WHILST the idea of being followed around by the documentary makers does not appeal to Steven Schumacher, he is aware there are plenty of eyes on his every decision at the helm of Bolton Wanderers.
Tonight’s opponents in the quarter final of the Vertu Trophy, Wrexham, have grown accustomed to the glare of the lens as Disney Plus chart their progress from the National League to League One in impressive detail.
Backed by their celebrity owners Ryan Renyolds and Rob McElhenney, and often their equally well-known mates in the world of TV, films and sport, there is a temptation to downplay the job done by ex-Bolton boss Phil Parkinson in getting the Welsh club to the position they are now in, challenging for automatic promotion from the Championship.
But not so inside his old stomping ground. Schumacher recognises the hard work that has been put in on the footballing side by Parkinson and his assistant Steve Parkin, and isn’t underplaying their achievement.
“I’m not sure I’d like the cameras 24-seven here, I’m a bit more private than that but it is a great story what has happened to them, knowing the hard times that they had over the years,” he told The Bolton News.
“I remember playing against Wrexham myself in League One I think and the journey that they've been on has been interesting, dropping out of the league for so long, then getting the investment and generating the excitement to be where they are now. It’s a really good story.”
Wanderers fans will need no reminder of Parkinson’s acumen at this level of football. He led Bolton to automatic promotion in 2016/17 and then to a miraculous last-day survival the following year in the Championship before the worst of the financial and ownership issues began to pile up, ensuring his last 18 months in the job were all-but impossible.
“Phil is top drawer he really is,” Schumacher added. “He is somebody who I get on really well with, he's got time for the young coaches and has got loads of experience.
“He has done really well over the years wherever he has been and at Wrexham he has done a great job under what I'm sure sometimes are difficult circumstances because of all that attention.
“Sometimes you want to just go under the radar but there is no chance of that happening at their club at the moment and he's doing a fantastic job.”
Schumacher’s focus is understandably on Bolton and primarily improving their lot in League One.
Saturday’s 4-3 win against Crawley brought them back level with the play-off places and with a trip to improving Shrewsbury Town to come this weekend, there is some pressure to prioritise given the number of unavailable players for tonight’s game.
But as the Liverpudlian is finding out quickly, the pressure to perform and get results with Bolton does not diminish, whatever the competition.
“And so it shouldn't,” he said. “This club is too big for it not to have expectation and for people from the outside to be looking in and wanting more, that's what this club's all about and I embrace that.
“It was one of the key reasons that really attracted me to this job because of the ambition that we have all got and the level of what we can actually achieve if we get the plan right.
“Obviously we need to get a bit of luck along the way, and we’ll need to get ourselves in that promotion mix, but I think expectation is just part and parcel of it when you're the head coach of a huge football club like this.
“You have to embrace it, enjoy it, and try and use it to your advantage.”
So would Schumacher be pleased to get two trips to Wembley this season?
“Yeah, that would be great,” he smiled.
