I was a bit surprised to see some Preston fans calling for the manager's head after last night's game. Whilst they may not be doing as well as last year they are still quite handily placed. Perhaps they have developed a sense of entitlement. I think Neil could be the victim of his own success on this one.
To be fair if you’re going to play football like that, you have to be winning pretty frequently or it’s going to get pretty mind numbing. One of my best mates is a PNE fan and he said it’s not so much the manager as it is everything about the club at the moment. None of the players want to be there, the owner apparently doesn’t care (though seeing the amount of cash he puts in to keep the club afloat I’m not sure I buy that personally), so it’s more just a general frustration from them, as their fans now believe they should be pushing playoffs every season.
They have quite a number of high earners who are out of contract at the end of tjethe season and a lot of their supporters belive the players in question have stopped putting in the effort. Johnson Pearson Bowne Davies Hughes Fisher
Delusions of grandeur after knocking on the door of the Championship playoffs the last few seasons methinks. Alex Neil (ex Barnsley player) and his side had a few injuries last night though, so should be able to get some decent performances. I don't see PNE as a bottom half team at all - mid table at worst. I don't know if that's good enough achievement in this day and age though for some teams owners. Must also take into account the effect of covid and how much income clubs aren't earning
I think of Preston as being a decent footballing side, but they played 90 minutes of hoofball last night. I'd be a bit fed up if I watched that week in, week out.
Nail on head. Direct football is only acceptable if effective. I read their forum last night and they are a decent lot. It wasn’t a ‘teams like Barnsley’ attitude I saw. More dismay at how poor they have become since last season. They battered us last season, and Johnson was our tormentor in chief. Last night they played so much high stuff, he was just bypassed, especially in the second half. Our centre backs mopped up everything.
When they kept it on the deck they caused us problems because their passing was slicker in the attacking third. They could have been 3-1 up just after half-time but Walton pulled off two cracking saves. One at 1-0 and the other at 1-1.
TBF they aren’t the side that completely rolled us over in both games last season. Neither are we mindst.
Maybe I'm wearing red-tinted glasses, but I don't think of our current style as hoofball. Preston were pumping it forward at every opportunity and generally aiming for the same player. We mixed it up a lot more, I agree more so in the second half, but even in the first half we did a lot more passing than Preston.
