Sean Gregan's exclusive column

Preston's win over Sheffield Wednesday was a great start to the season and a great way for Alex Neil to start life as North End manager.
Preston North End's Tom Barkhuizen battles with Sheffield Wednesday's Gary HooperPreston North End's Tom Barkhuizen battles with Sheffield Wednesday's Gary Hooper
Preston North End's Tom Barkhuizen battles with Sheffield Wednesday's Gary Hooper

Three points and a clean sheet against a side who have been pushing to get into the Premier League for the last two seasons, will have really pleased Neil.

I think he was a sensible appointment for PNE and seems a good fit for the club for several reasons.

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He is a manager who likes to coach and can work on a smaller budget if his time as Hamilton Academical in Scotland is anything to go by.

Neil took Norwich up to the Premier League and you might argue he was harshly treated by them when he got the sack earlier this year.

He is the latest in a long line of Scottish managers at Preston – I might change my name to McGregan to be in with a shout of the job when it next comes up!

Neil’s arrival came after nearly four-and-a-half years of Simon Grayson being in charge at Deepdale.

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With managers being hired and fired at the rate they are these days, more than four years in the job is almost unprecedented.

Maybe it wasn’t much of a surprise that Grayson chose to move on for a new job.

For all the problems at Sunderland, they are still a big club and were a Premier League side for a long time.

Him going has allowed Preston to have a fresh look at things and bring in a new voice – this is an exciting time for the club.

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I see that Neil has brought a head of recruitment with him, they will work closely together to bring in a certain type of player.

At the moment, North End striker Jordan Hugill is attracting a lot of attention in the transfer market.

There have been two bids from Birmingham City for him and there could be more offers over the next few weeks as the deadline nears.

Hopefully Preston can keep hold of him but if not, they will be looking to get the best possible price for him.

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I can see why clubs wants him because he’s a runner, works hard and scores quite a few goals.

The market has gone through the roof in terms of transfer fees, especially for strikers at this level.

You look at Scott Hogan going to Aston Villa for £12m last January, or the £15m which Middlesbrough have paid for Britt Assombalonga recently.

While you might say that a player is not worth that kind of money, that is the current market rate and clubs are having to pay big bucks for a particular type of player.

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If Hugill was to go, you don’t want it happening at 11.55pm on deadline night.

North End would want the time to get a replacement in, so hopefully this can all be resolved on way or another.

On the subject of big deals, my old PNE team-mate Mark Rankine was involved in Kyle Walker’s move from Spurs to Manchester City last month.

Ranks works for a firm called Base who represent a lot of players.

I think he knew Walker from his Sheffield United days and has looked after him since.