Rock Bottom

Tuesday night was probably Graham Westleys lowest point as Preston North End manager as he saw his team probably put in the worst performance of the season as they slipped to a tame 3-1 defeat at home to Brentford.  Shaluem Logan put Brentford ahead early on and then a brace from Clayton Donaldson sealed the points for the visitors with Paul Parry slotting home a penalty just before half time to give the home team some hope but there was never any chance of North End taking anything from the game and the crowd made their feelings very clear at full time.

I've been watching Preston as a season ticket holder for almost 10 years now, and last nights performance has got to be up there as one of the worst I have ever seen (and it's got competition). From the first minute to the last, there was no passion, belief or even effort. The only players to come out of last night with any sort of credibility were Thorsten Stuckmann, Paul Parry and Chris Holroyd. Brentford weren't the best team to come to Deepdale this season, but we made them look like Brazil and they didn't have to work hard for their goals. The third goal in particular was one of the worst goals I have seen us concede, a simple set piece routine where our defence fell completely asleep to give Donaldson a free header from two yards. Danny Devine was lucky not to have been sent off when he brought down their player when through on goal to concede a penalty which put Brentford 2-0 up and pretty much killed the game after 20 minutes. While we reduced the score with a Paul Parry penalty and almost scored beforehand when Chris Holroyd fired past the keeper but bounced off the post and away to safety as his luck continues to be against him but at least him and Parry (along with Stuckmann) were the only players trying to take the game to the opposition. 

It would be fair to say that out of the starting XI last night that Iain Hume and Paul Coutts were the most naturally gifted players in the team, however they actually had the worst performances. I can't remember any point where Hume had possesion and was often chasing thin air along with Cummins, but at least Cummins tried to make things happen but he really does need to improve on his strength if he is to make it at this level but a good pre season should improve that. Paul Coutts' form has dramatically dipped over the last few months and he is a shadow of the player that he can be and whether that's down to what's happened with Westley I do not know, but if he continues like this I would not be disappointed to see him sold in the summer. 

I think for the first time, Graham Westley lost the support of the fans last night as the full time reception was extremely hostile and the fans made their feelings clear about what they had just seen with many fans calling for him to be sacked, something which was reflected on sites such as Twitter and Facebook after the game. Personally I was extremely disappointed with what has happened in the last few months but I do not believe that another change of manager will help. It is obvious that Westley has to manage with effectively both hands tied behind is back as it is clear that the players don't want to play for him. (bad apples anyone?) I would still give him until Christmas as only over summer will we see if he can turn this club around as while we are only on 47 points, I think that even at the moment we have the capability to scrape a few points together and get over the 50 mark which would mean safety. It seems that Peter Ridsdale is prepared to give Westley time to turn things around and it is not a dissimilar comparison to Blackburn who persevered with Kean who was being hounded out by the fans, but he has slowly turned them around and they are now 6 points above the drop zone in the Premier League

On Saturday, Preston make the fairly short journey across the Pennines to play Sheffield Wednesday in the televised fixture which starts at 12:45. Wednesday recently sacked Gary Megson and brought in Dave Jones who has made a solid start and they have jumped Sheffield United to move into the automatic places despite being 7 points behind only a few weeks ago. Hillsborough is notorious for being a home banker, particularly this season and any smart money would be on a comfortable home win given the form that the two teams are in. However in the last Sky game Preston managed to win 1-0 at MK Dons in a game which everyone said the home time would win so anything can happen and a positive result for Preston on Gentry Day would release a lot of pressure on the beleaguered Westley.

Preston Chuks it away

A 92th minute equailiser gave Bury a share of the points at Deepdale in a 1-1 draw on a warm Saturday afternoon. Chuks Aneke scored on his debut to put the home side 1-0 up with 20 minutes to go, but a stoppage time goal from lateef Elford-Alliyu ensured that Bury didn't depart empty handed and it meant Preston drew at home for the 5th game in a row.

