Preston North End let yet another lead slip as they lost 2-1 to Hull City on Easter Monday. The Lilywhites had gone in front via Lewis Gibson’s first goal for the club but they never looked like getting all three points. The fans turned out for what is always an emotional Gentry Day, but the players did not bother.
Hull were lucky to be awarded two penalties but Joe Gelhardt dispatched them both to leave North End looking over their shoulders nervously. Well the fans will be at least, but the players probably don’t even realise the situation they have got themselves into.
No fight, no character, no backbone
It’s been the same old story season after season. We get to the last stage of the season and the players go off on their holidays leaving the fans to endure horrendous football and inevitable results. Preston are on a run of just one win in 13 games now and are just three points away from the relegation zone.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side have dropped 28 points from winning positions this season. In the last five games alone they have blown leads to Stoke City, Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers and Hull City. So when Gibson gave North End the lead on Monday you knew the game was far from over. Just a few minutes into the second half you could sense that Preston would come away with nothing.
The aforementioned teams have all been fighting for points. Fighting until the very end of the game. Trying to get the win instead of time wasting, battling hard to win the 50/50’s, chasing down the ball, showing character. Doing the job they are paid to do. Preston North End have done anything but that.
Those players are an embarrassment to watch. Quite frankly you can count on one hand how many players currently at the club you would still want to be here next season.
Where’s the captain?
The armband indicates that Ben Whiteman is the captain of this club, but there is nothing else that would suggest so. The captain should be leading his team at this stage of the season, especially with relegation on the horizon. He should be ashamed with yet another spineless performance where North End have gone down to a defeat with a wimper.
Whiteman can’t handle being captain of a club in the Championship, he can’t even handle when people suggest he should be doing better; having chosen to block me on Twitter/X when I wrote that he was performing below par earlier in the season.
The very least you would expect from your captain and the rest of the team, is at the end of the game you walk over to the fans and thank them on today of all days. Yet there was only a handful of players who came over to the travelling support with the rest quickly heading down the tunnel.
Senior players such as Whiteman, Andrew Hughes, and Jordan Storey were nowhere to be seen yet youngsters Theo Mawene, Kaedyn Kamara, and Theo Carroll were there to applaud the fans. So was Patrick Bauer who has only featured twice this season.
There’s clearly no presence in the dressing room and no leadership of this team.
Heckingbottom can’t remain blameless
Paul Heckingbottom was dealt a poor hand when he arrived at the club in mid-August. Two games into the season and only a couple of weeks left in the transfer window with a minimal budget.
Yet he’s had 42 league games in charge now and has only managed 10 wins. It’s the worst win percentage in the league as a Preston manager since Graham Westley and the second worst since 1981. At times it has seemed like he has been making progress but this run of one win in 13 would suggest otherwise.
There are some key players injured but you would still expect the manager to get more from this team or at least be able to lead them into battle better prepared. We look scared in all our games, and heading into a huge game against Plymouth Argyle next weekend, you can put your house on which team will be more up for the game.
Setting up a team with just Mads Frokjaer in support of Milutin Osmajic will not lead to many attacking chances. There is no creativity, pace or flair in the squad, and it is such a chore to watch. Whilst the defence always look likely to concede.
Many thought that the Aston Villa cup tie would be our biggest game by far this season, but the Argyle tie now supersedes that. Heckingbottom won’t be in the dugout after receiving a red card after the final whistle of the game.
A win will definitely be enough, a point might be, but if we head into the last game of the season still needing something then I would have no confidence whatsoever in this bunch of players.
This has been coming for years
The club has been going backwards for at least the last five years. No serious investment, no major player sales, no pathway to the first team for youth players, an over reliance on loans, and an unbalanced squad due to sticking with a formation that has never worked.
There were worries in the summer even with Ryan Lowe at the helm, and leaving us after one game was always going to give the club an even harder task to compete this season, and they have not been able to adapt. For every time there has been a decent win or a good performance it has quickly been followed by a poor one bringing fans back down to earth.
The cup run gave the supporters a brief chance to dream again, but that aside even with only three defeats at home this season, it has been a feeling of dismay throughout Deepdale. There is no belief that this team could ever sustain a run of form. Players may shine here and there but not for a solid run of games.
Heckingbottom spoke of wanting to throw a bomb under the squad and start again in the summer. He’s unlikely to get that freedom but in truth the whole club needs rebuilding from top to bottom. That task may actually be easier if relegation to League One does become a reality.