Graham Westley Q&A as ex-Preston North End boss reflects on 'huge missed opportunity'

It was a challenging chapter in Preston North End’s recent history, but one which will likely be remembered for some time.

Graham Westley was appointed manager of the Lilywhites in January 2012, having guided Stevenage into League One via successive promotions. But, Westley lasted just over a year in the hot seat at Deepdale - having won 16, drawn 23 and lost 22 of his 61 games in charge.

Several players were signed in his two transfer windows, with it well documented how Westley was tasked with significantly slashing the wage bill at North End. Now, the former PNE boss has answered 13 questions from the Lancashire Post - reflecting on his time at the club.

When you learned of Preston North End’s interest, what was your initial reaction?

GW: ‘I had watched Preston beat Yeovil at Deepdale under lights in 2012. And then I managed my Stevenage team to a 0-0 draw there. The stadium immediately grabbed me. It felt like the most awesome place to play football. When I heard of Preston’s interest I thought of ‘Finney’, ‘Shankly’, ‘Charlton’, ‘Moyes’, ‘Beckham’ and considered the approach to be very, very important and very, very exciting. I honestly believed that I could reach the Premier League with PNE. Deepdale is one hell of a stadium.’

How did your perception of the club meet up with the reality, once you got your foot in the door?

GW: ‘Even in my darkest hours at Preston, I loved the place. It always felt like home to me. Being dismissed was devastating. Winning at Deepdale in front of that passionate home crowd is magical.’

Arriving from, with respect, a smaller club in Stevenage - how did their set up behind the scenes compare to Preston's?

GW: ‘The set up was obviously bigger, but not necessarily better. At Stevenage I had persuaded the Chairman to invest in trips to a cryotherapy venue and to buy equipment for training at altitude. At Preston, I inherited a huge team of masseurs/masseuses and a jacuzzi. The investment was bigger at Preston, but the focus was different.’

What did you learn about the squad and club in those first five months?

GW: ‘The club had been relegated and were losing a lot in League One, when I arrived. I kept an open mind, but I presumed that the culture needed changing. I don’t think that presumption was wrong. To change culture, you need to change people and change attitudes. I believe that ambition is the rocket fuel of success and I made it my priority to inject the club with new, ambitious people.’

How do you reflect on the recruitment during your time at Preston - and why do you think some players didn't buy in to your methods?

GW: ‘When I arrived, I had to move out big earners for financial reasons. That’s never easy, but I took the pain and completed that task. Obviously, those that went weren’t going to ‘buy in’. The nature of their ability as men and players meant that they were strong characters and it’s very painful ‘boxing’ with strong characters.

‘My recruitment was rushed, which made it difficult, extensive, because so many had to leave, and disjointed, as I learned the club and the club learned me. Getting to know a lot of players simultaneously is tough and I recruited too many similarly good players who expected to play - and who felt let down when I didn’t involve them in my frontline XI’.

"Knew the answers to problems but wasn't being allowed to solve the problems" - could you expand on that quote from your time as manager?

GW: ‘Answers’……there will always be important areas of a club where the leadership governs what a manager is and isn’t allowed to change. I had controls at Stevenage that I didn’t have at Preston and that made my life difficult.’

How much time do you think you needed - or would you have liked - in order to bring success to the club?

GW: ‘Simon Grayson delivered success off the back of the foundations that I had laid. Simon did a very good job in following me, but I believe that I could have delivered the success that Simon delivered - within the timeframe that he did. At Peterborough, I managed to knock Simon’s PNE promotion winners out of the FA Cup - which shows the quality of football that my teams could offer.’

What did you want your team to look like and how close to that were you at Preston?

GW: ‘Deepdale is a big pitch. It demands a lot of a player, physically and technically. To be successful at PNE you have to start by being great at home. That means good athletes, good technicians and thrilling attacking players - in the mould of Sir Tom. When Keane, Huntington, Cansdell-Sheriff, Laird, Welsh, Mousinho, Wroe, Holmes, Beavon/Garner, Monakana were on the pitch, my PNE team started to take a shape I liked and get results that pushed us forwards’.

How did you find your experience of working with Peter Ridsdale?

GW: ‘Peter was fantastic. He always tried to support me. He did inspire me. He backed me for 13 months, when others may have given up sooner. I wish he’d persisted longer, but I own my results and I know that they weren’t good enough around the time I was sacked. I can blame big injuries to big players at the wrong times and I do; the absences of Mousinho, Keane, Laird, Holmes, Trundle and others all cost me performance AND leadership at important times. With a fairer wind, Peter’s confidence in me would have been proven right.’

The pitch at Deepdale deteriorated during your tenure. Was that intentional? Are there any regrets there?

GW: ’Because I recruited so many new lads, we trained at Deepdale from time to time so that the players became familiar with the home environment and Saturday didn’t feel like an away game. There may have been a marginal cost to the pitch, but I deemed the benefit to outweigh it. It wasn’t an intention to worsen the pitch, that would be ridiculous. I wanted ball players to have the best surface possible to build possession on.’

What did managing Preston mean to you and how do you feel about the club today?

GW: ‘Managing Preston was a huge missed opportunity for me. I love the club and I’m gutted that I didn’t bring success. The fans are die hard and football through and through; truly brilliant to have on your side.’

How have the last 10 years been post-PNE? Was it a damaging period on reflection, or did you learn a lot and try to take the positives from it?

GW: ‘The last 10 years for me have involved short spells at four clubs that were struggling at the bottom, at the time of my in-season arrival. In today’s era of closed transfer windows, that can be tough - and those jobs were all very difficult. Clubs don’t lose for no reason.

‘That said, the football that my Peterborough team played took me to the top of the LMA’s managerial performance table - and I don’t think I’d have led a team to play football that well, without the criticism I got and the learning I gained from PNE.

‘Nor do I believe I’d have contributed to the multi million pound development and sale of Conor Washington, without my PNE times. Preston will always truly have a special place in my heart and I’ll always be a former PNE manager - which puts me in very special company.’