When Past, Preston and Future Unite (FGC)

[Dalbeider]

June 1st, 2008

On that fine June afternoon, Simon Graham felt happy. He finally had a job. A good job, in fact. Decent hours, interesting work, and the pay was more than enough to pay the rent of his small bachelor's flat. It wasn't much, but more than enough for a man who had arrived at the city of Preston only two months ago. The fading sun made him feel warm, announcing the proximity of the summer. Everything was going alright, and for a fleeting moment, Simon felt like singing aloud in the street. Something wild, something wacky, something that made everyone look at him, smile and, maybe, sing along. Whole Lotta Rosie, perhaps...?

Lost in thought and happiness, Simon couldn't help but feel startled when a rasping voice called him.

- "Excuse me, Mr. Graham? Simon Graham?"

Simon looked around, trying to locate the source of the call. He had wandered, and he didn't recognize this part of town. Not surprising, he still was a newcomer after all. But...

- "Over here, Mr. Graham. In the alley. Would you mind coming closer so we can speak face to face?"

In another world, in another time, Simon wouldn't have been stupid enough to heed the call of someone he didn't know hailing from a place he couldn't see, like a dark alley. But Simon was a happy man. And happy men are, sometimes, dangerously close to complete stupidity. He went into the alley, looking around, trying to adjust his sight to the sudden lack of sunlight around him.

- "Who are...", he started asking. But he couldn't finish. He had only time to think "Oh, sh-" before something damp covered his head, something hard hit him behind his right ear, and darkness fell.

----

June 1st, 2016

On that cloudy June afternoon, Simon Graham felt nervous. The last eight years of his life had been... interesting, to say the least. And everything that had happened since that day was supposed to be a... what's that they said? Oh, right. "Preparation". He had been "preparing" for today. For something that supposedly was meant to happen today. But hadn't. At least so far.

Still, he had an appointment to attend. He had had that appointment marked in his calendar for eight years already, each passing day getting a bit closer. And at the same time, he, and everyone else, got a bit older. The world itself seemed older, somehow, even if eight years meant nothing in the grand lifeline of the universe. The world seemed older, and also darker. Oh, it had felt this way for a long time. But today was a dark day, the clouds covered the sun, and nobody could guess that summer was only three weeks away. Yeah, the world was a darker place today.

He turned the corner, and there it was. The alley. He had been there many times since that sunny, happy afternoon of 2008, but the alley was never as dark as it was then. Today wasn't an exception, and he felt somewhat disappointed by that fact. Maybe they hadn't come, after all? Maybe the last eight years of his life had been a bad dream, or the biggest practical joke of all time? Or maybe, just maybe, everything had happened inside his mind?

He entered the alley, and his fears were quickly soothed, then replaced by a deeper feeling. It wasn't exactly fear, but the feeling of being a diminutive part of something

(destiny?)

huge, so huge someone as small as him couldn't even begin to comprehend the scale.

He saw the hooded man. His robe was of a light grey hue, but it somehow shined as if it was made of pure white silk. Simon couldn't see the face of the man inside the hood, but it didn't matter. It was him.

- "Good afternoon, Mr. Graham. Long time no see.". Yep, the same rasping voice. No possible mistake.

- "Yeah, eight years. It's been a long time indeed.".

- "Are you ready, Mr. Graham?". Simon felt a sense of urgency behind the question.

- "Yes. Yes, I am.". He thought he could see the man relax, as if he had heard exactly what he wanted to hear. "It's all I've been doing all this time. Getting ready.".

- "Fine.". The man nodded. "Shall we proceed, then? My... companions await inside. After our meeting is complete, we shall send you on your way to Deepdale.".

- "But, I haven't received any...". Simon's phone rang. Unknown number. He stared at the shadows below the hood, and the figure nodded again. Simon picked up the phone and answered.

The hooded man waited patiently while Simon had his first chat with his new employer, and he sighed inaudibly. The wheel was finally in motion.

----

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you the new manager of the Preston North End Football Club... Simon Graham.". Derek Shaw was on the screen, looking confident as always in front of the press. By contrast, the man by his side looked nervous, startled by the flashlights and the sudden attention. "Understandable,", thought Rosie. "He's a rookie. I don't think he's been photographed as many times as today in his whole life. And this one is...?".

- "Are we really sure this is the one?". Markus spoke, saying aloud what she was thinking. He was a strong, tall man,well into his forties, but still looking able to cut an eighty-year-old maple tree with only his hands and a fork. "I mean, look at him. From what the chairman has said, his greatest acomplishment until today has been coaching a local little league for two years. I don't think he has what it takes to stay more than two weeks at the helm, let alone...".

- "He's the one. There's no doubt about it". The Old Man's voice sounded firm. Neither Rosie nor Markus knew his name, nor his age, and they didn't need to. The man knew how to earn their respect, as he had done in the past more than enough times. He wouldn't let them call him "Master", but that was exactly how they felt. He twiddled with his long, white beard, looking relaxed, and his milky left eye reflected the light coming from the TV. "The prophecy doesn't lie. He's the one who will make it happen".

- "So what do we do?". Rosie was exactly pretty and exactly small, making her name somewhat inappropiate, but she liked it anyway. Her size and her short black hair made her look like a boy sometimes, a bit like Winona Ryder in her prime some other times.

- "We do as the prophecy says we do: we wait". The Old Man looked at both of them. "We can't interfere, at least not right now. It's not our moment. And besides,", and he laughed weakly as he said this, "even though the prophecy can't be wrong, maybe those trying to make it come true may be wrong, huh?".

The Old Man's turned his attention to The One, watching him as he addressed the press for the first time as Preston North End's manager. Simon had never met him, and his knowledge of the so-called prophecy was quite limited, but he still looked like a man whose shoulders carried the weight of the whole world. And who knows. Maybe he was right.

----

From the Wikipedia page on "Illuminati". Entry added by an anonymous user on 06/03/2016, 21:58:07h:

"...but another recent proof of the existance of modern groups of Illuminati performing their secret operations in modern-day England is the appointment of Simon Graham as Preston North End's manager on the 1st of June of 2016. Graham, a total unknown until his arrival at Deepdale, couldn't possibly have been able to get this job if it wasn't for the "help" of an influent and powerful group, powerful enough to influence on Derek Shaw and the rest of the board. So far, investigations conducted by several individuals haven't found a link between Graham and any known group, but several anonymous sources have revealed that..."

This entry was removed by an unnamed Wikipedia Administrator on 06/03/2016, 22:13:41h.

[Dalbeider]

Yay, new story. This will be my second attempt at Wegason's FGC challenge, and this time I'm trying something a bit different. For a start, the timeline: this story begins just at the end of the 2015/2016 season, as it happened in a long-term save I had laying around my hard drive.

Second, the technical setup. This time I'm playing with all the leagues from England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Argentina and Brazil. That means that the game *crawls* on my 1GB RAM machine, but bleh. That will give me more time to write the fluff .

And that's the third difference: instead of doing a match summary and little more as I was doing with my Braunschweig story, I'll try something a bit richer. It *will* have match summaries, and at times that will be the main focus of the writing, since this game is supposed to span across many seasons, and I don't want to blow all the background stuff in three months. I'll also try to play a bit ahead instead of writing on the spot, so updates at first may be a bit sporadical. It will pick up the pace later, don't worry.

As always, comments, criticism, and praise (I can dream) are welcome . I'm still a newb here, so keep being kind.

Oh, and sorry for the horrible "present" pun in the title, but I couldn't think anything better with "Preston" that fit the story. And yeah, it fits the story. Just you wait .

[Blanco]

Very promising start... Will be following

[Simply Perfect]

Yay, a Preston story! Not that I imagine there'll be too many survivors of the current squad still at Deepdale.

[Wegason]

Why does everyone want to Pun their Story Title?

Anyway... good start and I will again follow with interest

[Peacemaker7]

It's the new in thing Wega, get with the times

[Dalbeider]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Simply Perfect: Yeah, very little remains of the original Preston. In fact, only one player survives from the initial squad: Simon Whaley.

Weg: Because all the cool kids are doing it?

----

Transcription from the voice files found in Simon Graham's personal Portable Multimedia Center.

Recording date: June 2nd, 2016. Starting time: 22:15:37h GMT.

"Er, hello? (pause) ...yeah, it seems to be working. Well, uh, this is Simon Graham feeling pretty stupid talking to a small black stick with no one around to hear him. I intend to use this PMC to record a diary of sorts, to help me sort out my thoughts and stuff.

Mr Shaw suggested that I kept a diary, a written one, so I could better organize myself, and said that most other managers he has worked with so far did the same. But, eh, I suck at writing. I can't for my life translate my thoughts into written form. Don't know why, it's never worked for me. So on my way home I saw this snazzy thing on some electronics shop, and the proverbial lightbulb lighted above my head. And here I am, talking to a stick that will record all my thoughts without any need of writing or typing or whatever. And it also allows me to bring my music and movies and other data anywhere, and use them in any device with Bluetooth 3.0. Genius, huh?

