I suspect the two posts are connected.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
Hopefully, Grayson's switch to Sunderland (now confirmed) won't impact too negatively upon the Irish players already at Preston, nor upon Seánie Maguire who'll arrive in a few weeks time at a club being managed by someone who didn't actually sign him.
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 29/06/2017 at 8:42 PM.
Kevin O'Connor signed today from Cork City on a 3 year contract
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
Given that he put pen to paper subsequent to Grayson's departure, you'd imagine that O'Connor sought reassurances that he was still wanted at PNE. Hopefully this was the case and he was informed he was very much wanted by the club and not just the manager.
It will be interesting to see who comes in. David Moyes anyone?
The downward spiral that ends in Rochdale and then anonymity or, if he's lucky, a gig as a pundit, but he doesn't have the Sky glam about him though.
I see Di Canio is also one of the favourites. I wonder how many applications to they get for posts like this? Must be hundreds.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
Tell yourself that, Liam. The club have spent the money and the club expect him to play. The manager would want to be incredibly successful to not play O'Connor and nobody on the board to have a word with him. Preston don't spend much money.
Looks like Alex Neil is going to be that man - https://twitter.com/SkySportsNewsHQ/...69681209065472
Wessi's mate...
I guess they had a bit of a mixed relationship. He relaunched Hoolahan's career initially after he had been frozen out by Hughton.
Definitely was mixed but I think the ending was negative. It's fairly widely reported that a contributing factor to him being given the boot by Norwich was a disagreement on Wes as Neil wanted to sell.
Was strange the way things went alright, if there was any truth to that. He used still start him fairly regularly, if not quite as much as he had previously.
No manager is going to allow boardroom interference in picking a team and rightly so. Preston have 30 odd senior players who all will feel they have a chance with a good one season to play. A new manager will want to bring in some of his own players and his own system so the manager who signs you moving on before you get started is not ideal even if as you seem to think the chairman and the board have posters of you on their walls. O Connor has it all to prove moving from a part time league and hopefully he does great but if he brings your attitude of entitlement with him I can't see things working out well
Interview with Alex Neil on NewsTalk over the weekend: https://cdn.radiocms.net/media/001/a...audio_file.mp3
Irish derby tonight, Preston v Burnley. Horgan, Boyle & Doyle start for Preston, Long, Brady & Walters for Burnley. O'Connor, Cunningham, Browne, Maguire, Ward & Hendrick on the bench.
Burnley lead 1-0 through some gate-crasher called Anderson.
Maguire off the mark and Kevin Long also scored! Burnley lead 2-1.
Preston lead 5-1 at Fleetwood. Maguire got his first start along with Cunningham & Browne. Maguire won the penalty which made it 3-1 and Horgan has since added a fourth with a fine strike after being introduced. Browne had hit the bar at 1-1 with an audacious effort from close to half way. Doyle and O'Connor have joined the action as well.
((Just did 40 minute post and then posted it and got a message about lack of security authentication and lost it - aagggggrrrhh - will try again))
Back from the front after 3 days in Preston. Flew over (3.45 am start) on Friday to Manchester (a few kids on the plane in Man City colours) and then train to Preston. Sheffield Wednesday team stayed in the same hotel which was a bonus and had a few photos taken and even got on their bus. They came down to the lounge on the Friday evening as I ate sub-standard nachos and a terrible bruschetta and they drank tea and played on their phones. Interesting that the management and their various flunkies keep their distance from the players.
Kieren Westwood: the wife (I didn't have the nerve) asked could she take the photo of the players and Westwood got all the players to stand up and he beckoned me over to join them for the photo. I told him I thought he should be starting for Ireland to which he replied "fair dues". He had a quiet game and wasn't tested much with only a couple of saves to make but he did go the wrong way for the peno.
Deepdale: Nice but soulless ground with 4 square unlinked sides. Owls’ fans sold out their end amounting to 6k of the 18k attendance. Nice to see an Alan Kelly Snr Walkway. Had the misfortune to be sitting (on my hands) in front on one of those totally myopic fans who never sees any foul by their own side and questions every referee decision which goes to the opposition. He thought referee and one lineman were from Sheffield and continued on that basis even though PNE got a penalty. His chant of “You dirty Yorkshire basta*d” to an Owls player from Argentina said it all.
Corporate: I did a corporate so I could get a ticket for the game. Interesting to see who goes to these. We were at a table for 10. While there were no prawn sandwiches in evidence (beef or chicken tikka masala), our table was me, the wife (no interest in football), a friend from way back who lives in Durham but who went to school in Preston for a year when he left Ireland (rugby man with an interest in football) and his partner (she had no interest in football). The 6 locals were very friendly even though one insisted on telling me bad Irish jokes, but they do this once a year but had no great interest in the game. So out of a table of 10, one who was genuinely bothered about the result Cost £80.00 for the privilege.
Kevin Kilbane: Kevin was one of 3 ex-PNE players introduced to us. He was not impressed when introduced by the slimy compere as a "local lad and a token Irishman". "Is that what I am now?" replied Killer in not too friendly a manner but he then went on to say how delighted he was to see so many Irish at PNE and how the League of Ireland was "very under-rated" and mentioned that Dan McDonell was at the game from the Irish Independent. I grabbed KK for a second and told him, within earshot of the compere, to pay no heed to that "sh*t" about being a token Irishman and by the way would be mind taking a selfie with me to which he obliged. Before I could go through each of his 100+ caps with him, he was wisked away to some other duty.
Seani Maguire: reminds me of Shaun Maloney – small, compact, busy and with an eye for goal. Had the only shot on target in the first half. Subbed in the second half to a standing ovation. I would worry about his lack of height in a league where physicality is often the order of the day but it looks as if he’ll be given a chance.
Alan Browne: to be honest, didn’t notice him much and was subbed also in the game.
Gregg Cunningham: On the cover of the programme and 3 page article inside under the title “Captaen na Foirne”. He is currently the captain of the side due to an injury to the existing captain. He is delighted to see the Irish at PNE and the 3rd strip is now green apparently because of the influx. He keeps an eye on Galway Utd in the LoI and is happy to welcome the competition from Kevin O’Connor (not in squad). The programme describes “the wealth of talent in the Airtricity League”. In a defence dominated game Cunningham played well.
Daryl Horgan: was an unused sub.
Post match: walked in to the city centre. First pub we stopped in had signs warning about the use of illegal drugs. Next we thought of grabbing a McDonalds but there was a man mopping some blood on the pavement outside with 8 policemen and a police dog in attendance. We got the next taxi back to the hotel.
Conclusion: nice to see KK, the Alan Kelly walkway, photo with Kieren Westwood, the lots of mentions of the Irish PNE connection, 4 Irish on the field but 0 pts for the journey was the botton line.
Last edited by OwlsFan; 07/08/2017 at 10:09 AM.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
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