A tenth consecutive Championship season, all but one spent in midtable, looks like finishing around 15th for Preston who, apart from a rare FA Cup run, are wondering what’s the point of it all - sounds familiar, and @Josh_McLoughlin is our checked out away fan.

How’s the season been for Preston?

In a word, dull. It was obviously a very strange start with Ryan Lowe choosing to walk after the first game of the season, and then his assistant Mike Marsh walking straight after the final whistle of his only league game as interim manager.

The appointment of Paul Heckingbottom seems sensible but whilst there have been promising signs under him there hasn’t been any consistency. We’re set for our lowest finish at this level since 2011. Aside from a FA Cup run to the quarter final there really hasn’t been anything to shout about this season

PNE in the league so far…
Preston 0-2 Sheff Utd Arblaster 12, Hamer 55
Swansea 3-0 Preston Grimes pen 40, Abdulai 61, Vipotnik 83
Preston 1-0 Luton Keane 39
Oxford 3-1 Preston Harris 20, Goodrham 53, Leigh 71 – Riis 3
Boro 1-1 Preston Conway 16 – Frokjaer-Hensen 43
Preston 0-0 Blackburn
Millwall 3-1 Preston Honeyman 24, Esse 38, Langstaff 47 – Storey 87
Preston 3-0 Watford Osmajic 53, 65, McCann 75
Burnley 0-0 Preston
Preston 1-0 Coventry Riis 72
Preston 2-2 Norwich Greenwood pen 6, Holmes 12 – Sainz 45, Duffy 61
Plymouth 3-3 Preston Issaka 55, Gray 82, Whittaker 90 – Greenwood 16, Frokjaer-Jensen 45, Potts 48
Preston 1-3 Bristol City Greenwood 48 – Hirakawa 6, Wells 51, Bird 81
Preston 0-0 Sunderland
Portsmouth 3-1 Preston Murphy 36, Ogilvie 45, Bishop pen 89 – Riis 50
Preston 1-1 Derby Greenwood 23 – Yates 29
Stoke 0-0 Preston
Preston 1-1 West Brom Riis 55 – Grant 13
Sheff Wed 1-1 Preston Smith 76 – Riis 14
Cardiff 0-2 Preston Chambers og 48, Osmajic 90
Preston 1-1 Leeds Potts 23 – Whatmough og 90
QPR 2-1 Preston Kolli 50, Dunne 89 – Osmajic 21
Preston 1-0 Hull Potts 60
Preston 3-1 Sheff Wed Riis 29, 79, Greenwood pen 64 – Windass 59
West Brom 3-1 Preston Maja 18, 40, Styles 35 – Ledson 70
Preston 1-1 Oxford Keane 69 – Rodrigues 21
Luton 0-0 Preston
Watford 1-2 Preston Vata 90 – Osmajic 17, 56
Preston 2-1 Boro Thordarson 28, Riis 78 – Burgzorg 52
Blackburn 2-1 Preston Gueye 39, Cantwell pen 78 – Potts 90
Norwich 0-1 Preston Osmajic 5
Preston 0-0 Burnley
Preston 1-1 Millwall Riis 47 – Ivanovic 40
Coventry 2-1 Preston Rudoni 30, Thomas 37 – Keane 82
Preston 0-0 Swansea
Sheff Utd 1-0 Preston Campbell 56
Sunderland 1-1 Preston Mundle 86 – Riis 65
Preston 2-1 Pompey Porteous 76, Thordarson 87 – Bishop 83
Derby 2-0 Preston Forsyth 48, Yates 52
Preston 1-1 Stoke Kesler-Hayden 10 – Baker pen 75
Preston 2-2 Cardiff Osmajic 19, Thordarson 72 – Alves 52, Meite 90
Leeds 2-1 Preston Solomon 4, Bogle 13 – Kesler-Hayden 6

Opinions on Paul Heckingbottom?

I think the biggest difference between Heckingbottom and Ryan Lowe is that Hecky is certainly more likeable. I think he’s warmed to the club and the fans have warmed to him. He’s honest in his interviews, doesn’t promise the world and also doesn’t try to cover up bad performances (until recently anyway). He has a huge summer ahead of him with a big clear out needed but I don’t think it will be as much of an overhaul as the fans are hoping for.

What January transfer window activity was done? What was left undone?

The signing of Lewis Gibson from Plymouth Argyle came out of nowhere but he has slotted in perfectly adding some steel and leadership to our defence.

We also brought in Jayden Meghoma as a left-wing back option. He’s on loan from Brentford and hopefully he will return next season.

