When Phil Parkinson was embarking on a managerial career that, at one stage, promised to take him to the top of the game, he could not have imagined having a conversation with an A-list Hollywood actor about signing a defender from Charlton Athletic.
Even with his new, voracious appetite for football, Ryan Reynolds cannot have been overly familiar with the qualities of ex-Bury and Rochdale defender Eoghan O’Connell.
But after Parkinson and board advisor Shaun Harvey gave them the low-down on the 27-year-old centre-half’s capabilities, Reynolds and co-owner Rob McElhenney gave the signing the go-ahead. And on Saturday night, after the new recruit had scored a late winner against Altrincham, Reynolds simply tweeted: “eOOOOOOOOOOOOOOghan.”
That snippet is a snapshot of how surreal things can occasionally become at a non-League club owned by Hollywood headliners.
When Wrexham played out that thrilling 3-3 FA Cup fourth round draw against Sheffield United, all eyes and ears were on Reynolds after he jetted in from the States. And the high-profile North American ownership has earned Wrexham an unlikely transatlantic following.
But the spotlight on Ryan and Rob means Parkinson has perhaps not received the plaudits he deserves for taking Wrexham on this cup run and for having them second in the National League, three points behind Notts County, with two games in hand.
Parkinson, 55, won promotion from League One with Colchester and Bolton and, famously, took Bradford City, a League Two side, to the final of the 2012/13 League Cup. He managed Sunderland after Bolton and was linked with other high-profile jobs earlier in his career.
And Parkinson insists this FA Cup run and the long-term challenge of fulfilling Reynolds’ vision and taking Wrexham up the pyramid shows he still has the fire to go higher.
He said: “I have been a manager for a long time but the minute you lose that ambition, that determination and that drive to succeed is the time to stop. But I am probably enjoying the job now more than I have for a long time and I came here because it is a club I can progress with.
“We are ambitious, we want to go up the leagues and this is a group with huge potential. Every manager wants to manage at the highest level.”
And Tuesday night’s replay at Bramall Lane against a Blades side that sit second in the Championship gives Parkinson another chance to showcase his talent on a big stage.
“Logic tells you our great opportunity was to win the game at home but we went to Coventry (where they won in the third round) and played really well,” Parkinson said.
“We are not going there to soak up pressure - we are going there to have a real go at Sheffield United. We have got 4700 fans going there and that is an outstanding effort.”
Whether or not Reynolds will be amongst those 4700 is still unclear. “Ryan and Rob were heavily involved in the transfer window but I’m not sure if Ryan will be there at the game - he hasn’t said,” Parkinson went on.
“But when Ryan does come, sometimes we find out very late ourselves. We’ll know before kick off for sure.” Alas, even if Ryan is there, he won’t see his latest signing - Saturday’s hero, O’Connell, is ineligible.
