Preston’s search for a new manager hasn’t harvested a result just yet, but you have to imagine that Frankie McAvoy is a leading contender.
North End eased past promotion-chasing Barnsley on Saturday afternoon, beating them 2-0 at Deepdale with goals from Jordan Storey and Ched Evans.
That’s now four wins in seven since McAvoy took interim charge following Alex Neil’s exit, and five clean sheets kept during his time in charge.
That means McAvoy is right in the frame to land the job permanently, but Wycombe Wanderers boss Gareth Ainsworth continues to be a name touted for the job.
We’ve heard little indication that Preston are actually keen on Ainsworth, but bookies and fans continue to push for him to make the move.
Ainsworth suggested last week that he is happy at Wycombe, but hinted that he may well be interested in heading back to Preston.
The 47-year-old had three spells with North End as a player, becoming something of a cult hero at Deepdale before eventually turning his hand to management.
His focus has been on keeping the Chairboys in the Championship, and against all odds, they have taken it all the way to the final weekend of the season with four wins in their last seven outings.
Ainsworth has worked wonders with Wycombe’s budget, but his style of play has left some fans fearing that he may not be the right man for North End.
Now, pundit Keith Andrews has told the Sky Sports EFL podcast that he thinks Preston would well to get Ainsworth because he would be a ‘good appointment’.
Andrews believes that Ainsworth needs to pick his next club very carefully, as he needs a team that will buy into his ideas – and whether that’s Preston remains to be seen.
“It would be a massive blow,” said Andrews when discussing Ainsworth leaving Wycombe. “Let’s be quite honest about what he’s achieved at that football club; the spirit that they have just epitomises him as a person. He has his soldiers on the football pitch that just carry out exactly the type of game plan that he would have as a player and what he insists on, so it would be a huge blow to Wycombe to lose him.”
“He’s been touted before for certain clubs, you go back a year or two, and rightly so because of what he’s achieved at Wycombe At some stage he’s going to have to leave Wycombe and I think the challenge for him will be identifying the right club and right chairman to work with, the right set of players that he feels will buy into what he wants to achieve and how he wants to go about it.”
“Will that be Preston? Yes, this season they have slightly underachieved, but overall I think they’ve done well under Alex Neil in a certain way; he had a very good relationship with Peter Ridsdale, obviously that chapter has come to a close, so one day it’s going to happen. Whether it will be to Preston, we’ll find out. I think Preston will do well to get Gareth Ainsworth, that’s what I would say. I think he would be a good appointment for them,” he added.