Despite the positive home wins over Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday during the Christmas period, Preston North End’s away form continues to trouble them.
West Bromwich Albion eased to a 3-1 win over North End with three goals in the first 40 minutes killing the game off on New Year’s Day. It was a performance we have seen away from home time and time again this season and in recent years.
Consistently inconsistent
This was the fourth 3-1 defeat away from home this campaign and they have all followed a similar pattern. Preston have struggled for a consistent run of form all season. If anything, we are just consistently inconsistent.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side can rarely seem to follow one good performance with another. Their best spell came in October when wins against Watford and Coventry City sandwiched a very good display away to Burnley which should have resulted in a win.
Two games then followed where North End should have held on for three points but threw away two and three goal leads to Norwich City and Plymouth Argyle.
Since then it has been very hit and miss. A solid draw at home to high flyers Sunderland was followed by a poor 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth.
A hard fought point at home to Leeds United was followed by a drab display and loss to Queens Park Rangers. This time round Preston failed to carry over their performance against Wednesday over to their match at The Hawthorns.
The players don’t seem up for the fight away from home, it’s chalk and cheese. You can tell as soon as they go a goal down, heads drop and more mistakes creep in. The defending in the first half was diabolical.
The second goal was embarrassing. For a corner to be played all the way across the box and for Callum Styles to strike it with his weak foot, unchallenged, through a crowd of players is unacceptable.
Heckingbottom highlights Ledson character
There seems to be a lack of resilience in this team. When the going gets tough. there aren’t many players who stand up for the battle away from Deepdale.
There shouldn’t be such a contrast in the type of display, and it is frustrating to see players have a great game then three days later look like football is alien to them. The majority of the squad fall into this category.
It’s clear we need to set up differently when playing away. The defence is always targeted and we concede the same type of goals all the time. Long balls played in between our wing-back and wide centre-back drawing players out of position and leaving gaps at the back.
The introduction of Ben Whiteman at half-time changed little, with the captain picking up yet another yellow card; nine for the season now and a two match ban around the corner. However Ryan Ledson’s 30 minute cameo impressed the boss.
Ledson scored the consolation goal with a well taken strike, and Hecky was happy with the attitude shown from the former Oxford Untied midfielder. As reported by the Lancashire Evening Post, the Preston manager said “Listen, Ryan Ledson is playing the next away game. Whether he plays the next home game or not he is playing the next away game. Forget tactics, that lad has got personality and he affected the game positively when he came on.”
It’s hard to disagree. Ledson’s character and attitude can never be questioned and he has looked good in the limited game time he’s had under this manager. A midfield duo of Ali McCann and Ledson would make sense in an away game.
Huge opportunity
The impending expiration of numerous contracts in the squad is a huge opportunity to reshape things. Jordan Storey received an extension earlier this week, with the defender committing to the club till 2028. There are arguments for and against him renewing, but you could see that coming and in the last month or so he has been the standout defender.
Others at the club have been good servants but it is time to move on. A phrase doing the rounds among some supporters is ‘The definition of insanity is trying the same things again and again and expecting different results’.
There is the chance to let a lot of players leave the club and for Heckingbottom to have a big chunk of the wage budget to play with to reshape the squad. I think a lot of the Preston players have endeared themselves to fans over the years, but as mentioned their performances aren’t consistent enough to see this club progress.
We just get by with what we have, and seem to have become happy settling for mediocrity. The majority of our players are exactly that; mediocre. Whilst it would be sad to see Andrew Hughes, Liam Lindsay, Duane Holmes, Robbie Brady and many others leave the club, it would be the right decision. We can then invest in younger, hungrier more ambitious players who don’t just see mid-table in the Championship as the most they will ever achieve.