Peter Ridsdale confirms Preston North End stance and addresses David Moyes links as new manager search begins

Preston North End director Peter Ridsdale has spoken to the Lancashire Post, following the news of Ryan Lowe’s exit as manager.

Here’s what he had to say at Euxton, on Monday afternoon.

Did you have to convince Ryan to stay after last season? Were there any chats like that over the summer?

“No,” said Ridsdale. “Ryan never once indicated, at the end of last season, that he wanted to go.”

What does the process look like for the next week? How many names will you narrow it down to?

“The answer is I don’t know how many we’ll narrow it down to, because I have to analyse the people who’ve thrown their hat into the ring,” said Ridsdale. “Whether they have or not, I don’t know because a lot of it has been done by agents. I must’ve had 60 or 70 calls so far this morning, some with one candidate and some with a few - because some agents look after more than one manager.

“So, we’ll take time for breath because this happened yesterday. This morning, Ryan has been in and spoken to the players. We had to prepare for that and we had to prepare to communicate with people. We then had a player turn up and we had to manage the process of him turning up to a different football management structure, to the one he thought was there.

“We will assess those who’ve got their names on the table, try and determine which ones are of interest to us and then we’ll try to assess the implications of trying to get them. Talking to some will be impossible i.e they’ll probably be contracted and difficult to talk to, without committing we’re going to try and get them. So, it is not an easy process, but we’ve done it before, we’ll do it again and we’ll get the right answer.”

Can you go for a manager currently in work? Would that come out of the current season budget or would extra funds be allocated?

“I get allocated a certain amount of cash, each season,” said Ridsdale. “However, we haven’t done this in isolation. So, clearly I spent a lot of yesterday speaking to Craig and the owners. They are conscious of the fact... my instructions are: ‘Get the right person, don’t get the cheap person’. So, they have made it clear to me that what we have to do - when we have events like this that are unforeseen in the budget - is do the right thing for the football club, not start looking at: ‘I can’t afford him because of this or that’. I will recommend, to the owners, the candidate we think is the right one to take this club forward. What we won’t be doing is doing that based on them costing twice as much or half of this.”

What traits are you looking for in the new manager?

“Well, the easy thing to say is somebody who wins football matches,” said Ridsdale. “But, what we also need is someone who has probably got a flexible management style, in terms of formation, not necessarily somebody who is rigid to a particular formula. And, we will have squad by tomorrow where we don’t need to be wedded to a particular system in every game - because we’ll have players who can play further forward, in a flat back four and a 3-5-2. We will have a far more flexible squad option available, than maybe we’ve had in the past or wanted to have in the past. So, I think to that degree we’ll be looking for somebody who can have a squad that adapts to the game we’re about to play - as opposed to ‘we are predictable’.

Are you open to an overseas appointment or not?

“Yeah, of course,” said Ridsdale. “We want the right person for the job. Wherever they come from is an irrelevance. We just want the right person for Preston North End Football Club.”

Are MRKT Insights involved at all in terms of recommending candidates?

“They haven’t had time, yet,” said Ridsdale. “I have been contacted by them and told they have all the data on every manager around the world. To be frank, apart from seeing Ryan, the players, Mike (Marsh), a couple of interviews and seeing a new player, I haven’t really had time to analyse what we do next. We will do this in a professional way and involve all the people who’ve got an input. I think sometimes, because I am sat here talking to you, people think it is all about Peter Ridsdale. It is nothing to do with me, this is to do with Preston North End, its management structure and all the people who have an input. They will have that and it’s down to us to make the decisions, which we will do.”

Ryan obviously brought a lot of backroom staff to the club, where are they left in all this? Is that to be decided?

“No, they are employees of Preston North End,” said Ridsdale. “They are contracted to us, individually. They were not employed by Ryan; they were employed by us. We don’t like revolutions. We have been a club that, to the best of our ability, has tried not to have a revolution when we’ve changed manager. We have often brought in a number two, maybe. If others have then gone, we’ve had to make those decisions. But, I have made it clear to everybody who is still here today that they are employed by us - not any particular manager. That is the way it’ll remain.”

Would you appoint a manager so wedded to a formation again? I think that was a massive frustration among the fan base...

“Look, we want a manager who wins football matches,” said Ridsdale. “For me to sit here and start talking as if I am some expert in formations and what works and what doesn’t, I think would be arrogant. And, I try hard not to be despite criticisms I sometimes get. We will try and get the right manager, who can win matches for Preston North End. I think we’ve got a squad that can be flexible in how they play - and what formation we play. Which means, if we have a manager who is the right one, they will recognise that and do what’s right to win the matches on any particular Saturday or Tuesday night. So, do I expect, going forward, we will be more flexible in how we play? I certainly hope so, but ultimately I want to win football matches.”

A current favourite is David Moyes... do you think there is any chance of that?

“The favourite with who?” said Ridsdale. “That is amazing. I didn’t know that and haven’t had time to think about it. Do I expect that to happen? I don’t, but that’s not because I know it won’t. I just didn’t expect it to happen. I think the thing that always makes me smile is that you may have another favourite when you talk to me tomorrow. I have no idea and that favouritism of the bookies is not based on any knowledge I’ve got.”