Anyway, on to business. Today I had my first serious meeting with Mr Shaw and the rest of the staff. Man, I still can't wrap my head around the idea that I'm Preston's manager. I wonder how they hell they managed to... Hm, bad idea. I'd better not talk about that with this on, who knows who may be trying to hack it from two streets north of here.

Now where I was... right, the meeting. Looks like the club is in a pretty tight situation, economically speaking. The debt is getting a bit out of hand, though Mr Shaw seems confident that we can sort it out in time before it spirals completely out of control and brings the club into administration. Nobody wants that. The wage budget for the following season has been limited to 37.020 €/week, way below our current wage spending.

More problems: more than half of the first team squad end their contracts in 28 days. This, coupled with the wage limit I just talked about, means that I'll have a tough time negotiating with them if I want them to stay. Judging by Robert Kelly's report (he's my assistant manager, by the way), I'll probably be quite happy to let some of them go, since they haven't performed anywhere close to what their wages would make you think. But there's a few I'd definetly want to keep, like Jérémie Aliadière and Emad Awad, who ask for much more than what we can reallisticaly offer. That will be hard.

In short, it looks like I will have to scour the market come July, looking for out of contract players to fill the squad, hopefully costing less in wages than what we're spending now, but with better quality. Yep. Miracle working at its best.

Anyway, rant over, gotta review the team and staff reports and start planning the next season. And I'm sleepy already. Darn it. Eight years preparing for this, and now I'm too tired to even start? Sad, Mr Graham, really sad. I'd better get to work.

Simon out."

Ending time: 22:23:40h GMT.

----

From The Lancashire Telegraph, issued on June 5th, 2016.

Graham orders clean-up.

Aliadière, Awad, others to leave on 30.06.16

Simon Graham, recently appointed as Preston North End's manager, looks headed into a tough start after the press conferece held today at Deepdale. Speaking before the press, both Graham and Preston's chairman Derek Shaw spoke about the need of drastic changes inside the team's dressing room. For starters, no less than ten players will be released after their current contract runs out at the end of the current month. The list includes some of the biggest names in the current squad, such as French striker Jérémie Aliadière and Egyptian international right back Emad Awad.

The reason for these releases is, according to Graham, the difficult economical situation that the club is currently in. "We must consider very carefully where we want to spend our limited resources", the rookie manager said. "Preston can't afford to throw away their money on players who haven't been performing up to what was expected of them when they signed their current contracts". Graham also announced that the rest of the players in the squad whose contracts are about to expire will be offered new deals, but that their wages will be based exclusively in their performance so far. In most cases, it's expected that the offered wages will be below their current deals.

Chairman Shaw backed his newly appointed manager in this decision. "Simon understands where we are right now, and where we've come from. We need to start planning for a better next season, and we can't do that if we keep carrying the weight of a disappointing past". When asked about what was his aim for Preston in the 2016/17 season which will start next August, Graham answered: "I don't really know right now. When July ends I may have a better idea of what we have to work with. Then we'll talk again about this".

[Dalbeider]

June 2016

Save for the certainly frantic first five days, June was a calm month for both Preston and Simon. Surprisingly, none of the discarded players made any noise in the press about their situation, maybe because most of them actually wanted to leave a club that had sunk in the English ranks in the last decade, their glory days of the distant past seemingly never to return.

After spending most of the 80s and 90s between the divisions now known as League 1 and League 2, the beginning of the twenty-first century marked Preston North End's return to the second tier of English Football - the Championship. They did surprisingly well, and even got really close to promotion to the Premiership three times, but they lost in the playoffs of 2001, 2005 and 2006. After a disappointing 15th place in 2008, the team seemed to recover and finished in the top half in 2009, but it was a mirage: Preston relegated to the Coca-Cola League One on 2010, thanks to a disastrous season with only 13 wins and a final 22nd place. Since then, North End's only foray into the Championship happened in the 2013/14 season, but fans would rather forget about it: seven wins, thirty-one points and last place in the league are the reasons. The team's finances weren't looking any better than their footballing accomplishments, and that propelled Preston into a depression that has lasted since then, peaking with their 15th final place in the League 1 in 2016, after a horrendous final run of five consecutive defeats. Garry Hill, who had replaced Mick Harford as North End's manager only six months earlier, was sacked immediately. You already know the rest. Or at least part of it.

It's no surprise then that most decent-to-good players were quite happy to escape the hellhole that Preston had become. The fans didn't really bother to protest about the decision, even though Aliadière had been chosen as the Fans' Favourite Player only two days before his release. The first of July arrived, and nobody seemed bothered that the first team squad didn't even have enough players to fill a starting eleven. Most fans had given up hope, and were expecting another frustrating "midtable, maybe bottom half" season. Worse: most of them wouldn't have been surprised at all if North End was tipped for relegation. It just seemed to be the natural conclussion after eight years of slow decay.

Simon didn't want to give up, though. As soon as the discarded players were released, the board allowed him to offer competitive wages to any out-of-contract player that wanted to come to Preston. But the wage budget was very restrictive, and with an almost empty roster, Simon had to administrate the available money with care and precision, instead of blowing it all in three of four high-profile signings.

Still, offers started being sent, and answers began to come back. Some negative (like Aaron Mokoena, who refused Preston's offer to join Peterborough), but most were positive. And while there were still some big gaps to fill before the squad was any close to being closed, things were looking better. Some of the signings, like young midfielder Chris Sweeney, even managed to bring a smile to the disheartened fans. The guy had potential, for sure. Maybe things were really going to change for Preston?

Well, they did, but not only for Preston. On the third of July of the year two thousand and sixteen, something completely unexpected happen...

----

Brief note published by Reuters on July 3rd, 2016, at 22:17:33h GMT

"BARCELONA (Spain). England's national football team have won the European Championship after defeating the hosts, double World Champions and double European Champions Spain. The final score was 1-3. Wayne Rooney opened the score on the 4th minute, and Theo Walcott scored two more before halftime. Atlético de Madrid's midfielder Ignacio Camacho made Spain's goal late in the second half. The game was held at FC Barcelona's stadium, Nou Camp, with a reported attendance of 98000. REUTERS."

----

A man stared at the screen. He couldn't believe his eyes.

After a while, he turned it off - he couldn't stand the nonsensic yells of the comentators anymore. Then he heard the sounds coming from the street, and saw the flickering light of the flares coming through the window. The youth (and some not so young) had already begun their parade across the city. Songs would be sung, flares would be burned, beer would be drunk. The sky was clear, and the stars shone onto the exhilarated crowd. It was a great night to celebrate.

But the man could only feel a deadly cold inside.

"The first sign", he muttered for the hundredth time. The words almost burned inside his mind. "It has begun. God save us all, it has really begun".

[Dalbeider]

Preseason: July - August 2016

With the whole country still shocked after England's win in the Euro, the FA provided yet another piece of news for every football fan in the nation to comment throughout the summer: Stuart Pearce was sacked as England's manager only two days after his historical triumph in Spain. The reasons went undisclosed for a long while, until an anonymous source from inside the English FA said to the Daily Mirror that the decision had been taken months before the Euro, and that they couldn't (or wouldn't) change it "only" because of the unexpected result of that competition. Some believed that version, most didn't. In any case, Paul Ince was selected as Pearce's successor, with the expectation of repeating his predecessor's success in the World Cup two years from then weighing heavily upon his shoulders.

England's victory (and, most importantly, Spain's defeat after two Euros and two World Cups won in a row) had tons of ink, both real and virtual, spent on writing deep-thought analyses about what this meant to the world of football. After almost a decade of stability at the international level, a feeling of great change was in the air. Some equalled the Camp Nou game to the battle in which the Spanish "Armada Invencible" was defeated by the English fleet in the sixteenth century, marking the start of the decline of the Spanish Empire. Others were less dramatic, reminding everyone that Spain's young players were definetely superior to England's, and that the following footballing generation would have a tough time repeating the success of veterans like Rooney, Gerrard, Ashley Cole or the 38 years old Frank Lampard.

Still, the feeling that something had started with that 3-1 win over Spain was prevalent throughout society. They really had no idea how right they were.

----

Simon Graham had too much work on his hands to even think about all that. He had to sign a new team almost in full, and without spending too much on wages. The €37.020/week limit imposed by the board was awfully tight, and in the end he had no other choice but to go slightly overboard, six thousand weekly euros above the budget. Most of the new players were brought in with the preseason already started, and some of them arrived even after the last friendly had already been played. Robert Kelly, Simon's assistant manager, had prepared a pretty easy fixture list that allowed the new signings to progressively gell with the rest of the squad and with each other. The highlight of the summer was as always the annual home match against Everton. The Toffees had just spent a "year in hell" playing in the Championship, but had managed to return to the Premiership straight away.

