Former West Ham striker Kevin Nolan has now dropped praise for Ryan Reynolds, revealing the ‘most important’ thing he’s done at Wrexham.
Wrexham completed an impressive tour of the United States in style with a 4-1 victory over MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps.
This result came after they held Premier League sides Bournemouth and Chelsea to draws, with Phil Parkinson’s men showcasing their talent against superior opposition.
It just demonstrates how far Wrexham have come under the ownership of Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, as the Hollywood duo brace themselves for a campaign in League One.
Following back-to-back promotions to the third tier, McElhenney and Reynolds have received enormous plaudits, with former West Ham striker Kevin Nolan sharing what he thinks has been the ‘most important’ element of their tenure.
What crucial thing Ryan Reynolds has done to help Wrexham’s success
When it first emerged that two Hollywood superstars were interested in taking over Wrexham, many felt it was a disaster waiting to happen.
McElhenney and Reynolds arrived in Wales having never owned a football club previously and that usually spells chaos.
Fortunately for Wrexham fans, their ownership has been a resounding success and according to Nolan, that is mainly because they’ve left the footballing side of things to Parkinson and his backroom staff.
Speaking on talkSPORT [30th July, 6:52 am], Nolan said: “What he (Ryan Reynolds) has done, he hasn’t sort of got involved with the football side of it.
“He has left Phil to do the footballing side of it, and that has been the most important. A lot of owners, when they first come in, because they love the football, they want to have opportunities to tell you what the team is, what they want them to do.”
The Hollywood duo have gone from not knowing much about the sport to adoring the football club they own and now aim to lead Wrexham to the Premier League.
Why McElhenney and Reynolds have been successful at Wrexham
Nolan made a great point when speaking on talkSPORT; a lot of new football club owners want to get involved too much and that can create a recipe for disaster.
In the case of McElhenney and Reynolds, who operate predominantly from the States, they’ve never interfered with the football side of things and instead hired the correct people to make those decisions.
Their stance on the former was perhaps helped by them having hardly any knowledge of the sport before arriving in Wales, so they weren’t in a position to dictate to those who knew better.
It meant that they were able to focus on the important elements outside of football, the sectors they excel at, including the creation of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, investing capital into the squad and increasing the club’s global fanbase.
Without those key elements, Wrexham would still be a relatively unknown quantity however, they’re now one of those talked about clubs in the UK and that just highlights their success.