Preston North End appoint new senior recruitment analyst

Beet was player recruitment analyst at Barnsley for nearly three years before making the move to North End.

He's a local lad, having attended Lancaster Royal Grammar School, before studying economics at the University of Sheffield.

Peter Ridsdale representative of PNE owner Trevor Hemmings, told the Lancashire Post: "James has joined us from Barnsley where he was doing a similar role.

"He is going to be involved with the recruitment we are looking to pull together.

"James will be responsible for the analysis side of recruitment while he will be out at games too - he was at games over the weekend.

"What he will do is analysis the players out there, identify who could come here and pass that on to Alex Neil and myself.

"If we suggest a player to him, James will study that player and do the analysis on him.

"We might ask him to recommend, for example, five strikers or five central defenders, for us to have a look at.

"James will have that encyclopaedic knowledge of players around the country who potentially could come here.

"He's very impressive, he started with us last week and it's great to have him on board."

Beet fills the vacancy partly created by the departure of head of recruitment Joe Savage in December, Savage having joined Scottish Championship club Hearts.

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 per month for the first two months. Try us today by clicking here