Preston's preseason games went as follows:

Preston North End 7 - VfL Maschen 0

Chorley 0 - Preston North End 5

Marine 0 - Preston North End 2

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic 1 - Preston North End 7

Preston North End 0 - Everton 3

Bamber Bridge 0 - Preston North End 3

Simon was quite happy with the performances his team had pulled in the preseason. He had decided to start with a simple flat 4-4-2 formation, waiting until everyone had adapted to their new team to try more complicated tactical variants. The defense, once a batch of three new center-backs arrived, was rock solid, and the midfield seemed to have enough quality to provide the forwards with chances. The only black spot was the Everton game, but the team had managed to resist for almost 45 minutes before crumbling down under the pressure of a Premiership-level squad. Not bad for a League 1 team, in any case.

----

Sean Gregan, coach, Preston legend and former player, wrote an article for the Lancashire Telegraph analyzing North End's 2016-2017 squad. These are his thoughts on each player of the senior team, published on August 12th, 2016, one day before the official start of the season.

The notes include each player's position, nationality, age, nº of seasons in Preston (with their former club if they're new signings) and estimated value.

GOALKEEPERS

- Elliott Parish (GK, England, 25yo, 2nd season, €375k): First-choice keeper, although may be replaced by Sheppard if his performances are sub-par. Solid all around.

- Ricky Sheppard (GK, England, 22yo, 1st season (Luton), €35k): Back-up keeper, but his quality could see him playing quite a few matches this season. Great reflexes, must improve in communication and rushes. Still young, has time to develop.

DEFENDERS

- Curtis Osano (DRC/WB/MR, Kenya, 29yo, 2nd season, €35k): First option on the right back. Pacey and powerful, could provide additional danger on the right wing if he improved his crossing.

- Kris Irvine (DR, Scotland, 24yo, 2nd season, €22k): Second choice at right back. He's quick, but his defensive and offensive technical abilites leave something to be desired. May be transfered, Bohemians want him and we have more than enough cover for his position.

- Danny Jackman (D/ML, England, 33yo, 2nd season, €110k): Undisputed at the left back, Danny's still quick for his age, and knows how to tackle while defending, while being a good crosser on the offense.

- David Shaw (DRL, Scotland, 24yo, 2nd season, €26k): Back-up at both fullback positions. He's surprisingly tall for a wing defender, but his speed is still decent enough.

- Chris Mason (DRLC, England, 19yo, 1st season (on loan from Leeds), €6k): Technically similar to Irvine (i.e., poor), but his polivalence and jumping ability put him above in the rotation. Will be often on the bench as an universal solution to any injury in the defensive line.

- Scott Smith (DC, Scotland, 24yo, 2nd season, €26k): Very tall, should dominate the air, but very slow, and only average at tackling and marking. The new intake of center backs just arrived at the club will probably send him to the bench.

- Nic Saunders (DC, England, 23yo, 1st season (Peterborough), €75k): A great marker, reasonable fast, and not bad in the air too. Should make the first team in most games, unless his somewhat conflictive personality gets in the middle. He's also a great penalty taker.

- Mark Moseley (D/MC, England, 22yo, 1st season (West Brom), €4k): A good polivalent solution to both defense and midfield. He's a good jumper but only an average marker. He also knows how to move the ball around, so could be an option to bring the ball into attacking positions from behind. Likely to become the first choice from the bench.

- Adam Griggs (DC, England, 20yo, 1st season (on loan from Newcastle), €800k): A very solid all-around defender. Has a good chance to start if he's able to overcome his lack of experience and concentration. Likely to become Saunders' most frequent pair at the back.

MIDFIELDERS

- Mark Brown (SW/DRC/DM/MC, Scotland, 32yo, 1st season (Clyde), €6k): Can play in the defense, but his creativity and passing would be lost then. His experience should help him rule the midfield at this level, after many years in the Scottish leagues. First choice as our defensive-minded center midfielder.

- Chris Sweeney (MC, England, 23yo, 1st season (Dundee Utd.), €65k): A very creative player, his passing and vision are among the best on the whole division. If he manages to gain some muscle, he could become on of the best midfielders to play for Preston in recent times. Undisputed starter.

- Martyn Ryan (MC, England, 21yo, 2nd season, €35k): Ryan is a quite balanced midfielder. He's both creative enough to move the ball around with sense, and disciplined enough to help recovering it when it's lost. Will be Brown's main replacement, and may start sometimes ahead of the Scottish veteran.

- Eddie Mearns (MC, Scotland, 27yo, 2nd season, €35k): A lesser version of Sweeney, Mearns still packs enough creativity in his game to help the team control the pace of the game. He's poor on defensive aspects, though. Will be Sweeney's backup.

- Dimitriu Copil (AMRC, Romania, 26yo, 2nd season, €30k): Able to play both the wing and the middle in the midfield, Copil will be a very useful player to have when injuries and suspensions come into play. His polivalence will earn him lots of minutes, although he will almost always start at the bench.

- Simon Whaley (AMR, England, 31yo, 12th season, €65k): The fan's favorite and team captain is our most capable right winger. He doesn't have any particular strong point save for his pace, but he does a good job at both crossing, dribbling and finishing, both from close and from afar. Starter, but with an eye on Michael Adams.

- Michael Adams (AMRC, Scotland, 23yo, 1st season (Motherwell), €18k): He may be better technically than Whaley, but he lacks his pace and acceleration, and above all, he's still new at the team, and lacks Whaley's love for the club. Backup, but a really good backup. Could start from time to time.

- Simon Hackney (AML, England, 32yo, 1st season (Queen of Sth), €22k): The left wing may be our weakest spot at this point. Hackney is still fast despite his age, and he's a great dribbler, a good crosser and has a tendency to surprise keepers with his long shots, but he has a problem: a serious lack of strength and stamina. Will start, but probably won't play a full game in all season.

- Willie Gibson (AML, Scotland, 32yo, 9th season, €18k): Another veteran will be Hackney's backup. He's also fast, but not as good technically as the Englishman. Still, he stays stronger, and could be able to play 90 minutes straight. Will play at the left wing once Hackney loses his breath.

FORWARDS

- Dean Shiels (AM/FC, North Ireland, 31yo, 1st season (Charlton), €35k): A great acquisition for Preston, Shiels is our best forward, technically speaking. He's quick, dribbles well, and has an eye for the goal. He can also play deeper and send through balls to his fellow forwards with great precision, and even can play on the wing on a pinch. He's called to be one of the stars this season.

- Tom Rimmer (ST, England, 20yo, 1st season (Lincoln), €30k): A good striker, Rimmer is a pure finisher, and should end the season with a fair amount of goals. His long shots are also quite fearful. His only problem is his lack of physical presence: he isn't too quick, and not too tall either. Will fight with Walker for the second forward starting position.

- David Walker (ST, England, 22yo, 8th season, €50k): Our quickest striker, he's also a good, techincal forward who's able to dribble past the defenders and send the ball into the net with precision. As Shiels and Rimmer, he lacks aerial power, and that will be our main problem at the forward line this season.

[Dalbeider]

Saturday, August 13th, 2016. 9:50 AM

Simon Graham was about to board the team bus that would take him and the rest of the squad to Sheffield for the first league game of the season, when he heard a voice calling him from Deepdale's office door.

- "Simon! Wait! I've got to give you something before you go!"

It was Mr Shaw. He waved at him to come into the office, and went back in himself. Simon shrugged, told the bus driver to wait for him, and headed back into the stadium.

He found the chairman in his office, unpacking a decently sized cardboard box.

- "Sorry I didn't tell you before", Shaw said. "They've just arrived from the printer. I couldn't give 'em the full squad list with all the shirt numbers until two days ago."

- "So what's this? New shirts?". Simon was curious.

- "Yep. A week ago we signed a new sponsorship deal, and we had to get the new design done before the league debut. Here, take a look".

Simon took a look. He got one of the t-shirts from the box, unravelled the plastic wrapping, and unfolded the cloth piece.

- "Oh, for the love of... what's this?".

The shirt design was simple. The color was still as white as ever, but something black stained it in the middle of the chest. A black oval, with a black round dot in the middle. Nothing more.

- "An eye.", Mr Shaw answered, smiling broadly. "The sponsors insisted that this is all they wanted to be printed on the shirt.".

- "Not even their commercial name?".

- "Not even that. In fact, I don't even know who they are. I've only met with their lawyer, and he told me that his clients wanted to be known simply as 'The Eye'. No idea what's their business, either.".

- "And you accepted to wear their logo on our shirts without asking?". Simon was astonished.

- "Son, we need the money and you know it. Their offer was the best by far we've got this summer, and I couldn't afford to turn it down just because of that. Besides...", and the chairman suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable saying this, "...I've got the feeling that that lawyer wouldn't have told me even if I asked. He had that 'don't ask questions you wouldn't want answered' air about him, y'know...".

