46-year-old's stance on Preston North End job revealed | OneFootball

Brian Barry-Murphy is thought to have taken a key step in his quest to try and secure the Lilywhites' job.

Brian Barry-Murphy has applied for the Preston North End job.

This is according to the Lancashire Evening Post, who have revealed that the 46-year-old is interested in taking the top job at Deepdale, despite the huge task he will face.

Coming into the 2024/25 campaign, the Lilywhites looked to have had stability, with Ryan Lowe remaining at the helm and the club managing to recruit a few players in the transfer market.

However, following a 2-0 home defeat against Sheffield United on the opening night of the campaign, Lowe left the club by mutual consent.

Things haven't got much better since then.

They may have registered a Carabao Cup victory against Sunderland, but they lost 3-0 against Swansea City yesterday, with then-caretaker boss Mike Marsh unable to build on midweek's result.

After that game at the Swansea.com Stadium, Preston announced that Marsh had also departed the club, leaving the Lilywhites with plenty to sort out before next weekend's clash against Luton Town.

Luton may not have made the best start to the season either, winning just one point from a possible six, but it may only be a matter of time before the Hatters get their first win on the board and Preston will need to be fully prepared for that clash.

With Preston not in midweek action, they will be able to fully focus on bringing in a new manager before that game against Rob Edwards' side, but whether they will be able to appoint a manager quickly remains to be seen.

With Marsh also departing, a new manager may need to be in place sooner rather than later to give the club the best opportunity of getting some points on the board before the international break.

Brian Barry-Murphy interested in Preston North End job

The 46-year-old, who previously managed Rochdale, is thought to be interested in the job - and the Lancashire Evening Post have even reported that he has gone on to apply for the job.

Barry-Murphy is currently out of work after leaving his job at Manchester City - but it may only be a matter of time before he's back in a job.

Peter Risdale is seemingly playing a big part in the managerial recruitment process - and has recently cut down the number of managers on his target list.

Preston North End need to strike the right balance during their managerial recruitment process

Preston need to find the right man to take over.

If they fail to do this, that could damage them for the remainder of the campaign and that's the last thing that they will want.

Already making a fairly poor start to the season, they could be in real relegation danger if the right manager doesn't come in and that would be a major shame for them, considering they have been a stable Championship club for a while now.

Finding the right manager may take time though - and time isn't exactly on their side.

They need to bring in a new manager as quickly as possible with both Lowe and Marsh leaving.

Ideally, an appointment will be made before next weekend, but it's unclear whether that will materialise.