Not wasting any time he signed 3 loan players on Friday 20th January: Jamie McAllister, Andy Procter and Chris Holroyd.

The first game against Leyton Orient on 21st January started with a line up of: Stuckmann, McLean, Morgan, Carlisle, McAllister, Coutts, Procter, Parry, Proctor, Jervis, Holroyd. Subs: Gray, Nicholson, Tsoumou, Barton, Arestidou.

Preston lost the game 0 – 2 at home in front of a crowd of 11,436, not a good start. With Mayor pulling out sick shortly before the kick off and Bunn, loaned from Man City, not playing.

After the match Graham Westley said the team were not fit enough. Although some say that after a bad run they had started to get more points in the last few games.  Many think that too many players just aren’t good enough and it will be interesting to see how the new manager turns it round.

It isn’t known what is happening with Graham Alexander and David Unsworth who are both very popular at the club and had been managing the team in the interim.

A win at Hartlepool at the end of November was the first league win since the end of September when PNE were well established in the top 6 of the league. Since then poor results have continued although injuries seemed to fog the issue and PNE are clinging onto the top half of the table.

Now PNE are in the hands of Paul Unsworth and Graham Alexander who will be given a chance to prove themselves. With four games up to new year and then a two week break it could be that decisions will need to be made before the transfer window closes if PNE have any money to spend. Rumours abound that there are clubs after certain players, which in some ways is a good thing, if PNE can hold onto them.

The season is no-where near over and an automatic promotion place is still possible, although in reality a play-off place might be optimistic.

It would be easy to be complacent but PNE had a bad season last year and ended quite a few points behind the team above. There is no reason to suppose that League 1 teams will be overawed, clubs like Sheffield Wednesday and United have big histories. MK Dons, Huddersfield and Bournemouth won’t be easy to beat. There is a good standard of play in the top half of league 1, PNE will do well to be in the top 6.

During the time in the Championship North End had some good strikers, Healy, Macken, Nugent, Cresswell and for a short time Fuller. Quite a few good defenders and half backs as well, Alexander, Etuhu and McKenna. Lonergan has been around a long time but only broke through more recently.

David Moyes and Billy Jones were the most successful managers while the unfortunate Phil Brown inherited a squad that was well down and has the worst record ever of any Preston manager. For that reason he must stay to improve it.  He’s got a tough job as League 1 is no push-over although the current squad must surely be good enough for the top half.  That is assuming they all stay or can be afforded and several will leave.  Trevor Hemmings has kept the club afloat and watching him on TV at the Grand National he came over as someone who likes to be in charge.

A little prayer.  We await the guidance and hopefully the largesse of Trever Hemmings. We also hope for Phil Brown to stay and find some new talent un-noticed by other clubs.

Now bring on 2011/12 and what unfolds before next August. Guild year 2012 PNE back in the Championship.

The Millwall result makes PNE’s goal difference worse than Crystal Palace and Doncaster by 2 goals.

PNE could stay up with only 5 more points out of 9 possible, but it depends on bad results elsewhere.

If relegation or promotion chasing teams are regarded as tough then PNE have a reasonable chance of staying up with 2 wins out of the 3 games.

PNE have 1 ‘tough’ fixture. PNE v Cardiff.  Ipswich away and Watford at home aren’t formidable.

Crystal Palace have 3 ‘tough’ fixtures. Leeds, Hull and Notts Forest.

Scunthorpe have 1 ‘tough’ fixture.  Scunthorpe v Notts Forest. Millwall and Portsmouth don’t seem as tough.

Sheffield United have 2 ‘tough’ fixtures. Reading and Swansea. Barnsley shouldn’t be so tough.

Doncaster have 3 games against teams with nothing to lose.

Saturday May 7th might be a last day crunch. PNE v Watford.  Crystal Palace v Notts F. Scunthorpe v Portsmouth, Swansea v Sheff U.

Sometimes in football things become clear very quickly, other times they creak on to the final minute. Here’s to good fortune for PNE.

Of the remaining fixtures there are 4 where a victory isn’t asking too much, against Scunthorpe (a) and the home games against Coventry, Sheffield U, Watford.  Many of the other games aren’t ones that should put too much fear into PNE and draws against Swansea(h) and the away games at Reading, Portsmouth, Doncaster, Millwall and Ipswich as well as Cardiff(h) don’t seem improbable.  That would be 19 points or 44 in total – not enough. So wins in 4 of those 7 drawn games are needed, seems too much to hope but it’s not over till the fat lady sings. Two wins; at Scunthorpe and against Coventry would put their tails right up for a roaring finish.

Still feel more confidence in Phil Brown and Brian Horton than any of the last managers, but also had confidence in Neil Mellor, things aren’t looking good for this season but it’s not over yet. 10 points adrift with 2 games in hand and 18 games to go, need to get about 32 more points, not impossible, just improbable.

Noted that Alan Irvine was replaced by Gary Megson at Sheffield Wednesday last week.

In the last week another forward has been loaned, 6′ 2″ Leon Cort from QPR.  As the weeks go by signs of change should be more obvious, so here’s to 5pm, 3 points and a bit less tension!

Scunthorpe Update: Noon, cancelled due to a frozen pitch.   Away to Barnsley on Tuesday, no six pointer and without a potential win under the belt.

Not long ago there was Billy Davies who surprised us all but wanted money and left, then Paul Simpson who seemed OK at first but was perhaps coasting on Billy Davies’s team till it fell apart,  Alan Irvine who was a nice guy and did well at first but then hit a very lean spell, Darren Ferguson who had two good seasons at Peterborough but his team had struggled in the Championship.   Yesterday someone quoted that Bill Shankly said a football team is 3 great players supported by the rest, or something like that. So have PNE got 3 great players: Lonergan, St Ledger and ……..   Shame about Alexander, McKenna, Wallace leaving, who sold them?

Now with 19 points from 24 games and needing 8 points to get 1 point out of the relegation zone it is a mountain to climb.  Phil has a practise game against Notts Forest in the cup then a week later it’s Leicester at Deepdale.  If PNE can score some goals it isn’t beyond hope they can get 9 points from the next 4 games and they’d then be in the middle of the scrap and able to claw their way out. Scoring has seemed difficult lately.