With the arrival of Alex Neil as new SAFC gaffer, we caught up Dave Seddon who covers his former club Preston for the Lancashire Evening Post…
For a second time Sunderland are getting a former Preston North End manager as their new boss. When Simon Grayson left PNE to take up a post at the Stadium of Light in July 2017, it was Alex Neil who replaced him at Deepdale. Now four-and-a-half-years later it is Neil taking the Black Cats job. Still only 40, Neil has managed Hamilton Academical, Norwich City and Preston. It's 10 months since he was dismissed by North End, time he has spent refreshing himself and continuing to learn from afar.
He was full-on at PNE, 24/7 immersed in the job. Neil is very much a tracksuit manager; at Preston he led all the training sessions and that is where he was at his best. When not the pitch, he would spend hours analysing future opponents. If there was one criticism of him at Preston, it was him seemingly adjusting PNE's team and approach to counter the opposition rather than believing in what his players could do.