- "Yeah, I've got my fair share of that kind of questions lately...". Simon ignored Shaw's puzzled look, and kept examining the curious shirt design. Then snorted. "Heh. Bet you that we're going to be known as 'Sauron's Orcs' across the country before this season ends".

- "The Who's What?". Now Mr Shaw was genuinely confused.

- "Nah, don't worry". Simon sighed to himself. "Too long to explain. I'll bring this to the bus, we'll need 'em at Sheffield this afternoon".

- "Yeah. Tough game to start the season, huh?".

- "Yeah. A real test for the guys. We'll do our best.".

- "Yeah, I hope so.". The conversation died. After a brief, uncomfortable pause, Shaw added: "Oh well. Good luck today. Let me help you carry this to the bus.".

- "Cool, thanks, Mr Shaw. We'll make you proud, don't worry.".

- "Kid,", Mr Shaw retorted, "don't take offense, but I've had my fair share of broken promises this last few years. Just do your best, and we'll see where that brings us, ok?".

- "Will do", Simon agreed. They both smiled, shook hands, and proceeded to carry the one-eyed shirts to the bus. A long road trip and a tough debut game were waiting.

[Dalbeider]

Recording date: August 13th, 2016. Starting time: 20:23:49h GMT.

This is the post-match report correponding to the Sheffield United - Preston North End game.

I don't really know how I should feel after our performance today. In reality, we did quite well, because the Blades are promotion candidates and have a good team and all that. But, well, we still lost. That's disappointing, whoever the opponent and whatever the score.

Things were a bit hectic at the start. Maybe it was the extra motivation of the league debut, or whatever. The fact is that things moved really fast. First, that Habraken dude did a number on our defense before rifling it in from afar. A great goal, I must say. But the guys wouldn't take it that easily. Walker run into a gap between two defenders, Sweeney saw him, and sent him a perfect through ball. The finishing was the easy part. Problem is, Sheffield only needed two more minutes to put themselves ahead. A corner kick, headed in by Franks. We'll have to train how to properly defend set pieces this week, I'm afraid. I hate those drills. So boring to watch... Oh well, moving on. All that happened in only sixteen minutes, so everyone was prepared for a goal fest. But things suddenly calmed down, and the rest of the first half had few chances for both teams. We held the ball well, but we lacked some punch up front. So when halftime came, we were still one behind.

I tried to give the lads some extra motivation, but it looks like Jason Rockett did the same to the United guys, as they came out looking to secure their win. We had some chances with long range shots, but none came near the goal. I brought some new faces in, trying to give us a new push and, well, it worked. Osano crossed, Rimmer tried to shoot but was blocked by a defender, and the ball fell to Sweeney, who put it in effortlessly. One goal and one assist for Chris Sweeney in his debut with us, not bad at all. The goal gave us a rush, and we had some chances to put ourselves ahead. Griggs and Brown almost made it. But then, another corner kick. Kevin Smith made the third for the Blades with a good diving header, and we just crumbled. From then till the end it was all them.

Things I've learned today: Sweeney looks as good as we thought when we signed him, and that's awesome. Our left wing looks as weak as Sean said in his article yesterday, and that's bad. Shiels looks strangely out of place as a forward, he seems lost in the pitch from time to time. We'll have to look into it.

In four days, our League Cup debut, away against Scunthorpe. The cups are going to be a secondary target this season for us, since we must focus in the league first and foremost. But it wouldn't hurt to get through one or two rounds, and maybe get a good home match-up against a Premiership team. One can dream...

Oh, and that Eye thing... I've got my suspicions. Too bad I can't confirm them, for now. If it's them, I'm gonna have a talk with them about design. Starting with "things you don't even try to do with a plain white shirt, unless you're blind or raving mad". For heaven's sake, that thing's horrible...

Simon out.

Ending time: 20:35:11h GMT

[u][b]
[font=Courier New]SHEFFIELD UNITED[/font][/b][/u][font=Courier New]                        [u][b]PRESTON NORTH END[/b][/u]

GK: Chris Everitt (6.6)                 GK: Elliott Parish (6.3)

DR: Jamie Hatch (6.8)                   DR: Curtis Osano (7.0)
DL: Stephen O'Halloran (7.1)            DL: Danny Jackman (6.3)
DC: Sam Franks (7.7)                    DC: Nic Saunders (7.0)
DC: Carl Magnay (DC, 6.8)               DC: Adam Griggs (6.8)

MR: Timothy Pilkington (6.8)            MR: Simon Whaley (6.8)[i]
--> Min. 68[/i], [i]Abdul Osman ([/i][i]6.5)          [/i]--> [i]Min. 59, Michael Adams (6.8)[/i]
ML: Wade Small (7.7)                    ML: Simon Hackney (6.4)
MC: Chris Wells (6.7)                   [i]--> Min. 59, Willie Gibson (6.8)[/i]
MC: Joost Habraken (7.5)                MC: Mark Brown (7.5)
                                       MC: [b]Chris Sweeney* (8.0)[/b]

ST: James Pond (7.2)                    ST: David Walker (7.1)
ST: Kevin Smith (7.6)                   ST: Dean Shiels (6.0)
                                       [i]--> Min. 59, Tom Rimmer (6.8)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
Min. 6: Habraken (Smith)                Min.14: Walker (Sweeney)
Min.16: Franks (Small)                  Min.65: Sweeney (Rimmer)
Min.72: Smith (Small)[/font] 

[tenthreeleader]

I've only met with their lawyer, and he told me that his clients wanted to be known simply as 'The Eye'. No idea what's their business, either.".

I think it's CBS.

As one who has managed your arch-rival, Blackpool, I'm following along. Keep it up!

[Dalbeider]

@10-3: Haha . Didn't even know that CBS had a logo like that. It's not them, anyway . Also, boo Blackpool and etc. I may or may not have a report about a Preston vs. Blackpool derby coming along in a few days .

----

Recording date: August 17th, 2016. Starting time: 21:43:14h GMT.

Okay, today I do know how to feel: massively disappointed. We threw the game away, plain and simple. At least it's the cup, away and at the start of the season, so we can take some positives from today's game, but... Yeah, still hurting.

The first half went as I wanted it to go. Few chances for both teams, us being quite solid in defense, one or two counterattacks for us to try and score. We didn't score, but at least we performed well. But the second half... oh boy, that was a mess. First Smith stands and watches as Craig Davies waltzes past him and scores. Then he messes up again with a stupidly bad clearance, and thankfully Jackman is close to fix things up before they get ugly. Well, uglyer.

We got lucky, though, and Ryan scored one of those once-in-a-lifetime screamers from outside the box that go straight into the top left. But we didn't deserve the draw, and we didn't hold it for long. Davies scored again only three minutes later after a bad refuse by Sheppard. Funnily enough, that's when we started playing well again, and we had a chance or two before the end, but Walker couldn't finish them.

And so, we're out of the League Cup. Oh well, less fixture congestion problems for us, I guess. Also less money. And also, Ryan got himself injured and will be out for almost two weeks with a bruised thigh. Joy.

Now to fix this mess before Scunthorpe come to Deepdale this Saturday to return us the visit. As a certain bunch of worms used to say: Revenge!

Ending time: 21:46:55h GMT

[u][b][font=Courier New]SCUNTHORPE UNITED[/font][/b][/u][font=Courier New]                       [u][b]PRESTON NORTH END[/b][/u]

       [b]2                                       1[/b]


GK: Calum Hobbs (6.9)                   GK: Ricky Sheppard (6.8)

DR: Jason Beardsley (7.0)               DR: Curtis Osano (7.0)
DL: Adam Chapman (6.8)                  DL: Danny Jackman (7.2)
DC: Thomas Cruise (7.1)                 DC: Mark Moseley (7.6)
[i]--> Min. 77, Alan Tate (---)[/i]            DC: Scott Smith (7.3)
DC: Emmerson Boyce (7.2)

MR: Andy King (6.8)                     MR: Michael Adams (6.6)
ML: Lee Cook (7.5)                      ML: Willie Gibson (6.7)
MC: Stuart Watson (7.5)                 [i]--> Min. 61, Simon Hackney (6.8)[/i]
[i]--> Min. 83, Marc Laird (---)[/i]           MC: Martyn Ryan (7.6)
MC: Dean Whitehead (7.2)                MC: [/font][font=Courier New]Chris Sweeney[/font][font=Courier New] (6.8)
                                       --> [i]Min. 45, Mark Brown (6.8)[/i]

ST: [b]Craig Davies* (8.4)[/b]                 ST: Tom Rimmer (6.0)
ST: Stephen Anderson (6.0)              [i]--> Min. 61, David Walker (6.6)[/i]
[i]--> Min. 64, Owen Price (6.8)           [/i][/font][font=Courier New]ST: Dean Shiels (6.4)[/font][font=Courier New][i]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
Min.47: Davies (Watson)                 Min.63: Ryan (Brown)
Min.66: Davies (Cook)
[/font]

[Dalbeider]

Fragment of an article posted on "TheCitizen" (prestoncitizen.co.uk/sports) on August 19th 2016.

