'A titanic risk' - Preston North End sent Steven Gerrard warning by EFL pundit | OneFootball

The Lilywhites have been urged to swerve a potential appointment of the ex-Liverpool great

Preston North End have been told that a potential appointment of former Liverpool and England midfielder, Steven Gerrard, would be a huge gamble after the Lancashire side parted company with Paul Heckingbottom.

The Lilywhites have endured a disastrous start to the Championship season, having won just one of their first seven league matches, which came in a local derby against Blackburn Rovers on September 5th.

Heckingbottom had been in charge at Deepdale since August 2024 following the surprise departure of Ryan Lowe after the opening-day loss to Sheffield United.

Despite avoiding relegation to League One in May 2025, Preston were unable to build on a respectable run of form in the opening months of last season as they won just six of their matches post-December, which saw them slide to 14th.

Such feats have hardly changed at the beginning of the new term despite continuous takeover talks in this part of the North West, and EFL pundits Ali Maxwell and George Elek of the Not The Top 20 podcast believe this could play a major role in who takes over the managerial reins.

Preston North End sent 'titanic' warning over potential Steven Gerrard appointment

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Heckingbottom won 33 of his 109 matches in charge of Preston, with Saturday's 1-0 defeat to newly-promoted Lincoln City being the final straw.

As such, attention has now turned to who will replace the 49-year-old, with there being an array of managers with a range of profiles and experience potentially on the market.

"Where do they turn next?" debated Elek. "There is a takeover in the offing, but they are one of many clubs where it feels like that takeover has been in the offing for a long time. Is it actually going to happen?

"If it does happen, who's choosing this new manager? Is it the prospective new owners, or is it Peter Ridsdale and the current ownership group? Who knows," he added.

Maxwell responded: "You spend Monday morning on the phone to Carlos Corberan's agent. He just got sacked by Valencia, and you try and sell him the dream.

When asked if North End should "talk to Rob Edwards", Elek stated: "Yes. Edwards and Corberan would be two that I would be into. Corberan more than any others because, in order to bridge the revenue and quality gap, you need a certain playing style, and Corberan is that.

"He's someone who's going to come in and focus on a strong defensive unit and attacking in a means by which it's not going to be free-flowing, but you are going to use good wide players, which is what they possibly have.

"I've seen some talk of Steven Gerrard," he added. "Which seems to be related to the prospective new owners.

"I don't know if that's just guesswork. But, I think that would be a titanic risk."

Steven Gerrard has recently been linked with EFL Championship jobs amid Preston North End talk

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Gerrard, 46, has endured a mixed managerial career to-date, having won the Scottish Premiership with Rangers in 2020/21, before moving to Aston Villa months later.

Despite an initial positive period after moving to Villa Park, the Liverpool great saw his stock rapidly diminish in the opening months of the 2022/23 campaign, and he was sacked in October 2022 with the B6 club inside the Premier League's relegation zone before they appointed Unai Emery.

Gerrard then recorded a 35% win record with Al-Ettifaq of the Saudi Pro League, but has been out of the managerial circuit for almost two years.

That said, he was heavily linked with the vacancies at Bristol City and Burnley this summer, before the Robins and Clarets opted for Michael Skubala and Nicky Hayen respectively.

Carlos Corberan could be a wise appointment for Preston North End

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Although dismissed by Valencia after a winless start to the La Liga campaign, the suggestion that Corberan would be a wise appointment for North End is one which, arguably, many Championship fans would agree with.

The 43-year-old's stock in the second tier in recent years remains extremely high, having taken both Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion into the play-offs in 2022 and 2024, deploying a successful philosophy whilst also working under limitations in the transfer market.

Preston, of course, attempted to showcase their ambitions this summer with the club-record permanent signing of Alfie Devine from Tottenham Hotspur, but are still unable to compete financially with a plethora of divisional rivals at this particular moment, especially those with recent Premier League pedigree.

However, it remains to be seen when a decision will be made by the hierarchy, as there is a three-week international break following their upcoming clash with Queens Park Rangers.