We all saw the footage from Andrew Hughes’ Instagram over the weekend. The North End left back posted videos of Preston teammates blowing off some steam at the end of the season, with Brad Potts riding a mini booze cruise.
Additionally, girls were seeing carrying letters above their heads to spell out ‘RIDSDALE’. The Preston advisor must have sent the players away for a post-season holiday, and they certainly loved it.
It’s just another chapter in the unlikely success story of Ridsdale at North End. When appointed as Maurice Lindsay’s successor in 2011, the move was met with scepticism.
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This was a man blasted for his roles in financial woes at Leeds United, Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle. Being handed a key role at North End in League One was seen as strategic suicide.
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However, most North End fans would say his time at the club has been a surprising success. He’s played a role in steadying the ship and building the club back up again, with few major issues to speak of.
Now coming up to eight years in the job, Ridsdale – still considered an advisor to Trevor Hemmings having been banned from board positions – seemingly has the backing of fans and players. What do other club owners think of him?
Peterborough United’s Darragh MacAnthony has been asked about Ridsdale, in terms of how he is to deal with. MacAnthony kept it short and sweet, stating that he’s ‘straight forward’.
As far as we can tell, there has only been one deal between North End and Peterborough during Ridsdale’s time. That was to take Hughes to Deepdale last summer, in a bargain deal that Preston will feel they got the better end of.
North End have held an interest in Ivan Toney in the past, and it would be interesting to see whether Ridsdale gets in touch with MacAnthony again in the future about his goalscoring star.