Meet the new Preston,

same as the old Preston

Rookie manager Simon Graham, unable to stop losing ways - Tuesday's defeat at Scunthorpe made the seventh in a row - Graham, still optimistic: "We can turn this around, starting this Saturday"

When Derek Shaw introduced Preston's new boss to the press back in June, opinions about the signing of the unexperienced Simon Graham were certainly varied. Some thought it was a good call, new blood for new times. Others were firmly planted on the "we need someone with experience to get us out of this mess" camp. And a few simply believed that Shaw had finally gone completely nuts. In any case, almost everyone agreed on one thing: change was in the air.

But so far, nothing has changed. At least regarding the team's results. After a promising preseason, North End faced their first serious games with optimism, but the end result was the same one the fans ended up getting used to last year: defeat. And while in the match against Sheffield Utd. the team played fairly well, the second half against Scunthorpe in the first round of the League Cup left a feeling of déjà vu on many Preston supporters. Graham's tactics haven't been exactly groundbreaking so far, and his flat 4-4-2 doesn't seem to be able to bring the best out of an admittedly very average squad.

Now, the ones who feared Graham's appointment at the start of the summer feel entitled to tell "told you so" to the rest. Granted, the season has just started, but...

(...)

----

Recording date: August 21st, 2016. Starting time: 18:09:44h GMT.

Hah! Take that, Scunthorpe and TheCitizen! We got our revenge!

Now that's the way I like it - a convincing home win in front of all the fans. Well, of all the fans that came to see us play, not even ten thousand. Still, the crowd was fantastic today. The lads helped with that, too, since they played really well from the start. We went looking for the win since the first minute, putting up a good pressure in the midfield, and Scunthorpe couldn't keep the ball for three straight passes throughout the match.

We got luck on our side, too, since Craig Davies had to leave the game after only eleven minutes had passed. He's Scunthorpe's best player by far, and having him out of the picture made things easier for us. I certainly hope he won't be out for too long. From what their physios told us, it didn't look too serious. A week, two tops.

So we dominated, and we created chances, but our finishing still looks a bit poor. Walker missed a real sitter, and Shiels didn't look too sharp with his shots either. Still, it was one of Dean's shots that gave us the lead: Hobbs deflected it, and the rebound fell to Hackney, who simply pushed the ball into the net. That was on the 45th minute of the first half, so it must have hurt the Iron plenty.

The second half was more of the same, only without the chances. We controlled the ball most of the time, but we couldn't create any more danger. Scunthorpe didn't show themselves in attack until the final ten minutes, and by then it was too late for them. We held them off well and got our first three points of the season. Yay!

Now we've got a full week to prepare for our next fixture. Home again, this time against relegation favourites Cheltenham. Playing like today, we should win that game without much trouble.

Now, beer time! Simon out.

Ending time: 18:15:12h GMT

[b][font=Courier New]Coca-Cola League 1, match 2/46.[/font][/b]

[u][b][font=Courier New]PRESTON NORTH END[/font][/b][/u][font=Courier New] [u][b]SCUNTHORPE UNITED[/b][/u]

[b]1 0[/b]


GK: Elliott Parish (6.9) GK: Calum Hobbs (6.8)

DR: Curtis Osano (6.9) DR: [/font][font=Courier New]Jason Beardsley[/font][font=Courier New] (6.3)
DL: Danny Jackman (7.0) [i]--> Min. 61, Alan Tate (6.7)[/i]
DC: Adam Griggs (6.7) DL: Adam Chapman(6.8)
DC: Nic Saunders (7.0) DC: Thomas Cruise (7.2)
DC: Emmerson Boyce (7.0)

MR: Simon Whaley (6.8) MR: Andy King (6.4)
[i]--> Min. 45, Chris Mason (6.7)[/i] [i]--> Min. 72, Neil McGregor (6.7)[/i]
ML: [b]Simon Hackney* (7.6)[/b] [/font][font=Courier New]ML: Sean McDaid (6.0)[/font]
[font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 45, Willie Gibson (6.5)[/i] MC: Marc Laird (6.9)
MC: Chris Sweeney (6.9) MC: [/font][font=Courier New]Dean Whitehead [/font][font=Courier New](7.0)
[i]--> Min. 67, Mark Moseley (6.7)[/i]
MC: Mark Brown (6.8)

ST: David Walker (6.5) ST: Craig Davies (---)
ST: Dean Shiels (7.0) [i]--> Min. 11, Samuel Huggins (6.6)[/i]
[/font][font=Courier New]ST: Stephen Anderson (7.2)[/font][font=Courier New][i]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
Min.45: Hackney (Shiels)
[/font]

[Nadessico]

Sounds like the real Derek Shaw, no business sence what so ever

nice start, KUTGW

[Dalbeider]

@Nadessico: Somehow that's exactly the feeling I got from the pictures of him I found in Google . Oh, and thanks!

I've been playing almost non-stop this weekend (instead of writing, yeah, I know), and I've built a full season of backlog, so updates should increase in frequency now. I've also decided that doing full detail match reports like the previous ones for every single match in the season would be a bit tiresome for both me and you, so I'm going to reserve them for important moments (cups, derbies, direct league rivals and so) and do the rest in summary mode, kind of like this.

----

August 22nd 2016 - October 1st 2016

Things were looking a bit better now for both Simon and Preston. The first win of the season is always an important moment for struggling teams, and there were hopes that it would allow the team to gain momentum and start improving their results. In the meantime, Simon Hackney grabbed the first award of the season for North End, being nominated into the Team of the Week after his performance against Scunthorpe. Also, Graham and Mr. Shaw agreed a deal with Josh Meredith, a 19 years old Irish striker playing for Cork City, that would bring him to Preston at the end of his current contract, which expired in New Year's Eve. Meredith was a tall forward, something that Preston lacked right now.

The only piece of bad news before the home match against Cheltenham was Shaw's groin injury, that would keep him out of the picture for three to four weeks. The game itself was a placid affair for Preston, as would be expected playing against a team predicted to end 24th out of 24 teams, and that had been unable to score a single goal so far. Mark Brown scored early with a great long range effort, and Nic Saunders rounded up the score in the second half after heading a corner kick into the net without much opposition. Preston then killed the game by slowing the tempo and controlling the ball most of the time, and secured their second win of the season with the final result of 2-0. Saunders earned a place in the Team of the Week, mostly thanks to his goal.

The following week was eventful and full of surprises. For starters, Manchester United got kicked out of the Champions Cup after losing 2-1 on the aggregate in the qualifying round against... Unirea Urziceni! Another surprise, although not quite as big, was the 2-3 defeat of the almighty Internazionale against Sevilla in the European Super Cup. With the football world going crazy, Preston travelled to the east end of the country to play against Luton. The spotlight of that game fell mainly on two players. First, Luton's keeper Alonso Driotis stopped everything that Preston threw at him, despite an early mistake that costed him a yellow card for handling the ball outside the box. Later, the focus shifted to poor Martyn Ryan, who found himself in the middle of the ball's trajectory inside his own box and ended up deflecting it into the goal, giving Luton a thoroughly undeserved 1-0 win. The defeat also brought additional headaches to Simon Graham, as Moseley got a gashed leg and missed the following three weeks of training.

Big news filled the headlines of most sport newspapers in Lancashire on the 10th of September: Preston would be playing against local archrivals Blackpool in the 2nd round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, to be played on October 11th. In the meantime, Preston faced a home matchup against Peterborough, who were placed 4th in the League One at the moment. Graham's boys performed admirably, and thoroughly thrashed the promotion outsiders, controlling the game at all times and in all lines, with impressive defending, good creative play in the midfield, and David Walker on song in the front line. The striker played his best game of the season so far and scored two goals, one in each half. Mark Brown had scored the opener earlier in the first half with another well-placed shot from outside the box.

The Preston squad felt pretty confident after such a convincing win, but reality slapped them hard in the face in the following weeks. First, a short trip to Bradford ended in bitter disappointment, as the promotion favourites gave to Preston what they had given Peterborough a week earlier: a beating. Craig Fagan scored two and Arron Conolly added another to make it 3-0 for the home team in the end, a totally deserved result for both teams, made worse by Mark Brown's injury, a thigh strain that kept him almost a full month out of the lineup. That made four defeats out of four away games for Preston so far, but they had also won all their home matches. So, next week should mean returning to the winning ways. Right?

Wrong. Crewe Alexandra came to Preston willing to change the statistical facts for good, and went away with a hard-fought 1-2 win. Luke Sharry got the opener for the visitors early in the first half with a perfect header, but Martyn Ryan put the draw back in the scoreboard with what would become the Goal of the Month a few days later: a banana shot from outside the box that licked the underside of the bar before going in. Unfortunately for Preston, Crewe dominated the second half completely, and found the deserved winner seventeen minutes before the end at the feet of Lee Barnard. Following the trend, the game also brought an injury for Preston. This time it was Willie Gibson, who missed four weeks with a pulled hamstring.

