Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac make telling admission on key to Wrexham success

Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have attributed their success at Wrexham to leaving football decisions to the experts. Since acquiring the Welsh club in February 2021, the duo have overseen a remarkable turnaround in the team's fortunes.

The Red Dragons have soared from non-league anonymity to Championship status, achieving three consecutive promotions. The pair's management style has been lauded far and wide, but they insist that the credit goes to manager Phil Parkinson, his staff, and the players. The co-owners were present at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday, witnessing Wrexham's first home game in the second tier in over four decades.

Prior to a disappointing 3-2 loss to West Bromwich Albion, both men were upbeat before the match. In an interview with Sky Sports, Reynolds also pointed out another advantage of their hands-off approach: it allows them to form stronger bonds with the team.

"We have a very hands-off management style," the Deadpool star said. "Our job is to listen, learn, and tell the story, and that's a great position for any owner to be in. We don't make football decisions, and the great gift of that is that we're able to have relationships with the players at Wrexham, whereas most people in our position can't. We have a relationship with every single one of our players."

The strong rapport between the pair and the players was on full display after the final whistle, as they shared a light-hearted moment with former Wrexham star Steven Fletcher. The seasoned forward, who was released by the club in May and had expressed his wish to stay via social media, was at the match working as a pundit for ITV.

But there was no sign of any hard feelings as he strolled across the pitch, sharing a laugh with the celebrity owners. Mac, who recently applied to legally change his surname from McElhenney, confessed that he was taken aback by the praise he and Reynolds received.

"It's interesting to get accolades when you hear people say, 'Oh, you guys have done a pretty good job at the club.' The truth is we don't really have anything to do with what happens out on the pitch," he said. "We've got our very specific job, which is to be clowns and to tell the story as best we can, but to be as respectful as we possibly can of what Phil does on the pitch."

Wrexham have yet to secure any points in their first two Championship matches, following a 2-1 defeat in their opener against Southampton. However, Parkinson insists there's no need for alarm, despite encouraging his squad to regain their defensive "grittiness."

Speaking after the West Brom match, he told The Leader: "The game is won and lost in both boxes ultimately and the goals we conceded were too soft, it's as simple as that. We've got to find a tenacity and defend our box better. The chances we had, could we have made the keeper work more? Yes of course, but the goals were just too soft.

"We've had starts to seasons like this before; in League Two. I remember where we were doing a lot of good things like defending properly, and we've got to get that grittiness back in our game."

He added: "A lot of the football was really good and we showed that we can compete at the level. But I didn't see too many times our players were getting freedom and space in their penalty box. We've got to look at that, and we will do, starting on Monday morning."