Graham Alexander to Preston given green-light because of one big factor | OneFootball

Preston North End have supporter backing in their appointment of Graham Alexander given his ability to work on a budget.

Preston North End find themselves in a tough position down at the bottom end of the Championship table with the Lancastrians having already pulled the trigger on Paul Heckingbottom, now looking set to replace him with Graham Alexander.

Preston have spent the last 11 seasons in the Championship. On only two occasions have they finished higher than 11th and on only one occasion have they finished lower than 14th.

Consistent mid-table also-rans, North End supporters have grown frustrated by the stagnation and malaise of the club which did only just survive relegation on the final day of the 2024-25 season under Heckingbottom.

After a mid-table finish last year in which they were in the automatic promotion race as late as January before just four wins in their final 20 games of the season, a slow start to this one has seen Heckingbottom removed with Preston in the bottom three and the relegation places.

It now appears inevitable that former captain Graham Alexander will depart Bradford City for Deepdale with North End aiming to scramble themselves clear and, with 38 games of the season to go, push back up the second-tier table.

Preston backed in Graham Alexander appointment

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Only Lancashire rivals Burnley sit below Preston in the Championship after eight games and in this international break, with North End’s only win thus far coming against other Lancastrian rivals Blackburn Rovers earlier this month.

Bradford, on the other hand, sit at the top of League One after a play-off semi-final defeat to Bolton Wanderers in May in their first season back at the level with Graham Alexander having done an excellent job at Valley Parade.

Now, though, Alexander, who made over 400 appearances for North End between 1999 and 2007 and then again in the 2011-12 campaign, looks set to leave Yorkshire to hop back across the Pennines – and it is a move welcomed by FLW’s Preston Fan Pundit Darren Watson given his ability to work on a budget.

Darren says: “Personally, for me, it’s an absolutely amazing move.

“I was talking to a couple of mates of mine and going in-depth at what Alexander has done at his previous clubs.

“He’s got Fleetwood Town promoted. He did well with Salford City but should have had more time - even Gary Neville has said that himself that it was one of his biggest regrets not giving Graham Alexander enough time to develop the Salford City side.

“He got Motherwell up into European football, qualification for European football, which is massive in the UEFA Conference League. Getting a team from Scotland up into Europe is a massive thing.

“At Bradford City, promotion in League Two, going up to League One and just missing out on back-to-back promotions – that’s massive.

“He’s done so well with clubs with little budgets that he has had. Obviously, at the time with Salford, there was a bit of funding going on there, but not as much at clubs at Bradford and Motherwell as well.

“He’s done well with low budgets and got promotions under his belt and everyone deserves a chance.

“He’s a club legend and I can’t wait to see him appointed. Will definitely get behind him and can’t wait to see what he can do to shift the mentality that the club has got at the moment.”

Graham Alexander taking his first steps in the Championship

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Back in the 2011-12 season, Graham Alexander did take charge of Preston on a caretaker basis after the sacking of Phil Brown – but now he is returning to Deepdale permanently.

Alexander began his managerial career in earnest in December 2012 when he took charge of Fleetwood Town on the Lancastrian coast after the departure of Micky Mellon.

He led The Cod Army to 13th place in their first season in the Football League before overseeing promotion via the play-offs the year after and then a top half finish in the 2014-15 campaign.

Alexander left Fleetwood in September 2015 but moved to Glanford Park to take charge of Scunthorpe United in March 2016, narrowly missing out on the top six and the play-off places in League One.

The following season saw The Irons lose just three games before New Year’s Eve as they challenged the likes of Sheffield United and Bolton for the title before eventually finishing third on the final day and succumb to a play-off semi-final loss to Millwall.

Alexander left Scunthorpe in March 2018 with the club sitting once again in the play-offs, taking charge of big-spending Salford City over the summer.

In Greater Manchester, Alexander was a major coup with The Ammies having only just gained National League North promotion and he led them to National League promotion via the play-offs in his debut season.

Salford won the EFL Trophy and finished 11th in League Two in the 2019-20 campaign before Alexander was sacked in October 2020 – a few months before moving to Scotland to take charge of Motherwell.

After leading The Well to eighth in his first half a season in charge, they then finished fifth in his only full season at Fir Park, qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League but he was sacked after a shock 3-0 aggregate loss to Irish outfit Sligo Rovers in the second qualifying round.

Alexander took a year out of the game before becoming Milton Keynes Dons boss in the summer of 2023, but he lasted just a few months at Stadium: MK with the just-relegated Dons winning four of their opening five matches but then going on a nine-match winless run.

Alexander returned to management in Yorkshire when taking charge of Bradford in November 2023 and, after achieving a ninth place finish after taking over from Mark Hughes, he then guided The Bantams to automatic promotion on the final day in dramatic circumstances with a late Antoni Sarcevic winner against Alexander’s former club Fleetwood.

Bradford then surpassed expectations to reach the play-off semis and have again improved with no defeats in their opening seven games of this season to top the table ahead of the international break.

Alexander has proven himself to be a more than capable manager when given time and feeling at home – and feeling at home is natural as he returns to Preston but time may well be up in the air as North End face another relegation battle.