Sport

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson: ‘I need to think long and hard’

11 Sep 2026 4 minute read

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson during the Sky Bet Championship match at the London Stadium. Credit: John Walton/PA Wire.

Nation.Cymru staff

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson tried to remain philosophical after witnessing his side on the receiving end of a 6-0 hammering at West Ham.

The heavy defeat continued an inconsistent start to the season for the Dragons, who have won just one of their first seven matches.

They competed well for much of the first half in east London, but were blown away once West Ham had established a two-goal lead by half-time.

“Very tough,” Parkinson said. “A very tough night. I’ve got to analyse myself and have that accountability. I’ll be looking at what I should have done better.

“For 25 minutes we were in it, then two moments where our defending wasn’t good enough. The third goal really killed us.

“Part of me is being reasonable and saying these are a very good side, a multi-million pound attacking force that should be in the Premier League.

“We didn’t cope anywhere near as well as we should’ve tonight. A part of me is saying they’re a good side but also we can do a lot better.

“I need to think long and hard because we’ve played Championship teams when we were in the National League in cup games and we’ve played a lot better, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

An honest assessment on tonight’s defeat.

🔴⚪️ #WxmAFC pic.twitter.com/KjIvCn0JRP

— Wrexham AFC (@Wrexham_AFC) September 11, 2026

Nuno Espirito Santo was pleased to give West Ham fans a reason to celebrate after a thumping 6-0 win over Wrexham at the London Stadium saw them return to the top of the Sky Bet Championship.

The visitors were dealt a hiding in a relentless attacking display which saw six different goalscorers as West Ham recorded their biggest margin of victory since beating Brighton by the same scoreline in 2012.

Jarrod Bowen got the ball rolling after 28 minutes, Joel Piroe made it two before the break, then Konstantinos Mavropanos, Taty Castellanos, Mohamadou Kante and Manor Solomon scored in the second half as Phil Parkinson’s team were outplayed.

“Very, very happy,” said Nuno. “A very good game, a positive day for us. Seeing London Stadium celebrate, a clean sheet, positive that our four forward players all scored. It’s a big boost of confidence. A good day.”

Wrexham were limited to a single chance throughout, though it could have had a significant impact, Mavropanos producing an excellent goal-line clearance from George Dobson at 1-0 before West Ham cut loose and tore into the Welsh side.

“Big, big moment,” said Nuno of the defender’s intervention. “Everything can change. But after that, overall we were really good, didn’t allow to many chances. We pressed them well and we were organised.”

Especially pleasing for Nuno was the way his side kept coming at Wrexham even after the game was long won.

“It’s important that players that are coming from the bench bring this energy to the pitch,” he said. “The game was in control, but the players that came in brought everything and kept breaking lines. It’s positive for us.

“We did really well the way we tried to control their set-up, but it takes a lot of hard work from the front players. We covered a big among of balls in their own half which is a good sign for us.”

The Hammers lead the table by a point from West Brom ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.

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