Tom Sandells' Press View: Foundations of success are there for Preston North End with growing expectations

The levels of optimism this season are probably as high as they’ve been since the second season of Alex Neil’s time at the club.

During his first season PNE finished seventh but they were not really tipped to be up there, once North End fans saw what their side were capable of under the Scot, expectations grew.

During the first few seasons back in the Championship after promotion in 2015, most PNE fans would just take remaining in the division, but that is not the case anymore.

Preston are one of the longest serving sides in the second tier at the moment, only Birmingham City and Reading with 12 and 10 years have had longer without securing promotion – or indeed being relegated – though the Royals have reached a play-off final.

PNE, Queens Park Rangers and Bristol City have all spent eight years in the second tier and patience is beginning to wear down woth the Lilywhites fans in terms of changing their expectation.

There is still a portion of the support that would take a 21st place finish because it simply means they survive in the Championship, the first aim of every club when the season starts.

But there is a growing percentage that want to set the bar higher and that has been growing year on year as PNE remain consistent in the toughest league in the world whilst others around them erratically shoot about the league table.

Their best and worst season in the Championship, since promotion in 2015, are separated by seven places – a seventh place finish in 2018 and 14th the following year.

That’s about the most inconsistent PNE have been, otherwise recording two 11th places, two 13th places and ninth.

For comparison, last season’s beaten play-off finalists Huddersfield Town jumped 17 places to finish third off the back of finishing 20th in 2021.

The aforementioned Royals jumped up 14 places to also finish third when they reached the play-off final in 2017, only to fall back down to 20th the following campaign.

It is the unpredictable nature of the Championship that can see such anomalies occur – Barnsley went from fifth in the Championship to League One football within 12 months – but it seems that PNE have been able to steadily do their own thing in the meantime.

It hopefully bodes well, should they find some success and climb up a few places in the table, that they won’t experience a similar fate.

There have been several peices of the puzzle there throughout their eight years back in the second tier, the likes of Alan Browne and Daniel Johnson who have both had some stunning seasons, a consistent ownership and structure at the club and also an avid fanbase, which has grown over the past eight months with Ryan Lowe’s arrival.

One criticism may be that their best players often move on, but that is the nature of the beast at this level – just ask Huddersfield after the summer they’ve had.

In Lowe as the manager, North End have someone used to building towards success.

He achieved success at Bury in getting them out of League Two and dropped back down into the fourth tier to repeat the feat at Plymouth Argyle – he consolidated them in League One and set them on a play-off push before being approached by PNE.

Those sort of slower builds, compared to the flash in the pan seasons as mentioned previously, are more sustainable beyond a single campaign.

It is about getting the foundations in place so that it seems a formality, if everything else is going right then it only makes sense that things on the pitch should go how you’d want them to.

It also means you are well set if a disaster derails your season. If half the squad get season ending injuries and you end up struggling through to the end, they will return, you have the structure to get them back going and it is just a delay on the inevitable – at least, that’s the plan.

Lowe has shown since his arrival that he wants to be involved in all parts of the club.

He has brought in some of his own staff, he has changed the way the club goes about recruitment and has interacted with the fans as much if not more than any manager in recent memory.

He’s buying into everything that Preston North End is and that has a knock on effect on those around the club, it is infectious.

He should be given time, he is up against some huge clubs with similarly huge budgets – as well as parachute payments – and Rome wasn’t built in a day.

But with the excellent first impression that he’s made comes greater expectation. He looks a manager destined to continue improving and to continue those around him, and so more is expected of him and his team.

It is a pressure any at elite level will welcome and should thrive under but mid table, as has been the norm, is likely the minimum a lot of fans now expect, and it is a reasonable assessment.

Too long now have good, solid Championship players been just that and not kicked the club on. There is a lot of quality in this PNE squad and there a handful of players capable of taking games and the division by the scruff of the neck.

This could be a season where experienced North End players stand up and be counted and with a manager ready to back them all the way, it could be just what is needed to break into that top six.