Simon still had trust in the team and fully expected a comeback in their next away match against Rochdale, who were 20th then. But the relegation candidates were the better team in the first half and went to halftime with a deserved 2-1 win, thanks to Daniël Schreurs and Matt Winterton. Chris Sweeney scored Preston's goal, with some help from Rochdale's keeper. In the second half Preston fought harder, controlled the ball, and created chances, but had to resort to Mark Moseley and a corner kick to draw the game. Rochdale might even have recovered their lead if Lady Luck and the post hadn't intervened. It was the first away point of the season for Preston, but with a 3W-1D-4L record, a 2-2 away draw against lesser opposition just wasn't enough. Things needed to change and soon, or Preston would end up with another bottom-half finish that could finally crush all hope of resurrection for the club.

Change was needed, and Simon Graham delivered.

----

Result summary:

Preston North End 2 (Mark Brown 9, Nic Saunders 59)

Cheltenham Town 0

Luton Town 1 (Martyn Ryan og 89)

Preston North End 0

Preston North End 3 (Mark Brown 23, David Walker 34, 68)

Peterborough United 0

Bradford City 3 (Craig Fagan 35, 89, Arron Connolly 78)

Preston North End 0

Preston North End 1 (Martyn Ryan 28)

Crewe Alexandra 2 (Luke Sharry 7, Lee Barnard 73)

Rochdale 2 (Daniël Schreurs 5, Matt Winterton 36)

Preston North End 2 (Chris Sweeney 21, Mark Moseley 69)

----

Recording date: October 2nd, 2016. Starting time: 11:37:05h GMT.

Okay, I've had enough of this. Time to make things change.

First, it's time to dump the flat 4-4-2 once and for all, for a few reasons. For starters, everyone and his dog is playing like that at this level, so everyone knows how to attack it and how to find its weak spots. Second, it's not working. Against Rochdale we couldn't hold the ball for more than 20 seconds straight throughout the whole match, damn it. We must reinforce the midfield somehow, or we're gonna get mobbed again and again. Lastly, I've found a good alternative. We've been playing some training games in the last weeks with a 4-2-3-1 formation and it seems to work fine. Dean enjoys playing a bit farther away from the box, and could become the perfect link between the midfield and Walker. Whaley and Hackney will also like playing a bit closer to the danger zone.

About Walker... yeah, that's another thing that needs change. Not Walker himself, he's doing fine, but the forward position. We can't win a high ball for our lives. Rimmer can't jump, and Shiels is also smallish. Besides, Walker will be out for our next game, and probably also the cup game against Blackpool. Rimmer isn't doing too good so far, so we need someone else to play upfront. I'll be checking with the scouts to see if we can find a tall forward available, preferably on a short loan until Meredith comes in January. Maybe Everton could help us here, after all we're their associates, right?

We need to turn things around and soon. Plymouth home comes next, and then Blackpool in the JPT. Heh, I can already feel the stones the fans would throw at us if we manage to lose that game... Ouch.

Simon out.

Ending time: 11:41:52h GMT

[Dalbeider]

October 2nd 2016 - October 8th 2016

Simon had a busy week before Preston's key home match against Plymouth. In addition to the common managerial chores (training sessions, attending the press, meetings with the rest of the staff and the board...), he also had to get the team used to the new tactic as well as possible. Their previous practices with the 4-2-3-1 formation helped, but one thing was trying stuff in training, and another completely different thing is finetunning that stuff for a competetive (and crucial) match. At the end of friday's session, Simon was reasonably assured that his instructions had sunk well into the squad, and that they were ready to rumble.

But that was not all. There was also the forward affair, that kept him and his scouts occupied for quite a few hours. Their first option was Colin McLeary, who played for Aberdeen. The Scottish team accepted a loan offer for three months, but the player didn't seem interested in playing for Preston. In the end, Simon had to resort to his plan B: Everton. The Toffees happened to have suitable youngster, a nineteen years old English striker called Zak Pollock. He was tall, had decent technique, and could run with the ball at his feet at an acceptable speed. Everton were keen on a short-term loan, and the player accepted the offer. He joined just in time to make his first practice session on friday, and was quickly included in the squad list for Saturday's match as the backup striker.

Everything was ready, and the match day finally came. Plymouth were 21st, but expected to end farther up the table, and had chained three wins in a row, which meant that they weren't an easy prey at all. It was only the ninth league game, and there was still time for many things to change, but Simon had the feeling that this match could mark the whole season, for good or for ill.

----

Recording date: October 8th, 2016. Starting time: 17:54:41h GMT.

(cough)

(pause)

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!

(pause, faint breathing sounds)

Ah man, I needed that. Phew! Never thought that this job could bring so many highs and lows. And this is a high of the highest quality, that's for sure.

Not in the best mental state for some cold analysis of the game, so eh. We won. And we played fantastically well. Maybe even better than against Peterborough, even though we only won 2-0 this time. Everything worked. Shiels found his game at last playing behind the striker and scored both goals. Whaley was perfect in the right wing and gave both assists, the first by provoking a penalty. And the defense was rock solid once again, specially Moseley. I don't have the stat sheet here right now, heck, I don't even know where in the Nine Hells I've dropped it, but I'd swear that he hasn't missed a single header or a single tackle in the whole game. Perfect, just perfect.

...ah, screw it, I can't do this right now. I'll record the statistics later. Now I need to sing and scream and jump and break things. Too much adrenaline. Hell, I love this job!

Simon ooooover and out!

(pause, sound of something breaking, then silence)

Ending time: 18:24:41h GMT (Auto-shutdown)

[b][font=Courier New]Coca-Cola League 1, match 9/46.[/font][/b]

[u][b][font=Courier New]PRESTON NORTH END[/font][/b][/u][font=Courier New]                       [u][b]PLYMOUTH ARGYLE[/b][/u]

       [b]2                                      0[/b]


GK: Elliott Parish (6.8)                GK: Jean-Luc Riviere (6.6)

DR: Curtis Osano (7.1)                  DR: Chris Gunter [/font][font=Courier New](6.9)
DL: Danny Jackman (6.7)                 DL: Alan Sheehan (7.4)
DC: Adam Griggs (7.5)                   DC: Andy Adams (6.5)
DC: Mark Moseley (7.6)                  DC: Tom Dean (6.5)

AMR: Simon Whaley (7.7)                 MR: Chris Taylor (7.2)[/font][font=Courier New]
AML: Simon Hackney (6.7)[/font][font=Courier New]                ML: Dean Cox (5.8)
[/font][font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 65, Chris Mason (6.8)  [/i]        [i]--> Min. 60 Alex Smith (6.6)[/i]
MC: Chris Sweeney (6.7)                 MC: Daniel Hutchins[/font][font=Courier New](6.4)
[i]--> Min. 65, Martyn Ryan (6.6)          --> Min. 45 Michael Higdon (6.4)[/i]
MC: Eddie Mearns (7.0)                  MC: Stephen Gleeson (6.2)
AMC: [b]Dean Shiels* (8.5)                 [/b][i]--> Min. 71 John Mousinho (6.7)[/i]

ST: Tom Rimmer (6.6)                    ST: Jose Baxter (7.2)
[i]--> Min. 65, Zak Pollock (6.3)[/i]          ST: Craig Beattie (6.7)
                                       [/font][font=Courier New][i]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
Min. 6: Shiels (pen.) (Whaley)
Min.17: Shiels (Whaley)
[/font] 

[Dalbeider]

October 9th 2016 - October 11th 2016

If you couldn't tell from his last recordings, Simon was a bit prone to mood swings. But he can be excused: he had managed to turn things around for Preston in one game with a good tactical decision, with lots of help from the players he trusted to bring the team forward this season. It's natural to be happy when things go well. The problem? A win solves little, even less in a competition as long as the League 1. Now the goal was to find a steady flow of points and victories and start climbing the table away from the bottom half.

Still, there was tiny little thing in the middle right now that had to be dealt with before thinking too much about the league: the Johnstone's Paint Trophy second round matchup against Blackpool. As one could expect, there was little love between the local rivals, and when the Seasider's manager Peter Davenport told the press about how willing were his players to beat some sense into Graham's overinflated head, Simon answered with the managerial equivalent of "we're gonna rip you to shreds and feed the shreds to our pet piranhas". With only two days in between games, there wasn't time for a proper build-up, but that short interchange more than did for it.

The shower that fell over Lancashire that Tuesday didn't help with the attendance, and only six thousand fans went to Deepdale. But they made noise. Lots of it. And when the game started, Blackpool's players had already heard enough chants about their team, their ancestry and their dubious sexual life to fill a couple of hefty books on the matter. Willingly or not, Simon had managed to make Preston's fans care about the game. A risky gamble: a defeat would be hard to forgive, but a win would rise morale for both fans and players. But he felt confident. When the referee blew for kick off, the possibility of a defeat couldn't have been farther away from Simon's mind.

