Sponsored by
We can bounce back says Brown
Phil Brown will oversee a summer of change at Deepdale as he plots a route back to the Championship for Preston North End.
Yesterday’s 1-0 home defeat to Cardiff City condemned North End to League One, the club suffering its first relegation for 18 years.
Brown couldn’t hide his disappointment at being unable to keep them up, and graciously accepted full responsibility – even though much of the damage had been inflicted before his January arrival in the manager’s job.
And he’s vowed to do his utmost to lead Preston back to English football’s second tier as swiftly as possible.
With the spectre of relegation hanging over the club for some months, Brown was putting plans in place should the worst happen.
The pre-season training schedule is already in place, while decisions will soon be made about the futures of around a dozen players whose contracts are up in the summer.
Inevitably there will be some high profile departures, stand-in skipper Billy Jones likely to seek a higher grade of football when his deal runs out in June.
Andrew Lonergan looks set to move on, while Sean St Ledger is bound to attract speculation about his future.
Brown told the Evening Post: “We have already talked long and hard – myself, Brian Horton, David Unsworth and the chairman – about where we go.
“We obviously have to sit and plan for the future, that is what management is all about.
“We’ve got some big decisions to make about people whose contracts are up – at the same time, some players have a big decision to make about whether they want to give us a chance in League One.
“In the last few weeks we’ve signed up a number of younger pros who will go towards being the bulk of the squad for next season as opposed to the quality we have been able to put on the field of late.
“That is the game, that is life – we accept the challenge.
“Next season we will hit the ground running – one thing is for sure, we’ll be able to run.”
Brown spoke to fans in the Deepdale hospitality lounges after yesterday’s defeat which saw Peter Whittingham net an early winner for Cardiff.
And he admitted it had been an emotional time facing them after suffering only the second relegation of his career.
Said Brown: “I nearly broke down in front of the supporters. I hold myself responsible for relegation, end of story.
“People might say I came in too late or the previous guy was there too long – all those things have been said to me.
“But I wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t think I could keep this club in the Championship, hence I hold myself responsible.
“If you want to look back at the tale of the tape, we didn’t get our first win under me until too late. Then all of a sudden it was catch-up time.
“Also, the luck that evaded us all season, evaded us against Cardiff yesterday.
“I thought it was a leg-breaking tackle on Iain Hume which left him with a scar from his knee to ankle – for me, that should have been a red card.
“Then we should have had a penalty which would have changed the course of the game.
“We raised the level of performance, expectancy and belief in the last 12 or 13 games – we gave ourselves a chance.”
North End will be without Bongani Khumalo for the remaining two matches, after he fractured a bone in his foot in the Millwall game.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Preston
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 40 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: South west
Comments
There are 117 comments to this article
Page 1 of 8
kezzer
Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 11:36 PMGood luck Phi Brown,if your in long term,I back you!!
Hull City Supporter
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 05:15 PMKZWHITESCLUB!!!!!!! You are deluded when you say 'PB BH are on stage now and will act accordingly with their incredible experience , know how , man management , talent spotting skill and above all motivating the whole workforce' Let me tell you Kid your in for some disappointment because the 'Tactless Assasin will sign nobody with an ounce of skill because nobody will wantto sign for him. Why do you think he only got you loan signings!!!!!! In Ashbee, he lured with a lucrative contract akin to the £20,000 grand a week he was on at the KC. When at the beautiful Tigers 'Clueless' tried in vain to sign mediocre players, who refused to sign for him. In the end he settled for Has Beings and paid them over inflated wages just to get them to sign on the dotted line. The only player you'll probably get is Craig Fagan and that's because he was the golden ones pet. Mark my words. He will run your club into the ground!
KZWHITESCLUB
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 10:40 AMML TH Have done their bit PB BH are on stage now and will act accordingly with their incredible experience , know how , man management , talent spotting skill and above all motivating the whole workforce !
KZWHITESCLUB
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 10:34 AM"Ast la vista" and in the mean time lets look forward to something different the building of a new Nobber team for the future by an able Management team PBBH , as I say all the time the rest are quite irelevant and these guys will get the players they need no matter what and I'm sure turn some sows ear into a silk purse ! Example --Hume ( fergie brought him in ok ) people thought he was finished , now a legend with some fans me included for his tireless competitive neversay die attitude and not a little skill ! These guys are out there in the lower divs ok we're there now !!! Norwich bought Grant Holt from the Shrews Simpson having pulled him from another team ! Our own Nuge £100k from Bury ! The Future is frugal and White plus all our young guns YES , ye of little faith I remember 1970 Archie Gemmil sold on the first day of life in Div 3 for the first time and complete new team rebuilt by a certain Alan Ball Sen !
