Paul Mullin claims ex-manager nearly made him quit football before Wrexham move
Wrexham AFC striker Paul Mullin has revealed he "hated football" while playing for Tranmere under the management of Micky Mellon.
Mullin detailed his journey at the club, which he played for between 2018 and 2020, admitting that he "just couldn’t see the point anymore" having failed to get regular time on the pitch. Tranmere were the fifth club of the striker's senior football career having initially broken through at Huddersfield.
The Liverpool-born forward sought a brief loan move to Vauxhall Motors before enjoying a three-year spell at Morecambe, followed by a year at Swindon Town. However, his next move to Tranmere saw little personal success on the field.
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The club at the time had risen to the League Two following a successful promotion from the National League. Mullin was one of 12 new faces Tranmere recruited as the club won a second consecutive promotion via wins in the playoffs. Despite getting off to winning ways, Mullin has negative memories of his time at the club. Writing in his new autobiography ‘My Wrexham Story’ the striker claimed that the spell was the only time he considered leaving the sport thanks to manager Micky Mellon.
"Playing under Micky had brought me to the unbelievable position where I actually hated football," Mullin revealed. "Hated it. I didn’t want to be at training, nothing. I just couldn’t see the point anymore. No matter what I did, how I played, it made no difference. Micky didn’t like me and that was that. One morning I actually said to Mollie [Paul's wife], ‘I don’t want to go. I’m not going to play anyway. I can’t be arsed anymore. I just want to stay at home.’
"Micky never did properly justify why I wasn’t playing. There was one time I went into his office and asked him straight what the issue was. ‘You need to run more,’ he said. I got the stats – I ran the third most in the team. That then changed to ‘You need to sprint more.’ I was done. What can you say to someone who’s always going to throw some nonsense back in your face? It might seem that I’m bitter about my time at Tranmere, but really I’m not. To be honest, I’m grateful for it because it led to everything that’s happened since.
"I learned so much from Micky, about myself and about how I work best in a team. Inadvertently he made me mentally stronger than I’d ever been. Tranmere didn’t defeat me or get me down, the situation did. I fell out of love with football because I wasn’t playing." Paul would go on to join Cambridge United, initially on loan, before seeking a move to Wrexham under the ownership of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The striker since has thrived with the Red Dragons and has enjoyed success under manager Phil Parkinson.
Wrexham currently ply their trade in League Two having gained promotion from the National League last season with 111 points - breaking a new record for the most points earned in a season. Mullin was instrumental to the team's success having scored 38 goals in 46 games.
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