----

From the Lancashire Telegraph, published on October 12th, 2016

Preston beat rain, mud and Tangerines,

go through in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy

Given Simon Graham's smugness in the last days during the build-up to yesterday's match against Blackpool, one could have expected Preston's manager to come gloating to the post-match press conference, even more considering that his men were consistently better on the field than the ones fielded by North End's bitter enemies, and that they had managed to grab the win in the end. But he didn't. The look on his face was one of relief, and when asked about what he thought about the game, he answered with a humble "What can I say? We were lucky.".

The fact is, Preston were lucky. But they deserved that luck. The home team, helped by the chants coming from their fans' throats throughout a very wet afternoon, battled their way through a muddied and soaked field looking for a win since the first minute, while Blackpool were happy to defend. Davenport's defensive wall stood firm during most of the game, denying Graham's players the goalscoring chances that their domination deserved. North End also had to pull themselves together after one of their stars, experienced forward Dean Shiels, went down early with injury after a nasty challenge. Early reports suggest that Shiels will be out of contention for at least two months.

"Losing like that is tough", Davenport said after the game. "We had managed to keep them away from our goal for most of the game, but everything went to hell in that play". The Seasider manager didn't tell, but there were still traces of badly-hidden rage in his eyes. No reason for that, though. Whaley, who had replaced Shiels in the first half, was clearly brought down by Worthington inside Blackpool's box with only five minutes remaining on the clock. Nic Saunders didn't miss, and Preston scored in only their second well-placed shot at goal of the game. Blackpool got none.

But still Graham wasn't completely satisfied. "I wanted more", he said. "We should have won this game easily, and instead we had to suffer until the last minute. If the ref hadn't signaled the penalty, who knows, maybe Blackpool would have scored in a counterattack in extra time or something. It was pretty close, and we got the lucky side of the coin this time. Won't always happen. We must improve". Preston's next chance to win in style will come this Saturday, when they host promotion candidates Reading.

----

[b][font=Courier New]Johnstone's Paint Trophy, 2nd round.[/font][/b]

[u][b][font=Courier New]PRESTON NORTH END[/font][/b][/u][font=Courier New] [u][b]BLACKPOOL[/b][/u]

[b]1 0[/b]


GK: Ricky Sheppard (6.8) GK: Joe Hilton (6.7)

DR: Curtis Osano (6.9) DR: Jonathan Crawford [/font][font=Courier New](6.8)
DL: Chris Mason (6.8) [i]--> Min. 61, David van Zanten (6.7)[/i]
DC: Nic Saunders (7.1) [/font][font=Courier New]DL: Kieran Charnock (7.1)[/font][font=Courier New]
DC: Mark Moseley (6.8) [/font][font=Courier New]DC: Ged Graham (6.9)[/font]
[font=Courier New]DC: Tony Jordan (6.5)[/font]
[font=Courier New]
AMR: Michael Adams (7.2) MR: Mick Ingram (6.6)[/font][font=Courier New]
AML: Simon Hackney (7.0)[/font][font=Courier New] [i]--> Min. 73, Stephen Worthington (5.0)[/i]
[/font][font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 59, Danny Jackman (6.8)[/i] [/font][font=Courier New]ML: Chris Power (6.3)[/font][font=Courier New]
MC: Chris Sweeney (6.9) MC: Danny Morgan ([/font][font=Courier New]7.3)
MC: Eddie Mearns (6.8) MC: Attila Filkor (7.0)
AMC: Dean Shiels (6.7)
[i]--> Min. 28, [b]Simon Whaley* (7.5)[/b][/i]

ST: Tom Rimmer (6.3) ST: Arron O'Leary (7.0)
[i]--> Min. 59, Zak Pollock (6.2)[/i] ST: Nicky Ajose (6.6)
[i]--> Min. 61, Paul Noel (6.2)

[/i][/font][font=Courier New][i] -------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
Min. 86: Saunders (pen.) (Whaley)
[/font]

[Dalbeider]

October 12th 2016 - October 31st 2016

The rest of October was a period of ups and downs for Preston. Only one day after their heroic win against Blackpool, Derek Shaw announced to the media and the fans that Kris Irvine would be leaving the club once the transfer window opened again in January. The right wing back hadn't played a single competitive minute this season, and Simon Graham had already made clear that Irvine wasn't in his plans for the first team squad, so it came as no surprise that the board would accept a €24k offer from Cork City, and that Irvine would accept the move as a chance to get back in the pitch. More money and less wages were good things for Preston, too, since the numbers kept dropping farther into the red zone with each passing month.

North End's next game brought Reading to Deepdale. The Royals had been disappointing their fans so far, and after being tipped for promotion at the start of the season, they found themselves in the lower half of the table. They certainly showed the reason why in their game agains Preston, with an ultradefensive style that brought them zero goalscoring chances in the ninety minutes of the game. Preston didn't fare much better, though, and struggled to create any dangerous plays. The game would have closed the eyes of an insominac, and the only goal couldn't come in a more appropiate way: Adams sent a ball to Mearns, who shooted. The ball bounced on McCombe's legs and slowly dropped past the line, with the keeper looking from the floor on the other side of the goal. A 1-0 win for Preston, but the fans certainly didn't leave their seats happy with the show.

At this point, with ten games already played, Preston were looking good in the table, comfortable in the top half and with a chance of dreaming of higher objectives. The positions were pretty tight throughout the table, though, and a few defeats could see anyone drop into an unexpected relegation battle. Brighton, Watford and Reading were surprisingly deep into the bottom half, while Northampton, Exeter and Peterborough were the pleasant surprises so far.

| Pos   | Inf   | Team         |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Bradford     |       | 10    | 7     | 1     | 2     | 20    | 7     | +13   | 22    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Sheff Utd    |       | 10    | 6     | 2     | 2     | 19    | 12    | +7    | 20    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Peterborough |       | 10    | 6     | 0     | 4     | 20    | 10    | +10   | 18    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Northampton  |       | 10    | 6     | 0     | 4     | 11    | 14    | -3    | 18    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | MK Dons      |       | 9     | 5     | 2     | 2     | 17    | 7     | +10   | 17    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Exeter       |       | 10    | 5     | 2     | 3     | 11    | 8     | +3    | 17    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Luton        |       | 9     | 5     | 2     | 2     | 10    | 7     | +3    | 17    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Crewe        |       | 10    | 5     | 2     | 3     | 13    | 11    | +2    | 17    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 9th   |       | Preston      |       | 10    | 5     | 1     | 4     | 14    | 11    | +3    | 16    | 
[/b]| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th  |       | Grimsby      |       | 10    | 4     | 3     | 3     | 13    | 11    | +2    | 15    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th  |       | Scunthorpe   |       | 10    | 4     | 3     | 3     | 12    | 12    | 0     | 15    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th  |       | Blackpool    |       | 10    | 4     | 2     | 4     | 14    | 13    | +1    | 14    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th  |       | Colchester   |       | 10    | 3     | 4     | 3     | 9     | 9     | 0     | 13    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th  |       | Carlisle     |       | 10    | 4     | 1     | 5     | 11    | 15    | -4    | 13    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th  |       | Norwich      |       | 10    | 3     | 3     | 4     | 9     | 8     | +1    | 12    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th  |       | Tranmere     |       | 10    | 3     | 3     | 4     | 7     | 8     | -1    | 12    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th  |       | Reading      |       | 10    | 3     | 2     | 5     | 11    | 12    | -1    | 11    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th  |       | Southend     |       | 10    | 2     | 5     | 3     | 7     | 10    | -3    | 11    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 19th  |       | Swindon      |       | 10    | 3     | 2     | 5     | 9     | 14    | -5    | 11    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 20th  |       | Watford      |       | 9     | 3     | 1     | 5     | 11    | 12    | -1    | 10    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 21st  |       | Cheltenham   |       | 10    | 3     | 1     | 6     | 7     | 16    | -9    | 10    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 22nd  |       | Plymouth     |       | 10    | 2     | 3     | 5     | 9     | 21    | -12   | 9     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 23rd  |       | Rochdale     |       | 9     | 2     | 1     | 6     | 11    | 17    | -6    | 7     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 24th  |       | Brighton     |       | 10    | 1     | 2     | 7     | 6     | 16    | -10   | 5     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Things looked promising, and three wins with three clean sheets in a row had given Preston's fans hope for bigger things, but their first away match in a while brought them back to earth with a crash. Tranmere Rovers, another team that weren't playing up to their fans' expectations so far, defeated them with a narrow 1-0 final result. Preston really missed the injured Shiels playing behind the striker, and Adams, his replacement today, didn't seem to be able to provide the same level of play. The only goal of the game came early in the second half, with a good header by Jennings. The defeat also brought additional bad news with Osano's foot injury, that kept him away from the playing field for 4 weeks. That gave Shaw a chance to start at the right back.

