'Big, big question mark' despite 'great change' under Paul Heckingbottom - says former PNE and Stoke City boss
Ex-PNE boss weighs in on the Paul Heckingbottom-era so far
Former Preston North End boss Alex Neil believes Paul Heckingbottom has improved one area of the team ‘considerably’.
But, the Scot feels his former club still has plenty of progress to make in another. It remains early days for the current manager, with Heckingbottom having been appointed in mid-August. Neil, who has been out of work since last December, has kept an eye on North End’s start to life under the 47-year-old.
He was in the Sky Sports studio for the 0-0 draw at Burnley and attended Deepdale, for the 3-0 win over Watford. On the whole, Neil has plenty of admiration for the impact Heckingbottom has made on Preston’s out-of-possession game. In the same breath, he feels the next step is abundantly clear.
“Yeah, I think there has been a great change,” Neil told BBC Lancashire. “Hecky is very much aggressive in his approach. I think he's got them very structured. For me, at the moment, what Paul is doing is trying to add that element of being aggressive against the ball - which means, when the opposition have got it, that is as dangerous as you are likely to be.
“I think they have still got a lot of work to do when they've got the ball. I don't think they are the type of team that, if teams sit in against them, they are going to carve them apart and it be free-flowing football. But, what I think they will do is turn the ball over and be much more dangerous on transition. I think he has improved that element of their game, considerably, since he went there.
“They are very good without the ball, but that other flip side is that they are not particularly creative. I was at the Watford game. I would not say that Preston completely outplayed them. Watford had two unbelievable chances - one of them was a one-on-one at the start of the game. If that goes in, I think it is a different game.
“I thought Preston ground Watford down, outworked them and outfought them. I thought their shape was really good and they just made it a really difficult night for Watford - who did not handle that well. That is not going to work every week. The worry I have got for Preston is how creative they can be and how many goals they can get, with the team they have got. That is a big, big question mark.”