Ryan Porteous arrived on loan from Watford due to other injuries in the backline. He has performed admirably and could also return next season.

There weren’t any gaping holes left in the squad after January, we just need to shift on deadwood and replace it in the summer

Summer Ins: >>> Jeppe Okkels, 25, LW, Utrecht, £1.5m >>> Stefan Teitur Thordarson, 25, CM, Silkeborg, £800k >>> Sam Greenwood, 22, AM, Leeds, Loan >>> Kaine Kesler-Hayden, 21, RB, Villa, Loan >>> Josh Bowler, 25, RW, Forest, Loan

Winter Outs >>> Duane Holmes, 30, RM, Houston, Free >>> Finlay Cross-Adair, 19, CF, Fleetwood, Free >>> Jeppe Okkels, 25, LW, Aberdeen, Loan >>> Kian Best, 19, LB, Bohemians, Loan >>> Layton Stewart, 22, CF, FC Thun, Loan >>> Kian Taylor, 19, CM, Altrincham, Loan >>> Kitt Nelson, 20, AM, Cork, Loan >>> Kacper Pasiek, 19, LB, Altrincham, Loan

Player of the season candidates?

Ali McCann has had his best season to date at the club. Captaining the side on many occasions he has matured and become a key player in this team. His absence has been felt over the past month when he’s been injured.

It’s been a joy to watch Kaine Kesler-Hayden develop this season. On loan from Aston Villa, KKH has performed well in either wing-back role as well as a centre back. You can tell he’s enjoyed his spell here and it was class to see him score two goals in his most recent games after missing some glorious chances earlier in the season. We’ve seen so many talented players join us on loan before going on to bigger and better things, and unfortunately for us it looks like he’ll join that list.

Weak links in the side?

We could have done with more depth up front. Aside from Emil Riis and Milutin Osmajic we’ve struggled for goals. Will Keane has looked poor and the fact that Ched Evans is even still getting on the bench in this league as a 36-year-old shows where we are.

Ben Whiteman has had his worst season for us and it’s come in his first season as club captain. He’s not captain material, he doesn’t look that bothered to have that armband and there’s much better midfielders at the club than him. He doesn’t command a place in the team and should probably be moved on in the summer.

What does this summer and into next season look like for PNE?

We’re probably going to need to replace goalkeeper Freddie Woodman and striker Emil Riis which will be two key areas. We also need to decide whether we stick with this wing-back formation that has not borne any fruit in nearly four years. I would personally be looking to sign wingers and more creative and decisive players in the final third of the pitch. There will be quite a few players out of contract and returning to their parent clubs after loans and Peter Ridsdale has said there could be up to ten signings. I don’t think there would be that many but the fans are drained with supporting this club. We need some excitement soon.

We were having this conversation with Bristol City last week - us, them, and you are basically the absolute Championship of the Championship. How do you progress from here? What would it need for Preston to push on for the top six and potentially get into the Prem? What's the four year plan?

Fair play to Bristol City for giving it a good go of breaking out of the mid table boring Championship mediocrity. I don’t see how we compete. We’re not in a position to spend more than we do. We haven’t sold any players for a decent fee for six years. We don’t have too many high value assets. There hasn’t been a strategy for some time such as investing in lower league talent or pushing youth players. It’s very much just get by from season to season.

There hasn’t been a long-term plan for the best part of a decade and I think the only way we leave this league is through the trap door. We’re far too inconsistent to push for the top six.

Milutin Osmajic, Ali McCann, Mads Frokjaer, Stefan Thordarson and Lewis Gibson are the only current players contracted to the club who could be part of a side pushing for promotion. A lot of work needs to be done, and if we don’t see a dedication to changing our approach this summer then fans will stop paying to watch what has been boring, tedious football for the most part of the season.

Links >>> Preston Official Website >>> Lancashire Telegraph — Local Press >>> From The Finney — Blog >>> Deepdale Digest — Blog >>> PNE Online — Forum

Pictures - Reuters Connect

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francisbowles added 11:27 - Apr 18 Thanks Josh. You seem to be a bit steadier mid table than us. Just the occasional scent of the top six. Whereas, we wildly fluctuate between being almost certainly relegation bound, to then storming up the table before gently sliding back towards 16th, nervously looking over our shoulder whilst wondering if the storming was strong enough. Enjoy your summer and we'll see you again next season.

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TacticalR added 14:24 - Apr 18 Thanks to Josh. It's taken us a lot of ups and downs to reach mid-table. Preston just sit there. Looking through the results Preston haven't had any outstanding results against the top sides, so it doesn't look like there will be much to remember from this season.
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