't accept that performance, boys,

403. 'cause let me tell ya, I'm fucking ecstatic it's 1-0.

404. Ecstatic,

405. 'cause we've been three out of 10.

406. They've been fucking eight out of 10.

407. They can't get much better.

408. We can fucking get a lot better.

409. Fucking sharp up on the ball.

410. It's out to Paul Mullin.

411. Mullin on his right foot.

412. He places it in! Yeah!

413. Yeovil aren't gonna be happy about that one.

414. Wrexham have equalized!

415. Get in there!

416. Davies, Mullin, and Ponticelli fronting,

417. leaving short. James Jones is making a run.

418. McAlinden's in space the left-hand side.

419. Liam McAlinden's picked out.

420. McAlinden crosses, left foot,

421. puts it across the goal to Ponticelli!

422. To Jordan Davies, sends—

423. an own goal!

424. - Whoo! - Yes!

425. Yes!

426. So we decided to stick with Phil.

427. Not just because of the wins and losses,

428. but also because of the team culture he's built.

429. I particularly like the swearing.

430. Fuckin' hell!

431. We also decided to go ahead

432. and buy that striker he was asking for.

433. You remember in Braveheart

434. when they introduce that character

435. about halfway through,

436. and it completely changes the trajectory of the movie?

437. Yeah, that's the guy I'm talking about.

438. The Irish guy. Remember that?

439. Well, now we have our own version of that,

440. and his name...

441. Ollie Palmer.

442. He's English, by the way. He's not Irish.