In the first half, Preston were average at best as Bury were unlucky not to be ahead at HT after spurning some decent chances while the closest Preston got to an early goal was from Aneke whose long range shot got a deflection and went over. It was a case of same old same old as the defence continued to be solid and reliable, but very little inroads were made with Trevor Carson being distinctly underworked in the first half

In the second half things improved as Preston started to go forward with more confidence and this pressure eventually paid off as Chucks Aneke fired hike from 20 yards to give Preston the lead and score the first goal at Deepdale since Danny Mayors winner against Hartlepool in February. However the second goal which would have killed the game off never arrived despite Paul Coutts and Neil Mellor going very close and in the end this wastefulness proved to be costly as Elford-Alliya was in the right place at the right time to poke home from two yards after a shot hit the crossbar and bounced perfectly for him to steer past Stuckmann and ensure a share of the points.

Preston are now unbeaten in 5 home games, however all 5 of these games have been draws and Preston have only scored once, so while it shows that we are now a tough team to break down and beat at Deepdale the fact that no wins isn't a great statistic but at the very least we are now accumulating points, albeit slowly but at the very least we have all but guaranteed our place in League One next season, although this is something we would have taken as a given at the start of the season. It was good to see Neil Mellor make his first appearance since the 1-0 win at MK Dons in December and even his presence gave the team a lift and he was unlucky not to score once or even twice during the last 10 minutes.

Tonight Preston have their second home game in a few days as Brentford make the long trip north. When Preston travelled to Griffin Park all the way back in September we were in the midst of the 7 game winning run and recorded an excellent 3-1 win with Neil Mellor scoring twice and Iain Hume getting his name on the scoresheet. A lot has changed since then and there is only a very small chance that Preston will record a similar score tonight, but with Hume almost fully fit and Mellor coming off the bench at least there is a chance we can get upto 50 points before travelling to Sheffield Wednesday for the televised fixture on Saturday lunchtime

Preston pinch point to provide welcome respite

A resolute defensive display saw Preston collect a priceless point against a Carlisle outfit unbeaten in 15 at home and almost eradicated any lingering thoughts of relegation which is at least one positive as there were sections of the fans who were getting nervous that there could be a late season squabble to stay up

On the whole, with the odd exception, performances have been on the up and a deserved draw at Carlisle epitomises that. But although performances have been generally improving it is important not to get ahead of ourselves and think that we can go unbeaten until May or anything like that. On another day Carlisle could have won 1-0 had they taken their chances, but it could have also been 1-0 to Preston as the away team created some very good chances. Most notably Graham Cummins, who would have been really disappointed to have failed to score when but one on one with Adam Collin. Chris Holroyd also went close with a 25 yarder which was very well saved by the Carlisle stopper. Thorsten Stuckmann also had an excellent game in the Preston net to ensure that he kept his 10th clean sheet in only his 24th game for the club, considering Preston's defensive record in recent times that is a phenomenal record and over a season that works out at 19 clean sheets in a season. Considering the club record is 24 and we've only kept 15 clean sheets in 2009/10 and 2010/11 combined, this shows the massive influence the big German has had and if we had signed him in the summer we would certainly have been a top 6 now and pushing for promotion back into the Championship.

 The emergence of the second generation of youth players in recent weeks has been a massive success with yesterday night being no exception, apart from possibly Danny Devine who was subsituted after half an hour to ensure that he wouldn't be sent off which was a wise decision by Westley. Bailey Wright continues to be a revelation in defence as he was the stand out performer in a very solid and assured back 4, having started the game at left back, he moved into the centre after Ehmer came on for his debut to slot in in that position and he himself played solidly considering he hasn't played much in recent weeks. The defensive solidarity shown last night against a team where only 2 teams before the game had managed to stop Carlisle scoring shows that at least Westleys defensive improvements have worked as now we have only conceded 12 goals in the 12 games that he has been at the club and that includes 6 clean sheets which in itself works out as 23 over a season which would match the club record. If we can start hitting the net on a regular basis we would fire up the league.