white4eva
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 08:55 AMHere is an interesting couple of facts for Mr Lindsay. In the last 10 home league matches under ferguson we had 5 gates that were sub 10k and 1 actually sub 9k with an average of 10879. Under Phil Brown the lowest gate was 10521 with the average actually going up to 12906 an extra 2028 with a rough guess of an extra £30,421 in gate receipts (and this is at £15 per head if you take into account things like free tickets etc etc so a VERY low estimate). It is also no coincidence that as performances have improved and you finally listened to the fans by sacking that piece of manure called ferguson. Our fighting spirit returned, our fans started to believe that we could turn things around and Phil Brown was allowed to bring in extra loan players to try to help us out. These figures are a pretty damning indictment of what had happened earlier on this season. Performances will attract crowds, and poor peformances will certainly lose crowds as manure proved, when was the last time we had a sub 10k crowd for a league match? I am sure if the records are checked that this will be prior to us being in the Championship. The warning here for you Mr Lindsay and for TH is that you HAVE to invest next season so that the crowds will keep on turning up. PB will do his best - I have absolutely no doubt of that, he must be given the funds to buy the players that he needs to get us back up. A smaller investement now will prove an even bigger millstone round our necks!
Stand Cloggin
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 05:56 AMIts no good Ml having a go at the PNE fans ,its the people who run PNE,s job to put a succesful Team on the field playing exciting football with a quality striker and the fans would return in there DROVES! As it is they pay peanuts and get monkeys , and the fans vote with there feet ,which is totally understandable. It,s time for Maurice and Co to have a total rethink or GO!Probably the best option for me.
old8oy
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 01:32 AMExcrement Cretin always ceases to amaze me, Majestic. Like Tulketh Kid, Derek's Dog et al he lacks the intelligence to appear under different guises, as he accuses others of. Ex-Callon, indeed. Sad old man...must be boring out there in California? A particularly bilious individual...nasty to the core. Finds a natural ally in one who makes homophobic slurs. The pair of them were made for each other. Leave them to it and ignore, I'd say.
Majestic
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 11:27 PMBy the way you will NEVER EVER see my nose up anybod's backside. That might be your way, but you see over here in Preston, England we do things a little bit differently ;D
Majestic
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 11:25 PMgolf club not gold club! duh!
Majestic
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 11:25 PMI hope you are doing a good job keeping the bogs clean in that gold club in Pamona, California...... So that you can have your free round of gold mwah ha ha ha ha ha!!! LOSER!!
Majestic
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 11:21 PM# 105 Will you put a sock in it you dreadful, cantankerous old man! You're like a scratched record!! I have relatives who were around when you played football Dave and all say the same. "Not bad but nothing special". NOTHING SPECIAL!! That's why YOU didn't make the grade!! ++++++ Whilst you might be advancing in years you clearly haven't advanced in intellect or wisdom. There is no fool like an old fool and they don't come much more foolish than you fella. It can't be healthy to harbour such bitterness and hatred towards your own birth town simply because YOU weren't good enough. Deal with it!!!
springerspan1
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 11:11 PMguys - bottom line.......... secure Phil Brown for another 2 seasons. This guy can attract players who want to play for him, and probably for a lower freewage than other recent predecessors in the post. Definitely a case of paying the manager top $ and sees what falls into place. He already attracts tension from opposing fans at away games. A succesful Brownhorton partnership will go a very long way to securing our promotion next season. Disrupt them, and the effects on the team and fans morale wil be catastrophic.........
experto credite
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 11:02 PMOur two serial “chav scumbag” contributors - §Gianni (aka phantom winger, old8oy and prestonpilgrim) and Liberation (aka Majestic, HartyPNE, Walmer White, sean_gregan and Blake Carrington) – Have had their noses up the backsides of all those who have run PNE over the last three years. It was Sir DS, Sir AI, Sir TH, Sir DF, Sir ML etc. Now that they realise how utterly stupid they have been they are squealing like pigs going for the chop. What pathetic individuals. No doubt they’ll be going for new tattoos soon to mark PNE’s relegation to League One.
CathColl
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 10:59 PMJust listened to the ML interview on Radio Lancs. How can he say he supported the manager by turning down a 300k bid from Barnsley for Jon Parkin. Did we not sell him in January for 100k to Cardiff. Says he wasnt there when we sold Richard Chaplow. Well he only went in January so who made the call!! Says he didnt make the decision to loan out Neil Mellor as it was before his time, then in the next breath says he wasnt even training with the first team squad when he arrived. Says we have too small a fan base to be competitive in the Championship. Well i'm sure its bigger than Wigans & Blackpool and it didnt stop them. Came across as a bumbling old fool imo who couldnt remember players names or where he went to a fans forum at. He doesnt inspire you with one bit of confidence for next year. To me ML is out of his depth in the wrong job in the wrong sport.
experto credite
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 10:44 PMRef #88 bobbysmith123 --- As one of the few on this forum that appreciates and looks forward to your contributions, in your various guises, I will take your comment as a complement, although a backhanded one.
Page 1 of 8
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.