Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson is ready to embrace the grind of the Championship when his side return to the second-tier for the first time in 43 years on Saturday.
Three consecutive promotions have taken Wrexham from the National League to an opening day fixture away at Southampton — a side relegated from the Premier League last season — and a return to a division Parkinson knows well from spells with Bolton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic and Hull City.
“I think it’s a great league,” Parkinson said. “Every game feels like a real big match atmosphere.”
While some fans have been dreaming that Wrexham can make it four promotions in a row there is the danger that after such a rapid rise that they find their ceiling — with the jump from League One to the Championship seen as bigger than those they have bridged in the last couple of years.
And the Championship can be an unforgiving place — particularly for managers. Last season 15 were either sacked or left their role by mutual consent during the campaign.
“That’s just the nature of the division and football in general,” Parkinson said. “As a manager you’ve got to accept that and concentrate on doing your best every single day.
“Understand the division — you can get on a good run, but you can very quickly be on a bad run and it can change quickly. Over the years the division is so tight, right to the end of the season. Last season so many teams were in contention for the play-offs.
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“It is very tight. If we get beat in games, which inevitably will happen, let’s make sure we don’t overreact as a staff, regroup and work towards the next one. That’s the mindset we had last year, we had setbacks along the way, people doubting us.
“People think with three promotions we’ve had praise all the time and plaudits, but we’ve had periods where people start questioning me as a manager, questioning the players. You come through these periods and there’s always a bigger picture to look at.”
An opening day trip to Southampton will throw Wrexham in at the deep end but Parkinson is looking forward to holding an underdog status they have rarely had since Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac began their transformation of the club.
“It’s amazing that we’ll be running out at Southampton in front of a packed house, against a team that has spent a lot of time in the Premier League over the last few years,” Parkinson said.
“When I look at my first game here, Solihull away in front of a couple of thousand people, and four years later we’re running out at Southampton. Sometimes you do have to step back and appreciate what we’ve done.”
And the main message from Parkinson to his players is to embrace the challenge in front of them.
“I don’t want us to fear it,” Parkinson said of the Championship. “I want us to go into every game ready to be positive. We’ve always been at our best when we’ve played in a positive way. We’re going to go into each game with that mindset and see where that takes us.”
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