Mad March continues on Saturday as local rivals Bury make the short trip north to Deepdale with the home side looking to avenge the tame 1-0 defeat at Gigg Lane in November where the doubts about Phil Browns ability started to creep in and he was sacked only a month or so after. Bury have been in very poor form in recent weeks with 0 wins in 12. With games like Sheffield Wednesday and MK Dons coming up in the next few wins this is the best chance to get a good solid home win to continue the gradual climb up the table and at least gain some respectability from this season with a top half finish which would provide some momentum going into a hopeful promotion push next season.

Hume at the double

After what has seemed like an eternity, Preston got their second victory under Graham Westley with a 2-1 victory over Exeter on Saturday afternoon. Two goals from Iain Hume either side of Leri Sercombe to give the visitors a badly needed three points and move the Lilywhites onto 45 points and just short of safety.

Iain Hume scored his first goals since returning from injury to show why Preston have badly missed him as it was the first time Preston have scored more than one goal in a game since the 3-2 victory over Wycombe back in January which was David Unsworth and Graham Alexanders last game in charge as caretaker managers. By all admissions however (including his) he was far from his best during the first half, despite giving the away team the lead with a close range finish to put Preston 1-0 up. After a rollocking from Westley at half time he came out a much better player and orchestrated the forward line which ended in a winning goal with just 6 minutes to go when he ran onto a flick on, rounded the keeper and fired home to give the away team the points. It was also our first away win since the 1-0 away win at MK Dons all the way back in December, a game which was also on the 17th.

It was a win which Preston deserved and in the first half we could easily have been multiple goals up and it was a shock to everybody when Exeter equalised after half time when Sercombe fired home from 25 yards. This took the wind out of Prestons sails but eventually we were able to put the game to bed thanks to some effective route one football that ended in Hume putting the ball into an empty net. It would be fair to say that our attacking movement is getting better week by week, but there is still a lot of improvement to come as there were several wasted chances that for a while looked as if they would cost us 2 points but thankfully this wasn't the case and hopefully this can be built on tomorrow night.

In recent weeks, players like George Miller, Bailey Wright and Danny Devine have been given their chance by Westley and they have taken this chance with both hands. Devine continues to look a rock in central defence and has only had one poor performance in the last few months which is understandable given how old he is and the lack of experience he has had, but he has a lot of potential and could be the next St.Ledger. Given that he is a centre back, it is very surprising how well young Bailey Wright has done at left back, looking at his performances you would have thought he was a natural who has played in the position for a while and this level of performance at such a young age is pleasing to see and with Wright performing so well at left back it means that Paul Parry can be able to play at left midfield were both he and the team are more effective as a result. With Steven Smith still recovering from injury, Wright has shown that he is more than capable of being a deputy at left back during this time.

Tomorrow night, the hectic March continues with a trip up to Brunton Park to play Carlisle United. Despite Carlisle being nearly 90 miles north of Preston, this is a game which is viewed by the home fans as their big derby fixture and one which in the past has had trouble with the fans and tomorrow night possibly won't be an exception. It wouldn't be wrong to say that this is definitely one of the biggest one sided rivalries in the Football League as most Preston fans don't view Carlisle in the way that they view us. But with Carlisle on the fringes of the Play Offs it will not be an easy game but one or three points tomorrow night would represent a job well done and would almost certainly put to bed any lingering relegation fears and would mean Graham Westley would have less pressure on him continuing the Preston revolution

A game of two halves

The slide down the table continues as Preston slipped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat away to Tranmere Rovers on a warm Tuesday night on Merseyside. Despite a second goal for the club from Graham Cummins Preston once again conceded minutes later thanks to a pinpoint header from Enoch Showunmi and a second half winner from Andy Robinson gave the three points to Tranmere and continued Preston's poor run of form

On the whole, the first half was solid and gave reason to think we could push on to win the game. A well worked set piece gave Preston the lead with Graham Cummins scoring his second goal for the club with a close range header and apart from a quick fire equaliser from Showunmi, Preston were at least playing as well as an in form Tranmere team boosted by the arrival of Ronnie Moore as manager after Les Parry was sacked a couple of weeks ago. However, despite having the majority of possession, Preston couldn't get past a strong defensive unit and only mustered 3 shots on the Tranmere net to 14 on the Preston net, but up until half time, Preston were looking solid and had more than a chance of coming out of the game with a result.

