Football Season Review

The phrase "up and down season" gives an absolutely perfect description of what Preston North End have been through over the last nine months. Freshly relegated from the Championship, the Lillywhites were hoping for an instant way back into the second tier, and their early season form did nothing to reduce the optimism, as they were firmly in the Play-Off places, and had a seven game winning run back in August and September. However, it was as good as it got for the Lillywhites, who then started to suffer from injuries - the notable absentees were Neil Mellor and Iain Hume; and Preston's over reliance on their prized strikers was then exposed. They collected just one point from their next nine games and Phil Brown was sacked, with Stevenage boss Graham Westley initially taken over. Westley was expected to get the club pushing for promotion, but those expectations never looked even remotely like being possible to achieve, as Westley brought in a number of new players, most of whom either struggled to fit in or were simply not good enough, and his existing squad struggled to adapt to his methods. The low point of the season came on March 31st, when Westley accused four of his players in leaking his tactics to his side's opponent on the day, Sheffield Wednesday, but the meetings that took place that week between the players, manager and the chairman obviously had a positive influence, as Preston went on a five game unbeaten run, despite their difficult schedule, and managed to survive in the division, with the champagne moment of the season being Graham Alexander's late equalizer against Charlton, as the veteran scored with the last kick of his illustrious career. There were bad news for Westley and his men after the season ended, as Neil Mellor has been forced to retire from football due to his persistent injuries problems, and this is only one of the many reasons why Preston are certain to go through a major squad overhaul during the summer. The Player of the Season is easily Thorsten Stuckmann - the big German has been reliable throughout the season, and remained on top of his game even when his teammates were in their worst form.

Player of the Season: Thorsten Stuckmann