Josh Harrop admits he 'never saw eye-to-eye' with one manager at Preston North End

Former Preston North End midfielder Josh Harrop has admitted he never ‘saw eye-to-eye’ with manager Alex Neil.

As far as reviews of the Scot go from players during his Deepdale reign, Harrop’s is certainly an anomaly. Neil, who guided PNE to 7th, 14th and 9th placed finishes in the Championship, has been spoken very highly of by several members of that squad.

Since leaving PNE he has gained promotion from League One with Sunderland, spent 16 months at Stoke City and is now in the hot seat at Millwall - who took their play-off push down to the final match of last season in the second tier.

Harrop was snapped up by the Lilywhites in the summer of 2017, before Simon Grayson left and Neil arrived as his successor. During his time at the club he made 95 appearances, scored 13 goals and assisted five.

The bulk of his football in a Preston shirt came under Neil but the former United man has not pulled any punches about how he found playing for the Scot. He made that clear while looking back on his career so far, in a recent interview.

Speaking on The Game’s Gone podcast, Harrop said: “I am quite a jokey guy around the training ground. It can be serious and when you’re in a league, fighting for points, you need to be, but you also need... I think from my journey in football, some managers don’t get it. At Preston, I had Alex Neil; we never saw eye-to-eye. I don’t know if he didn’t like me as a person, or if it’s because I am a jokey kind of guy.

“He was too serious, man. Walking around the training ground, I could never speak to him. I was probably there with him for four or five years; I don’t think I ever had a proper conversation with him, where I didn’t feel like a bit of pressure or: ‘Are you judging me?’ I don’t know, but he almost made it not enjoyable... playing for him. He is a good coach and the way he used to set up games, the level of detail he would go into was crazy.

“We’d have meetings for hours, before games. He used to go into serious levels of detail and I respect it, he was locked into what he was doing for the team. For me, he wasn’t good for my career - I really struggled under him, to grow a connection with him and play for. I felt like I was always battling with him instead of playing for him. He brought me in one time and said something about seeing players in certain categories.

“He labelled me as a player who has talent, but doesn’t need to be a footballer. When he said it to me I was like: ‘What does that mean? I have trained since I was six years old, literally dedicated my whole life to this, moved house at 13 and you are going to say I’m talented but don’t need to be a footballer. You have known me for six months’. I didn’t like it because he didn’t know my story in football, or as a person either.

“There was no motivation behind this conversation. It didn’t need to be said. I remember coming out of there like: ‘What is this guy on about?’. Listen, he is a good guy and I don’t mean anything bad to him. Certain managers you can thrive off, and certain managers you can’t. The amount of times I was in his office, saying I should be playing - when you are young you can be a bit like that sometimes.

“You don’t really think what is best for the team. Some games, when you are going to top of the league he maybe has to play a more defensive player in that game - and I didn’t really think about it at the time. Now I am older, I understand a lot more the teams he picked at the time and why he probably didn’t play me in certain games. The amount of times I was in his office, not arguing but debating.”

Harrop had brief stints at Northampton Town and Cheltenham Town after his contract at PNE was mutually terminated in September 2022. The 29-year-old is currently playing in Baller League UK but looking to get back into the EFL this summer.

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