However, it appeared that Preston stayed in the dressing room for the second half as we were completely overrun in the second half and it is surprising that Tranmere only scored once in this half after a period of pressure resulting in Andy Robinson smashing home from 15 yards to put Tranmere 2-1 up, there were question marks about the keeping as in the build up Stuckmann punched the ball out when perhaps it would have been easier and simpler to catch the ball, however in the grand scheme of things it wouldn't have made much difference as Tranmere would have found a winner sooner rather than later. In the second half it could easily have been 4-1 as Tranmere peppered the Preston box with crosses and shots and only wasteful finishing and good goalkeeping kept the score down.

What's even more worrying is I don't remember Preston even getting the ball into the oppositions penalty area during the second half, and this was still despite having more possession than the home team which clearly highlights poor attacking coherency, and this was despite having Hume starting only his second game since coming back from injury. But it is hard to lay the blame at the strikers feet as both Hume and Cummins performed tirelessly up front for little reward and got pretty much no service during the game which highlights midfield as being the key problem area. In my last post I was critical of the performances of Andy Procter in centre midfield and this criticism was justified on Tuesday night. At no point do I remember him having the ball or even so much as winning a challenge, he would chase possession tirelessly for 90 minutes all over the pitch, but always on the wrong side of the player and wouldn't get the ball, it was like watching Chaplow at his worst all over again. For all Holroyds effort it is apparent that he's like a slightly faster version of Sedgwick, but personally I think he's wasted on the wing and I would rather see up front so we can have Parry and Mayor on the wings, but understandably, until Smith is back from injury Parry has to deputise at left back where he is doing a sterling job given the circumstances and has to be a candidate for Player of the Season, although apart from Stuckmann he hasn't got much competition.

On Saturday, Preston travel to Exeter in a game where Preston really have to win if we want to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle. Preston are currently 8 points above Exeter who occupy the highest relegation spot, and defeat would see this gap slip to 5 and with some very difficult games approaching over Easter, this gap could continue to shrink with relegation appearing to be a massive possibility if things don't improve soon. However a win at Exeter would ease these thoughts slightly, and Westley needs a win before the fans start to turn on him, which some sections of the crowd already have done after picking up just one win in his first 10 games as manager.

A goal, A goal, My kingdom for a goal

Goalless draws seem to be all the rage at Deepdale at the moment as Saturdays 0-0 draw against Scunthorpe was North Ends third in a row at home with the last opposition goal coming on the 21st January against Leyton Orient in a 2-0 defeat 4 home games ago with Hartlepool, Walsall, Chesterfield and now Scunthorpe failing to get past a strong defensive line up which is looking the strongest it has in many years. However in these 4 games we have only scored just once with a Danny Mayor screamer late on against Hartlepool.

That said however, on Saturday we looked a lot more likely to score than we have done at all since Westley came in, aided no doubt my a first start for Iain Hume since he was injured against Sheffield Wednesday on New Years Eve. As far as 0-0s go, I left the game feeling more positive about the team and having been rather entertained by a game which had everything but a goal. Chris Holroyd thought he had scored his first goal for the club, but his close range tap in was ruled out for offside and that would be the closest Preston would come to scoring but it wasn't the end of the chances with Graham Cummings and Andy Procter going close with headers and perhaps Procter should have done better after being unmarked from six yards.

As far as Andy Procter is concerned, the Jury is well and truly out. The new club captain has yet to have a serious impact since arriving from Accrington in January and has been mediocre at best it has to be said. However I am not ruling him out as he has only been at the club a few months however it seems giving him the captaincy was the wrong decision by Westley and perhaps someone like Hume or possibly Parry would be more suited to the role. Procter has shown flashes of promise, but has seemed to drift in and out of games, along with Coutts whose downturn in form has been worrying as he is the shadow of the player which he was at the start of the season and I have the feeling that he might be moved on in the summer which might not be a bad idea if this poor form continues and I would prefer to see someone like Nicholson starting instead of him tomorrow night.

