Luton defeat marks the end as Neil and Preston part ways

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After a largely lifeless display against Luton on Saturday, Preston have today parted company with manager Alex Neil after over three and a half years in charge.

The 1-0 defeat at home to the Hatters proved to be the final straw for the board in what has been a very disappointing campaign for the Lilywhites. It was the club’s 20th defeat in the league, second only to Wycombe who are rooted to the bottom.

There are a variety of factors as to why Neil has reached the end of the line and almost all of those were apparent during yet another dispiriting defeat. The home form has been poor with only five wins at Deepdale all season. The style of football has been uninspiring and key players have been sold with the players brought in not at the same level.

Neil did stress in his post match press conference that the new players were not the issue but more the fact that there are just so many of them and they are all bedding in. Bringing in a couple of players into a settled team allows time to get to know your surroundings while the team ticks along. Unfortunately for Neil, Preston brought in eight new players to join a side struggling for form and confidence.

The board have to shoulder a huge amount of the blame regarding this. Letting five of your key players get into the final year of their contracts and the prospect of losing all of them for free is not good squad management and leads to tough decisions having to be made. Alan Browne and Daniel Johnson both eventually committed to new deals but Ben Pearson, Ben Davies and Darnell Fisher all left in January for a fraction of what they would normally command.

This would hinder any manager and Neil was not shy in mentioning it after the game. These kind of remarks are not what you would expect from a manager happy with what is going on behind the scenes.

All of this is not to say that Neil is completely blameless. As mentioned previously, the football being served up to the North End fans has not been good enough. Sometimes fans can accept indifferent results if performances are improving but insipid displays like yesterday meant that the end was only a matter of time.

Against Luton the Whites created next to nothing. Most of the attacking output consisted of Ched Evans, a veteran striker who began the season in League One, hassling Hatters defenders and feeding off complete scraps. There were no patterns of play to speak of. Scott Sinclair and Daniel Johnson were largely anonymous and Simon Sluga wasn’t tested until the final minutes of the game in the Luton goal.

Defensively North End were solid enough at times but were eventually undone when the otherwise excellent Daniel Iversen put into his own net. It wasn’t until the goal that Preston showed any real attacking intent and even then it was because Luton were happy to sit back and play on the counter.

39 goals in 38 league games tells it’s own story. Those kind of attacking numbers puts a lot of pressure on a defence that yesterday included three loanees and a right footer playing at left back. It’s a very clear way to sum up the poor squad management and decline in Neil’s time in charge.

The 39-year-old looked a beaten man during the press conference and conceded that his team weren’t getting the basics right and that he hadn’t a “scooby doo” what his best team is at present. It felt at this point that the die had been cast and his tenure in Lancashire was coming to an end.

Josh Knowles, writer with ‘From the Finney’ and Preston fan, felt that it was the right time for Neil to move on when the question was put to him.

‘Yeah I’d say so. Not all his fault by any means but the form is screaming relegation and something needed to change. Do believe he’s not been backed at all, and what’s happened was always expected seeing that 3 of his top players were sold and not properly replaced. Still believe he’ll be a very good coach, just could do with a break I feel.’

Neil stated on Saturday that he’s been “looking over his shoulder” for a while in terms of relegation and Preston really need to get these final eight games right if they are to avoid dropping into League One.

Frankie McAvoy is expected to take charge for the rest of the season but who will take over full time is anybody’s guess. Knowles had two names on his wish list.

‘I mean, the dream would be Chris Wilder but that’s never going to happen. I’d say maybe Ryan Lowe as a potential, but I think we may well go down the head coach route.’

McAvoy has two weeks now to allow the players some badly needed rest and some work on the training ground ahead of the clash with Norwich on Good Friday.

The next three fixtures are all against teams in the top four and it could be a very nervy end to the season for North End fans. As for Neil, some time out will now do him the world of good.

It has been a relentless schedule but a rest and refresh will allow him to look at some new ideas and undoubtedly it won’t be long before another Championship team will come looking for his services.

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