PHIL PARKINSON acknowledges that his team was responsible for their own demise after Wrexham suffered their most lopsided loss under his leadership.
A 5-0 defeat at Edgeley Park by Stockport County put an abrupt end to the Reds’ seven-game unbeaten streak in League Two.
County scored first in the 21st minute, then scored twice quickly to go up 3-0 at the half before adding a fourth goal early in the second half.
Since Parkinson was hired as manager in July 2021, a late fifth goal has condemned Wrexham to their worst loss. The Reds’ manager acknowledges that his players didn’t help themselves, particularly in the first half.
In terms of all the principles of football, it was as terrible a first half for us as I can recall, according to Parkinson.
We placed ourselves under strain by cheaply giving the ball away so frequently in our own third and middle third.
“We put ourselves under so much strain with our pass selection and subsequent weight of the pass, and going away to Stockport, it’s about having a platform in the game and starting properly.
We were careless in everything we did, and we must take our medicine. Do the right things in the correct parts of the pitch and develop a performance.
At the halftime, Stockport presented all kinds of difficulties, and shaky defence allowed the home team to build a sizable advantage with Wrexham in second place.
“We have done okay on the road so far this season, but they were just a yard quicker and a yard sharper all over the pitch, and they put us under pressure,” commented Parkinson.
“It’s hard to understand why we had so many performances that were so much below average.
“I need to investigate the causes of that.
“When you play away from home, you have to make sure that you make the proper decisions with the ball in the early going, and there were so many times we attempted floaty
We didn’t defend our box nearly well enough when it came in during our third, and we paid the price.
After Stockport made it 4-0, there was no way back, and a late fifth goal sealed the Hatters’ third straight victory. However, manager Dave Challinor believed that this was the best victory yet.
The fact that we were able to follow up our previous two victories with a performance like this makes Challinor particularly happy.
We deservedly made a statement with this victory, which is somewhat of one.
“Situations can change in a millisecond, so even at halftime I didn’t necessarily feel comfortable, but we kept asking questions in the second half, and we got our rewards,” the author said.