After a dismal 0-0 on Tuesday where the players were booed off the pitch, Saturdays draw was received with less hostility as for 85 minutes Preston were the better team and on another day we would have been comfortable winners but for (once again) a lack of coherency in the final third. What's disappointing is the poor quality of the set pieces, we had numerous corners and free kicks (including one in the very last minute which I thought should have been a penalty) and the quality of the deliveries were poor and posed very little threat to the Scunthorpe defence when we should have been bombarding the area and creating chances and I can't recall a major chance created from a set piece during the game which is very disappointing but it is something that can be worked on in training and at least the team is looking more like a unit instead of a group of individuals, particularly in defence where Danny Devine and Chris Robertson were superb and it's fair to say that they've been the best defensive partnership we've had this season and hopefully they can build on this in the next few games.

Next up tomorrow night is when Preston travel to Prenton Park for the rearranged game to play Tranmere Rovers who have recently sacked Less Parry and brought Ronnie Moore back to the club. This game has been rearranged twice from the original date due to weather and internationals and it won't be an easy game due to the fact that Tranmere have a new manager and the players will be keen to impress him and make sure that they don't get relegated at the end of the season, but this is something that will be on the minds of the Preston players as well as we aren't safe yet and the last thing any of us want is to be dragged into a relegation battle as League 2 would be a complete disaster for the club. However I really doubt that will happen as I expect us to drift in mid table for the rest of the season then the serious rebuilding can begin in the summer in preparation for next season.

The Great Deepdale Snooze-fest

Graham Westley's poor start as Preston manager continued last night after a drab 0-0 draw against relegation candidates Chesterfield on a fairly warm Tuesday night but there was nothing on the pitch to add to the temperature as both teams could only muster one shot on target each and it was a result which was met which a loud chorus of boos, I have certainly never heard a draw met with that response before, I've heard defeats met with a less hostile response than that before!

The game itself was basically two poor teams trying too hard to win the game, it would be fair to say that Chesterfield were the worst away team to visit Deepdale this season and it says a lot about the standard of football we are playing at the moment that the game ended goaless and Chesterfield almost nicked it at the end when ex Preston player Neal Trotman headed against the bar with only seconds left on the clock but a draw was always likely to be the outcome. Preston did actually create one or two chances with both Danny Mayor and Iain Hume dragging shots wide, but these were half chances at best and were never likely to trouble the Chesterfield keeper who may as well have had a nap on the goal line as he was rarely called into action, but then the same could be said for Stuckmann who only had one save to make in the entire game and that was a scuffed shot which rolled tamely into his arms. There were only two positives that I could take out of last nights game, it's our 4th clean sheet in 8 games which shows that defensively we are a stronger unit and we've now only lost 1 of our last 5 home games which aint that bad considering we have had a poor home record in recent times.

However, the more worrying aspect of the team at the moment is how poor we are going forward, we haven't scored since the Sheffield United game almost a month ago and we have only scored 3 times in 8 games which is relegation material, the main problem seems to be a severe lack of coherency in the oppositions half, with pretty much all our 'attacks' we would get to the edge of the area, panic and get confused over what to do next and then lose the ball, thankfully Chesterfield had the same problems and explains pretty much why the game ended 0-0. Westley said before the game that the players had been working on their set pieces however on last nights viewing it seems they hadn't been working very well, we had a series of corners and a few free kicks around the penalty area but none of them led to a shot on or off target as every time the keeper easily collected or the defence cleared and Chesterfield went on the attack. 

