Graham Alexander couldn't have got off to a better start as Preston North End manager

Graham Alexander has started his dream job on the best possible footing, with his passionate yet realistic words galvanising a downtrodden Preston North End fanbase and hopefully the players as well.

It took 15 days for Preston to announce their replacement for Paul Heckingbottom and into that void leapt ambitious speculation.

Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Carlos Corberan and even Scott Parker were just some of the names wildly touted as a possible appointment.

Alexander was an obvious contender from the off given his connection to Deepdale but, even despite his Bradford City side flying high in League One and the three promotions to his name, some sections of the fanbase (at least online) were underwhelmed by the appointment of a manager who has never taken charge in the Championship.

It doesn't seem like it has taken Alexander long to get most of the naysayers onside.

Before he even spoke during his first press conference, Alexander's passion for the role was clear from the glint in his eye and the grin that repeatedly crept over his face.

When he did start to talk, the words were just as enthusiastic.

Alexander’s bond with PNE fans could spark club resurgence

Alexander has made no secret that he always had his sights set on the Preston job, even revealing that he told Bradford City CEO Ryan Sparks early into his tenure at Valley Parade that it was the role he was aiming towards.

He may have been born in Coventry and played for Scotland, but Preston is home for Alexander, and it appears supporters are already feeding off that connection before he has even taken charge at Deepdale.

It may be overly simple, but a strong link can be the spark that reignites a club that has been feeling sorry for itself in recent years with little to really latch onto.

Alexander can be that talisman but he knows all too well that his bond will count for nothing if he doesn't get results.

"I'm well aware that I'm not here as a player any more. I'm here to manage," he told BBC Radio Lancashire during his first press conference.

"My second career is a manager. But certainly there's a lot to build on and we do feel.

"Life and football is about feeling, and we're gonna create a feeling around this club again."

That's the sort of talk that instantly gets the backing of a fanbase. Emphasising the understanding he has of the club, but not resting on the laurels of his ready-made reputation.

“The aim for me as a manager was to come back here one day and manage, but it's not my ultimate ambition. My ambitions are taking this club somewhere,” he told the Lancashire Post.

"I haven't achieved anything yet by being here. What I want to achieve is further down the line with this club, and that's gonna drive us every day."

Preston players should like what Alexander is saying as well

If the fans are already falling in love with Alexander all over again, the players might be getting some butterflies.

It's been a dreadful start to the season and Heckingbottom took the fall, as managers always do. But performances have not been good enough on the pitch, which has been especially frustrating after a record summer of spending in the transfer window.

But that's in the past now, as Alexander has made clear.

He told the Lancashire Post: "The first challenge is leaving any baggage behind for the players and the staff and forgetting what's gone on before.

"This is a new dawn. This is a fresh start for everybody."

Alexander isn't a man who has moped about or 'walked with bitterness on his shoulder' after 'bruising experiences' in his managerial career, and he wants his new players to be the same.

He has only had chance to watch Preston's last two games so far, but has stressed it will be a completely fresh slate for every member of the squad, without any preconceived ideas on his part.

"I'm not going to go ringing people about what they think of this player, that player," he told BBC Radio Lancashire. "I'm coming in with fresh eyes and we've got a two-week window ‘til the next game, which is really valuable to us.

"So every player has got the opportunity to actually restart himself if he wants to. I'm not gonna drag anything forward."

Alexander knows improvements are needed - "just look at the league table" - and things need working on straight from the off but he wants the players to help him mould the side they want to be.

He continued: "There's a little bit from a contrast that I'm going to speak about today with the players, certainly from the last game. And about what we'll be expecting, but actually what they'll be expecting from themselves.

"It's important players have a part to play in how they see their team forming. It's not just me with an idea and force-feeding them into it. I think they've got a buy into it as well."

Alexander added to the Post: "We can be whatever we want to be. That is the biggest thing in life, that you've got a choice every day to change anything you want.

"Everybody in this club now has got a chance and a choice to be whatever we want to be."

Alexander says he isn't one for 'big long speeches' on his first day, but how could any player hearing such an eloquent desire to succeed not be fired up to do so?

The squad should be delighted that their past failures are staying in the past and be raring to prove their ability. Starting in training over the next fortnight, before football returns with Millwall on October 10.

Alexander wants PNE challenging for promotion again

It's baby steps and a long way to walk, but it is clear Alexander wants to get the team back to where it was when he was a player, making serious tilts at promotion to the Premier League. And maybe even getting there.

He said: "I have quite a clear idea because I've been here before in successful times about what this club could potentially be, and what we were chasing 20 years ago.

“And I don't see any reason why we can't rekindle that sort of feeling, that emotion, that spirit, and certainly with the quality I feel is within those playing ranks."

Though, of course, he’s not setting any such lofty targets just yet.

"You have to earn everything you get right here and right now,” he added. “I'm not setting any long-term ambitions for this club. We have to go into the next game and be competitive, try and win it. And if you win enough games, you're in a place where you want to be."

Rare is it that a manager doesn't speak well in his opening press conference, with optimism high and the winds of change blowing through, but if Alexander's reign goes as well as his first two days, then good times will return to Deepdale.