Leaks in the bucket

It's hard to say what's worse from Saturday, the performance (particularly in the second half) or the revelation after the game that 4 unnamed players had leaked sensitive team information and tactics to Sheffield Wednesday the night before the game. While Peter Ridsdale has drawn a line under this, it is disappointing that the players responsible haven't been named and shamed, as while there may not have been malice in their actions, they have let the club down, on Gentry Day of all days, and the 500 or so fans who were at the game deserved a far lot better than what they were shown at Saturday lunchtime.

The first half of the game was just about acceptable as Preston irritated the opposition with stiff defensive solidity and a game plan which was to frustrate the opposition for as long as possible and sneak a goal on the break or from a set piece. While we did get a fair few set pieces in the game, it was disappointing to see that the quality of them was very poor and none of them ever looked like threatening a goal for the visiting team. The very surprising inclusion of Aaron Brown as a centre forward failed as he had a terrible game before being substituted with an injury, however it would be unfair to lay the blame at his door as he was being asked to play completely out of position at one of the most formidable grounds in the league.

In the end, Prestons resistance was broken after 49 minutes as slack defending allowed Madine to run to the edge of the area and fire the ball past Thorsten Stuckmann from 20 yards to give Wednesday the lead. You could tell that the players heads had dropped from this point and Wednesday dominated from their onwards and soon after the lead was doubled as Madine got his second of the game after even more lax defending saw him able to easily steer a header into the corner from a long throw in and the game was killed there and then it was clear to see that the players heads had dropped and barely mustered a chance for the rest of the game as Wednesday comfortably saw the game out and could have got another two or three if they wanted to.

It's pretty clear that Westley has lost the support of the majority of the fans and it seems that I am in the majority that feel that he shouldn't be sacked. We have sacked Irvine, Ferguson and Brown in the last few years at great expense and this current trend has to stop somewhere and I don't think letting the players get their own way should be allowed as player power is a very dangerous thing. Quite a few of those players are not fit to wear the shirt and I do include the likes of Coutts in that. Despite his undoubted talent, he is squandering it by sulking and trying to undermine the regime and I have no doubt that he was one of the 4 players who leaked the squad details before the game. At the start of the season I put him as one of our main players, but right now I would happily see him sold in the summer as he is not putting any effort in on the pitch and his performance levels have dropped. At least Andy Procter puts the effort in, even though his performances haven't been much better, I have a lot more time for a poorer player who tries his best than a talented player who couldn't care less. This attitude needs to be stamped out of the club if we are to turn the club around and get facing in the right direction again

The run of games don't get any easier as Preston are at home to promotion chasing Milton Keynes Dons this Saturday in a game which will mark Sir Tom Finney's 90th birthday. Without a doubt he is the finest player ever to put on the Preston kit and he could probably still do better today than most of the starting line up if he was picked on the wing to play. I know there are planned protests for the game but personally I think it would be unfair on Sir Tom to ruin his day by protests against the team, while I am very disappointed with the level of performance shown at the moment, I will put that aside this Saturday in celebration of Sir Tom Finney as this Saturday is his day and not about a group of workshy overpaid players who couldn't care less about the badge. It's them who deserve the criticism more than Graham Westley.