It was good to see Danny Devine and Bailey Wright back in the squad and they both had good games as Devine played the full game and Wright came on as a sub and had a solid and assured half an hour, our of position as well, at left back and looked very comfortable. For me Devine was man of the match, he was strong, assured, won his tackles and always made sure he won the ball in the air, you wouldn't have thought he had only made a handful of appearances and had only made his debut less than a year ago. Hopefully he can keep his place for Saturday and it'll be hard for players like Craig Morgan and Aaron Brown to get their places back in the team, but that's how it should be and hopefully our defence can continue to improve, which it has to considering how ineffective our strikeforce is at the moment.

Next up in Mad (or Mediocre as it seems) March is Scunthorpe United at home, like us, Scunthorpe had hoped for a promotion campaign this season but they have been very disappointment and have spent the season in and around the relegation zone. With Preston in the form we're in at the moment it is imperative that we beat them otherwise we really could be dragged into a relegation battle whereas a win could kick start a revival which at the very least should mean we don't end up fighting to stay up. Ironically it was a 3-0 win at this time last season against Scunthorpe that started a fightback from 13 points adrift of safety to within 4 points at one point in the Championship and hopefully we can get a similar result on Saturday as with a very difficult April looming it is important that we can get to 50 points sooner rather than later.

Spring fails to bring new life to mediocre Preston

Preston's medicore season continued after they were outclassed, outplayed and outperformed by Colchester to ensure that Preston's play off hopes were all but over and that the focus now is making sure that we remain a League One team for next season after a brace from Steven Gillespie and a late goal from Andy Bond gave the home side a comfortable 3-0 win.

Ironically it was Preston who made the early run with Chris Robertson having an early goal disallowed for offside and George Miller, making his first senior start, thundering a shot against the crossbar and it seems that Preston could be on for the full three points but as ever it wouldn't prove to be enough as Colchester took the lead from a well worked corner with Gillespie unmarked to fire bast Stuckmann from close range. Unfortunately Preston never really recovered from this setback and just after halftime the advantage was doubled after Coutts handled in the area and Gillespie duly converted to make it 2-0 and kill the game off. While Preston did create some chances, there was never any serious threat to Ben Williams in the Colchester goal as it was a case of good play up to the penalty area and then not knowing what to do when they got there and it always lead to a clearance or the ball going to the keeper. In the end Colchester added icing to the cake late on when Colchester broke and Andy Bond drilled past Stuckmann to make it 3-0 and round off a fairly convincing performance by the home side.

The result means that Westley has won only one of his first 7 games which is a worrying start, but it's not something that wasn't unexpected when he was appointed manager in January but it is disappointing to see a section of fans already against him and demanding instant results although it is obvious to the majority that Westley has got a massive task in turning around a club that has been in decline arguably since Billy Davies left in 2006 and only had a small fillip with a Play Off Semi Final in 2009 but this was only really delaying the inevitable and this Play Off push crippled the finances in the process and is one of the big reasons why we are 15th in the table at the moment.

While the Play Offs are now all but over, we aren't actually safe from relegation yet as Preston currently lie 8 points above the drop zone, however I would say it is extremely unlikely that we are going to be relegated as I would say we only need 10 more points to be safe and I reckon that we should get them in this month alone as on the whole I do believe that things are slowly getting better despite yesterdays defeat, Preston never play well against Colchester apart from the 7-0 win in the FA Cup back in early 2010. It is also good to see Westley giving some of the younger players a chance as Danny Devine was named on the bench and he gave George Miller a first proffesional start and by all accounts he didn't have a bad game and was unlucky not to score on his debut. On the whole our defence has been improving but it is important that we get stability there or else results like yesterday will be repeated, we don't have bad defensive players, but it is clear that they need unity and decisiveness on how they operate. It's also good to see Iain Hume coming off the bench again as he continues his comeback from injury and this will provide a massive boost to the team as it is clear that we have sorely missed him and hopefully Neil Mellor will also be back soon but it seems to be a complete mystery as to what his happening to him as nothing seems to have been said over the last few weeks but it is clear that we do need to be more sharp going forward and it has been coming on slowly over the last few weeks but I'm very confident that this should snowball and that given time Westley will turn this club around, he certainly has my backing.