In the seventh of a series of pre-season reports, HarryfromBath looks at the progress the Lilywhites have made this summer under Simon Grayson by delving into their forums. Reports on Blackburn and Wigan will be on the site later today with the rest of the teams in the division covered between now and the start of the season.
"I am looking forward to the new season, not because I need to see us promoted but because my faith in Preston North End is returning”, "We might just surprise a few people this season. The ‘little’ Preston tag we have might still exist because we haven’t spent millions, but we will be competitive.”
Lilywhites are quick to praise for their manager for the progress they have witnessed. "Team spirit seems really high. What a job Grayson has done. We might not be Barcelona but we get results and football is a results game”, "Players want to play for us because there is a good atmosphere here.”
"Good things take time”, "Grayson’s approach of slow and steady improvement is really smart and is perfect for our club”, "One of the best managers I can remember”, "The longer he stays, the more resilient we become”, "Managerial continuity is everything if the manager is right. He is top notch.”
The 46-year-old former Leeds manager "has to be among the best managers this club has had. He dragged us from our knees and stabilised us”, "The face that he has been here for over three years shows prospective players that this is a club with secure stability and a long term plan.”
"The first season was about surviving at all costs but we can’t go on like that forever. Our style of football was shocking to watch and our summer signings won’t lead to a change of style. I’m hoping for more goals and less hoof ball but I am expecting a similar story to last year.”
Last season’s success was built on a solid defence and counter-attacking football, partly born out of necessity with striker Jermaine Beckford out for much of the campaign. "Our style was forced on us by the fact that we didn’t have a partnership. Joe Garner was left to hammer away by himself.”
"I reckon we will start this season like the last while new players bed in. We’ll be defensive, a bastard to play against and it won’t be pretty but we’ll improve as the season progresses”, "We will be more potent in the final third this season with Pringle, Johnson, Garner and Beckford combining together.”
"Judging by the fact that we have done most of our business early, I don’t think Grayson is thinking ‘survive at all costs’ again. He and the rest of the squad are more prepared and thinking bigger”, "We appear to have our squad in place for pre-season friendlies, never mind the start of the season.”
Grayson has moved deftly in this transfer window with all arrivals announced by July 4th. Two new keepers have joined, 32-year-old Anders Lindegaard from West Brom and Chris Maxwell, 25, from Fleetwood, while 28-year-old defender Tommy Spurr was signed from Blackburn Rovers.
Three strikers have been added to the first-team squad, 28-year-old Eoin Doyle (who played at Deepdale on loan from Cardiff last season), 21-year-old Callum Robinson from Aston Villa and Simon Makienok on loan from Palermo. The 25-year-old target man was on loan at Charlton last season.
Former Town loanee Ben Pringle has already made an impact with fans. The 26-year-old has joined from Fulham. "Pringle will be a massive player for us. He will help our goalscoring drought with goals and assists of his own. He has not had a great couple of seasons but we’ll see the best of him.”
Aside from their goalscoring problems, Lilywhites are concerned about the right-back position after Calum Woods sustained a serious injury to his right knee in pre-season which will rule him out for the season. Many would welcome back last season’s loan signing Marnick Vermijl from Sheffield Wednesday.
A number of fringe players have left the club. Midfielders Neil Kilkenny (to Melbourne City) and Josh Brownhill (to Bristol City) are no longer at Deepdale, while keeper Chris Kirkland has signed for Bury. Striker Andy Little is still a free agent while and midfielder Kyle Reid has joined Coventry City.
Preston have played three games against league opposition which have been open to the public and a fourth against Bolton has yet to take place at the time of writing. Comfortable wins were secured at Morecambe (4-1) and Oldham (3-1) and they played out a 1-1 draw in a home friendly against Stoke.
The starting XI (above) against what was a strong Potters team gave fans an indication of how they will line up at Reading on the opening day of the season. Grayson set the team out in a 3-5-2 shape with what fans called "a really creative midfield” of Pringle, Daniel Johnson and Paul Gallagher.
The team which finished this game (above) retained the same shape but with eight outfield changes. Preston took a deserved first half lead against the top flight side albeit through a deflected Daniel Johnson strike on eight minutes, only for Mame Diouf to level for Stoke with a clinical strike on 54.
The starting XI (above) which beat Morecambe was built around the nucleus of a three-man midfield but set out in a 4-3-3 shape. The highlight of this game was a stunning goal by Ben Pringle shortly before the interval, "twisting past several defenders and firing into the top corner from 25 yards”.
"I don’t think the overall standard in this division is very good at all, but it would take a big effort to make that top six. With the money from parachute payments and crazy owners, it’s starting to look like a closed shop.” Lilywhites have no appetite to make a promotion dash in the coming campaign.
"We should be building slowly the next few years to consistently be a force in this league again, and then look where it takes us without calling for Grayson’s head the minute we duck into the bottom half of the table.”
"One or two local teams who shall remain nameless have found that the Premier League can be a double-edged sword. Let’s set out on the coming season with confidence to play more attacking football than we did last season, at times out of necessity, and see where it gets us.”
The busiest Preston message board is the polite and well-informed
PNE Online.