Peter Murphy releases statement after leaving Preston North End coaching role

Peter Murphy has wished Preston North End the 'very best' in his first public statement since leaving the club.

Murphy joined Preston as a first-team coach in July 2023 as part of Ryan Lowe's back-room staff and went on to serve under Paul Heckingbottom and Graham Alexander.

Alexander's only change to the coaching team, upon taking over as manager on September 28, was to bring long-term assistant Chris Lucketti with him. Other than that, he wanted to give all the coaches already at the club a 'fresh start', as well as the players.

However, it was announced on Monday, October 19, that Murphy, alongside first-team fitness coach Andy Liddell, had parted company with North End.

A week after leaving Deepdale, Murphy broke his silence on his exit in a LinkedIn post.

He wrote: "After three years at Preston North End, my time as First-Team Coach has come to an end.

"I’m proud to have been part of the club since July 2023 and grateful for the experiences, challenges and people I’ve worked with along the way.

"Starting my fifth season coaching in the EFL Championship this summer, I continue to appreciate the demands of this level and the opportunity to work alongside talented players and dedicated staff.

"A big thank you to everyone at Preston North End for their support and hard work during my time at the club. I leave with some great memories and friendships that I’ll take with me into the next chapter.

"Wishing everyone at PNE all the very best for the future."

Murphy also asked The Post to thank the fans, and called Preston a ‘great football club.’

What Graham Alexander said about changes to coaching staff

Alexander revealed he will only be making one hire to his coaching staff to replace Murphy and Liddell, though that recruitment has yet to come to fruition.

In his latest update on Wednesday, Alexander said when asked by BBC Radio Lancashire if there’d been any movement in the coaching staff: “No, no.

“We've spoke to one person about potentially bringing in, considering the other two that have moved on, but nothing else going forward.

“I think with the games, certainly the previous week with three games in a week, and then this week sort of trying to take forward what we did in the second-half last week.

“I think it was more important to focus on that. I've been really impressed with how people have worked in the last couple of weeks.

“So, fingers crossed, that's still the case going forward.”

Explaining why he felt it was time to make a change to his staff three weeks into his reign, Alexander said last week: "I just feel we need to change the course of the season so far.

“We have to make changes to how we work, how we approach things. The first three games in the space of a week have given me a real clear indication of what the players need.

“And ultimately, that's our only target, what the players need. But also understand how competitive we have to be to win games of football at any level.

“How fit we have to be, how organised, how directional we have to be with our messaging, but you can't expect to change the course of everything without other things changing along the way.

“I wanted to give myself a little bit of time and people all the time, but I just think it's a natural course of action if you want significant change, 'cause we have to make significant change into the formula of the team if we want to be a successful club.”