Steven Fletcher appeared on ITV Football on Saturday covering his former team Wrexham as they played West Brom in the Championship.
Steven Fletcher watched on yet another Wrexham defeat in the Championship. On the opening day it was Southampton and on Saturday Wrexham lost 3-2 against West Brom.
Again it was a game where there were positives for Phil Parkinson to take. But there were more negatives than positives on the whole.
Parkinson slammed Wrexham’s shoddy defending after the game with goalkeeper Danny Ward coming under criticism from Wrexham fans. Overall though, it was a poor team performance from Wrexham who have now lost their opening two league matches of the season.
Steven Fletcher discusses Wrexham’s new signings this summer
So far this summer, Wrexham have signed nine new players. Ahead of the game against West Brom, Wrexham completed a £10m deal to sign Nathan Broadhead from Ipswich Town, and the Welsh international made his debut earlier than expected, coming off the bench against the Baggies for the injured Josh Windass.
And speaking on ITV Football before the game, former Dragons forward Steven Fletcher revealed that he’s only heard positive things about the new signings and how they’ve complemented the current dressing room.
| Player | Cost |
| Nathan Broadhead | £10m |
| Lewis O’Brien | £3m |
| Liberato Cacace | £2.2 |
| Conor Coady | £2m |
| Kieffer Moore | £2m |
| George Thomason | £1.2m |
| Ryan Hardie | £700k |
| Danny Ward | Free |
| Josh Windass | Free |
Fletcher said: “Phil, he does his stuff his way. He’s been brilliant. It’s the type of player he brings in. The type of person he brings in which is a credit to him. He doesn’t just go for the quality, he goes for the right person as well in the changing room.
“And I’ve said that’s the best changing room I’ve ever played in my 22 years of football. So that’s a massive credit to him and I hope he does that this season as well. Obviously they’ve spent a lot of money, sometimes that can kind of upset the changing room a little bit. But from what I’ve heard so far it’s been great.”
Phil Parkinson has stuck to his Wrexham promise, but he may need to break it
All along, it’s been said by current and former players that the Wrexham dressing room built by Parkinson is one that favours personality over quality. It’s a method that has served Wrexham well so far, with three straight promotions, and going into this summer, Parkinson reiterated that he won’t sign any superstars or any egos at Wrexham.
Like Fletcher says, he focuses on signing personalities, but after two defeats in the Championship and a long season ahead, Parkinson may well have to break that promise. Not necessarily signing egos, but signing superstars.
Broadhead at £10m is a big investment, but there are plenty of fans divided and who think that £10m is simply too much for the player. There is still time left in the summer transfer window, and Wrexham look set to do some more business, potentially focusing on loans.
But it is clear that Parkinson needs a bit more from his players, or else it could be a real slog for the Dragons in the Championship.