Preston North End's record-breaking transfer window ends in fan frustration, concern and some important questions
The transfer window closed on Tuesday.
The close of the transfer window brings Preston North End’s high-spending summer to an end.
10 players have come in and over £15m has been spent in total.
Fans were delighted to see that the club had smashed their long-standing £2m ceiling for individual permanent transfers with the signing of Alfie Devine, and then Harry Clarke and Léo Leroy for north of £4m combined.
From a financial standpoint, at least, Paul Heckingbottom has been the club’s most backed manager.
North End were widely expected to do more business on Tuesday and indeed they did, bringing in striker Johnny Kenny for £3m from Celtic and midfielder Liam Gibbs on loan from Norwich City.
Heckingbottom seemed fairly happy with the deals and, more widely, PNE’s transfer window, telling BBC Radio Lancashire on Tuesday night that they ‘didn’t need’ 25 players, but just needed to replace ‘the threats that have been lost’ at the end of last season.
Why, then, did many PNE fans wake up on Wednesday frustrated with their deadline day business, not to mention their start to the season on the pitch?
There are several reasons, but a couple stand out.
Alan Browne was heavily linked with a return to the club from Sunderland and it looked all but done but it fell through in the final stages.
It remains unclear as to exactly why it did, but Sunderland weren’t desperate for him to leave and it has been said before that he could be part of the Black Cats’ Europa League plans.
Nonetheless, there is still frustration among supporters over how the deadline day business was conducted and announced.
Revealing the two new signings midway through Tuesday night’s game on the Deepdale big screen - and putting their names in separate frames, leaving fans to wonder whether Browne was still coming - was certainly a choice, and one that hasn’t gone down well.
The announcements were made at a time when the game could have gone either way. It was 1-1, and PNE were on top.
The home faithful had been singing loudly and cheering on their side even before Caleb Wiley’s superb equaliser, but the atmosphere quietened when it sunk in that Browne was not coming back.
That is not the fault of Kenny or Gibbs, of course. Despite the pair not being the signings that fans may have expected even 24 hours ago, it is important that North End supporters rally around the two deadline day arrivals, and they will, but there is a feeling that more could have been done.
As consistently mentioned by the PNE boss over the summer, several players have left the club in recent months, including six senior strikers: Milutin Osmajic, Lewis Dobbin, Daniel Jebbison, Michael Smith, Will Keane and Milos Lukovic.
North End now just have two out-and-out number nines in Jusef Erabi and Kenny, who don’t have the Championship experience that most of their predecessors did.
The 3-1 defeat to Bristol City once again exposed defensive issues and there has been surprise that the club have not brought in a centre-back.
There are free agents out there, but Heckingbottom spoke like a man not expecting any more incomings prior to January.
North End have decent depth in that area - Jordan Storey and Odel Offiah were on the bench against the Robins - but goals conceded have too often been down to individual errors which cannot be made at this level.
The signings who have already settled have fitted in nicely. Stanley Mills and Wiley seriously impressed on Tuesday night, while Leroy and Clarke have also started strongly.
Devine looked much more like himself in that game, while Erabi and Burgzorg are playing regularly, are praised for their work rate and their contributions on debut in the cup.
Lee Nicholls looked composed on his first appearance for PNE and will push both himself and number one Daniel Iversen.
North End now have the players for Heckingbottom to deploy a system closer to his preferred setup, and didn’t look bad on Tuesday night, but four league games have been played and all four have ended in defeat.
There is no sugarcoating the fact this has been a dreadful start results-wise, and things need to improve quickly.
In short, it has been a remarkable window for PNE as far as spending is concerned. The club have spent significantly - on the pitch as well as on signings - and should be applauded for doing so, but fans are understandably asking: is there enough to show for it?