Alex Neil has been appointed as the new manager of Preston North End on a rolling 12 month contract the club have announced
Neil replaces Simon Grayson, who left for Sunderland last week after being sacked by Norwich in March.
The 36 year old has quickly got himself back into the game at a club that are stable in the Championship and beat the Canaries at Carrow Road last season.
Speaking about becoming the new Lilywhites boss Alex said: “I`ve looked at this opportunity and seen that the club has made progress for four years running and I am looking forward to trying to continue that progress.
“It is a really good challenge for me. I have been involved in a lot of big games in a short space of time and hopefully we can be involved in a lot more big games here at Preston North End.
“Taking over a job in this situation means we have a confident squad that have been performing well over the last couple of seasons. There will not be a task of trying to lift the players, they have shown they are a good team and they can compete at this level and my job is to come in and try and help them improve as individuals and improve us as a club and hopefully try and push further up the league.’
It didn’t work out at Norwich after a terrific initial surge to the Premier League and the club’s first Wembley appearance in 30 years. That though was the high point, with a dismal effort at staying in the Premier League then followed by an equally depressing first season back in the Championship.
He couldn’t turn it round and after 18 months of poor football, he was sacked.
I wish him luck at Preston though and feel that at just 36, he has plenty of time to make a name in the managerial game. Having said that, if he fails at Preston then I’d wonder where he goes from there.
It will be interesting to see if Neil comes back for Frankie McAvoy, as the two men were very much a double act at Hamilton and then Norwich.
Good luck Alex.
OTBC