Football Season Guide

League 1

England

League 1

2012/2013

Preston North End

In

Nicky Wroe(mid, Shrewsbury), Shane Cansdell-Sherriff(def, Shrewsbury), Lee Holmes(mid, Southampton), Keith Keane(mid, Luton), John Welsh(mid, Tranmere), Lee Trundle(att, Neath), David Amoo(att, Liverpool), Dave Buchanan(def, Tranmere), Jeffrey Monakana(mid, Arsenal), Paul Huntington(def, Yeovil), Scott Laird(def, Stevenage), John Mousinho(mid, Stevenage)

Out

Juhvel Tsoumou(att, released), Barry Nicholson(mid, Fleetwood Town), Darrel Russel(mid, released), Paul Coutts(mid, Derby), Conor McLaughlin(def, Fleetwood Town), Paul Parry(mid, Shrewsbury), Nicky Hunt(def, Rotherham), Graham Alexander(mid, retired), David Gray(def, Stevenage), Iain Turner(gk, released), Andreas Arestidou(gk, released), Aaron Brown(def, released), Daniel Devine(def, released), Jamie Douglas(mid, released), Adam Barton(mid, Coventry), George Miller(mic, Accrington), Neil Mellor(att, retired)

When Graham Westley took over at Preston last season, he was expected to lead the club to promotion, only to end up nearly getting relegated. The players struggled, or, in some cases, refused, to adapt to his physical and hard working style, but chairman Peter Risdale was a huge believer in the former Stevenage boss and stated before the end of the previous season that Westley would remain in charge even if the Lillywhites got relegated. After avoiding relegation, Westley didn't waste a lot of time trying to make the squad his own - 13 players were signed by early June, as Westley highlighted the importance of the entire squad taking part in the summer preparations and getting used to his ideas. On the other side, the bulk of last season's quad left the club, with the most notable players to leave including Barry Nicholson, Paul Coutts, Paul Parry and Neil Mellor. Now, after a full summer of training the squad and with a team he picked himself, Westley will have no excuses, and will be expected to deliver. What isn't helping his cause is that the majority of Preston fans don't like him for his negative brand of football, but that will surely change if his methods actually start working for Preston the way they worked for his former club Stevenage.

Target

Anyone capable of accurately predicting how Preston will perform this season should definitely try playing the lottery: the Lillywhites have immensely changed over the summer, and are now consistent of a group of players that never played together. Some of their fans are expecting promotion, while some are fearing relegation, which just shows how difficult they are to judge. One thing is for sure, however, given the patience he was shown, Westley won't be regarded to have had a successful season unless a Play-Off place is achieved. Whether or not that is a realistic goal, remains to be seen.