Wrexham chief Humphrey Ker has now fired a stark warning to Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds ahead of their campaign in League One.
Wrexham have only experienced success in recent times, achieving back-to-back promotions, taking them from the National League to the third tier of English football.
The Reds now find themselves battling against some massive clubs in League One, including Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers and Huddersfield Town, who can all pull in gates of 20,000+.
From being a big fish in a small pond to competing on a level playing field with their rivals, achieving a third successive promotion would be uncharted territory.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds sounded confident ahead of this summer, claiming they’ll do whatever it takes to get Wrexham into the Championship however, executive director Humphrey Ker has now brought them back down to earth.
Humphrey Ker fires warning to Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds
McElhenney and Reynolds are like kids in a candy shop when they get an idea in their head while Ker serves as the adult who brings them back down to earth.
The 41-year-old is well aware that League One is going to be their biggest challenge yet, and he’s curved his expectation – unlike the Hollywood owners – by suggesting he’d be very happy with a top-10 finish.
In an interview with The Wrap, Ker has acknowledged that Wrexham are no longer a big fish in a small pond and the harsh realities of running a football club start coming to the fore.
“I like to inject a bit of reality to Rob and Ryan’s level of expectation,” he said. “We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve enjoyed two years of pretty much unparalleled success and we’ve had it very easy so far.
“The huge natural advantages we’ve enjoyed the last couple of years start to evaporate the further up the ladder we go. We’re not the big fish in a small pond anymore. The harsh realities of what’s required to run a football club start to come more to the fore. We have to be good in order to succeed.”
Now everything they do has been put under the microscope, heightened by the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, Ker explains how there is no way to hide if the club has a rough season.
He added: “If we do make a fool of ourselves, we can’t do it in relative darkness. Everything that we do is going to be under the microscope, which brings added pressure but, as I say, is a result of this brilliant support, which is helping us to power towards our goals and objectives.”
A season of stability would be good for Wrexham
There’s a reason why no team in the top five leagues of English football has ever achieved three promotions in a row, and that is because it’s very unsustainable.
Wrexham can, of course, become the first team to accomplish that feat by finishing in the top two or going up via the play-offs in 2024/25 however, that could be of detriment to their long-term goal.
For instance, if Phil Parkinson’s men were to win promotion next season, they’d have to completely overhaul their squad to compete in the Championship.
On the other hand, if they stabilise in League One for a few campaigns, they can slowly build a side that can not only serve its purpose in the third tier but also hold its own in the division above.
Wrexham have seen such a rapid rise in the past two years that a mid-table finish would probably be welcomed by most supporters, at least for next season anyway.
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