Wrexham have experienced a tough start to life in the Championship, despite some big spending, but former Premier League star Dietmar Hamann insists they can still reach the top flight
Ryan Reynolds, owner of Wrexham
Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds has been told his Premier League dream won't be easy to achieve
(Image: Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Wrexham's tough start to life in the Championship is a "wake-up call" to their Hollywood owners' dream of reaching the Premier League, it's been claimed.
The Red Dragons took just one point from their opening three league matches after losing to Southampton and West Brom and drawing with Sheffield Wednesday. Phil Parkinson's side finally registered their first win after beating Millwall 2-0 away last weekend thanks to goals from summer signings Kieffer Moore and Lewis O'Brien.
Wrexham's difficult reintroduction to the second tier after 43 years away comes despite co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac funding a £33million spending spree during the transfer window. A total of 13 new players have joined following the club's promotion from League One in April, including the record signing of Nathan Broadhead for an initial fee of £7.5m, potentially rising to as much as £10m with add-ons.
The celebrity owners have made their ambition of taking Wrexham to the top flight perfectly clear, but former Liverpool star Dietmar Hamann believes their initial results will serve as a reminder of how challenging that will be.
However, the ex-German international still reckons they can achieve an incredible fourth consecutive promotion this season if they can build on their victory at Millwall.
Speaking to Adventure Gamers, Hamann said: "It's a wake-up call for Wrexham. Everybody's talking about getting promoted to the Premier League again, but obviously, with every division you go up, it gets harder.
"In the Championship, there are a lot of teams who've been in the Premier League and want to return. I think it's just a natural progression. They had their first game at Southampton and lost 2-1 in the last minute.
Kieffer Moore has scored four goals in five games since joining Wrexham
Wrexham got their first win against Millwall last weekend as Wales international Kieffer Moore opened the scoring
"That was probably one of those games where if they had won, they might be in a different position now, gaining momentum and confidence. But they lost, and all of a sudden, they're losing games, which rarely happened in the last two or three seasons.
"It's different. When you win games, everybody's happy, and it's not that hard to manage a football team. But if you lose, you have to find the right words. Obviously, that's a learning curve and experience for them as well because they haven't had that for two or three seasons."
He added: "Can they still go up? Yes, I think they can. But I don't think it's a problem if they don't because they won't be getting relegated. I don't see any danger of that. And if they stay one year in the Championship and have another go, I don't think it will do them any harm."
Wrexham's flurry of recruitment saw them sign three new players on Monday's transfer deadline day. The latest arrivals included Coventry midfielder Ben Sheaf and Blackburn defender Dominic Hyam, who were both brought in on permanent deals.
Content Image
Content Image
Manchester City wing-back Issa Kabore also joined on a season-long loan, completing a busy summer for Parkinson. The former Bolton and Sunderland boss is now hoping to use the international break to bed his new players in ahead of Wrexham's next game at home to Queens Park Rangers on September 13, with several squad members recovering from injuries sustained at the start of the campaign.
"As a staff, we've been saying that we wanted to get to this period and have these two weeks now to work with the lads," Parkinson told The Leader newspaper.
"More for the injured boys, but also Callum Doyle and Libby Cacace, to get some real training in them. There's a lot of people not where they need to be yet but these two weeks will give us a great chance to do that.
"We've had some uncharacteristic injuries in terms of picking up little muscle injuries, but it's because the new players have come in at different stages. But none of them are too serious and hopefully by the next game, we've got a few more players available."