Preston North End: Review of 2021 - Part 1

Here we review the first six months of the year, one which started with a busy transfer window but little joy on the pitch.

JANUARY

Locked turnstiles would be the case until the summer due to the pandemic, eerie stadiums with row upon row of empty seats the backdrop to matches.

January was a month when what happened off the field rather than on it, grabbed the headlines at Preston North End.

The transfer window was to prove a busy one, both in and out of Deepdale.

Trading actually crept into February, the last day of the window on February 1 as January 31 fell on a Sunday.

Eight players were to leave PNE and eight come in over the course of the window.

The previous two windows had seen a single signing each time, so this was a big change to say the least at North End.

Three ‘big-hitters’ were to leave in the shape of Ben Pearson, Ben Davies and Darnell Fisher.

All were in the final six months of their contracts, Pearson and Davies turning down new deals – there wasn’t one on the table for Fisher at the time he left.

Pearson and Fisher left on the same day, joining Bournemouth and Middlesbrough respectively.

Davies’ move was to be a big one in terms of status, the defender signing for Liverpool – a deal completed in the final hours of the window.

Among the incomings were Daniel Iversen, Ched Evans, Greg Cunningham, Anthony Gordon and Sepp van den Berg – the teenager coming on loan from Liverpool as part of the Davies transfer.

The then North End boss Alex Neil was candid enough to say in his eyes, the squad was weaker at the end of the window than it had been at the start.

Neil viewed it that way on the basis that Davies and Pearson were both among the best in their position in the Championship.

The sale of Fisher was clearly a sore point with the manager too, Neil having brought the best out of him during their time together.

There had been the risk of losing Alan Browne and Daniel Johnson too, like Pearson and Davies they’d reached the last few months of their contracts.

But in the latter stages of January, both midfielders signed bumper new deals.

On the pitch, January started with three defeats on the spin – including a 4-1 loss at Wycombe in the FA Cup.

A 1-0 victory in the sleet and rain at Birmingham got them back on track, Scott Sinclair with the winner.

The St Andrew’s clash was significant in the fact Paul Huntington made his 300th appearance for PNE.

A 0-0 draw with Reading followed before a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday ended the month.

FEBRUARY

The first day of February saw a flurry of deals done in and out of Deepdale ahead of the 11pm deadline.

On the pitch, North End kicked-off the month with a 2-1 home defeat to Rotherham – Ched Evans scoring his first goal for PNE since signing from Fleetwood.

Far better was to come the following Friday night as the Lilywhites beat Blackburn 2-1 at Ewood Park in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

Greg Cunningham found the net, then new boy Liam Lindsay followed suit.

Two defeats followed, at home to Watford and then a 4-0 shocker at Cardiff.

Four points from two home games brought some stability, a midweek 0-0 draw with QPR followed-up with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield.

MARCH

This was to be a huge month for PNE, culminating in the departure of Alex Neil from the manager’s office.

It began with a 2-1 defeat to Millwall, that despite a fine volley from Ched Evans giving them an early lead at The Den.

A 1-1 draw with Bournemouth at Deepdale, a game which saw the return of Ben Pearson in Cherries colours, brought some relief.

Then followed a trio of matches which were to prove Neil’s downfall.

North End were beaten 1-0 at Wycombe, there being little fight shown into the latter stages.

They went to Middlesbrough and were beaten 2-0, the loss of Alan Browne to a red card before half-time a real blow.

Neil was also shown a red card for his protests to the referee as the teams left the field for the interval.

The final nail hammered into the coffin was done by Luton who won 1-0 at Deepdale on March 20.

James Collins’ 83rd minute goal settled the game and the following afternoon Neil was sacked.

The Scot had managed North End since July 2017 and at some stage in the each of the first three seasons there had been a flirtation with the top six.

His first campaign had been the best in terms of league position, North End finishing seventh.

Neil was hit hard by the sales of Pearson, Davies and Fisher and by the end looked to have run out of steam and belief.

His assistant Frankie McAvoy was named as interim head coach, that a move which surprised some fans who had expected him to leave with McAvoy.

The change was made ahead of an international break, that giving McAvoy a couple of weeks to work with the squad and get his ideas across.

APRIL

McAvoy’s first game in charge looked a daunting one, a Good Friday clash with Championship leaders Norwich at Deepdale.

The opponents were familiar, McAvoy having worked under Neil for the Canaries.

PNE’s run of defeats looked like continuing as Emiliano Buendia gave the Canaries an early lead.

Deep into stoppage-time though, Brad Potts’ collected a pass from Ryan Ledson and drove a shot goalwards.

The ball clipped off a Norwich defender and beat keeper Tim Krul.

Buoyed by the 1-1 draw, North End headed to South Wales for an Easter Monday clash with play-off chasing Swansea City.

McAvoy switch from the 4-4-2 diamond used against Norwich, to a 3-5-2 – a system we would become familiar with over the months ahead.

On the day, PNE were the better side and when Matt Grimes put through his own goal in stoppage-time, it gave the visitors a deserved 1-0 victory.

The next match was a sobering one for McAvoy and North End, with Brentford hammering them 5-0 at Deepdale. Three of the goals came in the last 15 minutes, PNE exposed at the back as they tried to cut the deficit.

North End responded with a 0-0 draw at Stoke the following week, the first of four clean sheets on the run.

They beat Derby 3-0 , with Ben Whiteman, Evans and Ryan Ledson finding the net, then a 1-0 win at Coventry rounded-off April – Alan Browne scoring a penalty.

MAY

There were two games in May and a big decision to make over the managerial vacancy for North End.

Jordan Storey and Ched Evans scored in a 2-0 win over Barnsley on May 1, on the weekend that football boycotted social media to highlight the abuse people associated with the sport were receiving.

The curtain was brought down on the season in the rain at Nottingham Forest.

Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Tom Bayliss and Liam Lindsay scored in the second half to secure a 2-1 victory.

Two days later, McAvoy was named PNE’s new head coach. It was the first time they had given that title to the man at the helm.

North End pointed to his record of 17 points from the 24 available during his tenure as justification for giving McAvoy the job.

JUNE

Sepp van den Berg agreed to return to PNE on a season’s loan from Liverpool, with a similar deal struck with Leicester to bring Daniel Iversen back.

Izzy Brown joined a free transfer after being released by Chelsea, with Matthew Olosunde signing on a Bosman from Rotherham.

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