Three days later Preston travelled to Southend to play against the Shrimpers, who were making the predictions of a safe mid-table finish good so far. The game was much better than the previous ones, with lots of good chances on both sides. Southend dominated the first half, but Adams put Preston ahead, even though Revell tied the game again only eight minutes later. Preston improved in the second half, and although both teams had many chances to break the draw, none did, and 1-1 was the final result.

Back home, Preston hosted relegation candidates Grimsby Town, who had been playing much better than expected and found themselves in a pretty save 12th position. The game was almost as boring as North End's last home game against Reading, and this time there wasn't even the consolation of a one-nil win, since the match ended 0-0, with both teams failing to create any danger worth mentioning. The only event of importance happened five minutes before the end, when the referee tried to spice an unremarkable afternoon with a controversial red card for Moseley after an apparently innocuous foul in the middle zone. The last day of the month brought some good news at last, with the FA Cup 1st round draw giving Preston an easy matchup against Torquay, a League 2 team.

Three wins in a row had quickly turned into three games without a win, even though Preston's position was still quite safe, remaining 13th in the league table. But worst of all, their next game was in the neighbouring coastal town of Blackpool, where the Seasiders were patiently awaiting their chance to get revenge for their elimination in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Not the best moment for another local derby, that's for sure...

----

Result summary:

Preston North End 1 (Jamie McCombe og 68)

Reading 0

Tranmere Rovers 1 (Steve Jennings 70)

Preston North End 0

Southend United 1 (Alex Revell 26)

Preston North End 1 (Michael Adams 18)

Preston North End 0

Grimsby Town 0

----

Recording date: November 1st, 2016. Starting time: 09:24:34h GMT.

They've called. It's been a while, but they want to meet me tonight, at the usual place. Maybe they want to sing Happy Birthday to me, but I doubt it somehow. I'll try to ask them about the whole Eye thing. I don't really like them messing so much with the club's affairs.

Gotta go, bus is departing in twenty minutes. Blackpool, brr. Nice way to celebrate a birthday, ninety minutes of being booed and insulted by a bunch of crazy hooligans, and then a serious meeting with a bunch of misterious cloaked conspirators. Hah.

Simon out.

Ending time: 09:25:49h GMT.

[Dalbeider]

November 1st 2016

The second "Preston versus Blackpool" battle of the season was a disappointment to many. Those many probably expected a hard-fought game, with good play, lots of chances for both teams and a dramatic scoreline. An epic game, in short. In the end, they only got the first of the prerequisites: it certainly was a close game, and both teams tried their best until the end. But the rest just wasn't there. The play was average, with some abysmal minutes that made some fans wonder if they should have bothered to spend their hard-earned cash in this match at all. Chances? Not many. And without chances, it's quite hard to score. And it's a shame, because the setup was just perfect. More than six thousand fans met in Bloomfield Road to see the Seasiders beat their hated neighbours. None had forgotten about the recent cup game, and the stands dressed in orange to welcome the home team and to yell at the visitors.

The start of the first half was promising, with Preston launching a good counterattack on the right wing that ended with Whaley crossing towards the far post, where Walker headed it into the sidenetting. And then... nothing. Lots of midfield play, a pair of counterattacks that led nowhere, and a direct free kick for Blackpool that went well wide. Things picked up a bit near the end of the half, thanks to a header by O'Leary that bounced off the crossbar. Preston, who had been biding their time for most of the first forty-five minutes, found themselves ahead just before injury time when Griggs headed in a corner kick well taken by Jackman.

The second half was even worse. Blackpool tried, but Preston did their best to muddle the play thanks to their superiority in the midfield. The Seasiders still had a few opportunities, but O'Leary and Ajose had a horrible day, and they never managed to put Parish in serious difficulties. The game dragged on, only kept alive by Blackpool's fans, who kept chanting and yelling all along, never losing hope. But the harsh reality was that Blackpool only managed a single shot on target in the whole game. In the end, Preston pocketed another win, their first in four games, and Graham's players celebrated it effusively in the pitch. In the center of the pitch, of course. As farther away from the stands as they could manage.

Simon didn't celebrate. His mind had been wandering for most of the second half, his thoughts already focused in a certain dark alley, hidden somewhere in Preston. It may have been his birthday (and the players had certainly remembered it - he was wearing a shiny new suede necktie today), but certainly wasn't planning a party.

[b][font=Courier New]Coca-Cola League 1, 14/46[/font][/b]

[u][b][font=Courier New]BLACKPOOL[/font][/b][/u][font=Courier New]                               [u][b]PRESTON NORTH END[/b][/u]

   [b]0                                           1[/b]


GK: Alex Sutton (6.7)                   GK: Elliott Parish (6.6)

DR: Jonathan Crawford (6.6)             DR: Chris Mason [/font][font=Courier New](6.8)
[i]--> Min. 73, Stephen Worthington (6.6)[/i]  [i]--> Min. 58, Simon Hackney (6.5)[/i][/font][font=Courier New]
[/font][font=Courier New]DL: Bobby Wilson (6.7)                  [/font][font=Courier New]DL: David Shaw (7.4)[/font][font=Courier New]
DC: Ged Graham (7.5)                    [/font][font=Courier New]DC: [b]Adam Griggs* (7.8)
[/b][/font][font=Courier New]DC: Tony Jordan (6.9)                   DC: Nic Saunders (7.4)[/font]
[font=Courier New] 
MR: David van Zanten (7.1)              AMR: Simon Whaley (6.8)[/font][font=Courier New]
ML: Chris Power (6.8)  [/font][font=Courier New]                 [i]--> Min. 45, Michael Adams (6.3)[/i][/font][font=Courier New]
MC: Danny Morgan (6.8)          [/font][font=Courier New]        A[/font][font=Courier New]ML: Danny Jackman (7.4)[/font][font=Courier New]
MC: Attila Filkor (6.8)                 MC: Mark Brown ([/font][font=Courier New]6.7)
                                       [i]--> Min. 58, Chris Sweeney (6.6)[/i]
                                       [/font][font=Courier New]MC: Eddie Mearns (6.8)[/font][font=Courier New]
                                       AMC: Dimitriu Copil (6.8)

ST: Arron O'Leary (6.6)                 ST: David Walker (7.0)
[i]--> Min. 73, Oliver Folkes (6.3)
[/i]ST: Nicky Ajose (6.0)
[i]--> Min. 61, Paul Noel (6.2)[/i]

[/font][font=Courier New][i] -------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
                                       Min. 45: Griggs (Jackman)
[/font]

[Dalbeider]

November 1st, 2016. Later.

Simon left his home and started walking towards his objective. November nights are cold in Preston, and his breath left vapor trails behind him as he advanced. Two shadows followed him. Only one was his.

----

As always, one of them was waiting for him at the alley. As always, he was blindfolded, and then led for about ten minutes before reaching the meeting place. As always, the place didn't look the same as in any of their previous meetings. Either they changed location every time they wanted to have a little chat with him, or someone had spent one million too much in decorations and had to find something to do with them. And as always, when the blindfold was removed, the five hooded men were standing in front of him. They were positioned around a circle painted in white on the floor, with Simon outside the circle. They kept their hoods on, even though they had revealed their faces to him once already. He didn't recognize any one of them then, but he made sure he didn't forget those faces. So far, he had never met or even caught a glimpse of any of them on the street.

"But wait", Simon thought to himself, "am I sure that these five are the same five that I met last time? Maybe they only come in groups of five, but in reality there's a lot more than five members in their little jolly group? God, there's so much I don't know about them after all this time! Perhaps..."

- "It is a real pleasure for all of us to meet you once again, Mr. Graham". Simon's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the voice of one of the robed men. For a moment he thought that he could feel a slight emphasis on "once again". As if they could read his mind.

"Don't be paranoid", he scorned himself. "They're normal men, just like you. With lots of untold knowledge, obscure objectives and a penchant for theatrics, but normal men after all. You know that much, at the very least.".

- "Certainly a pleasure, gentlemen", he answered graciously, although with a pinch of irritation in his voice. "It's been a while since our last meeting, or since I heard at all from you, isn't it? What made you remember about me all of the sudden?"

- "We did not forget about you, Mr. Graham", another figure answered. "We have kept both eyes on you all these months. We are pleased to see that you have settled quite well in your new position".

- "Good to know". Simon paused, then took a deep breath and did a metaphorical mortal jump into the void. "Also, I'd like to thank you in the Chairman's name about your economical support. That money was certainly needed. Only... next time, please, hire a professional to design the logo. My players are still being laughed at wherever we go because of that thing, it's hideous!".

Simon didn't expect the reaction his words caused. The five men turned around to look at each other, clearly confused. He could swear that he saw one of them shrugging slightly while he moved his covered head. "Ah", Simon thought. "So they don't know everything after all...".

- "We... think you are mistaken", one of them retorted. "We have nothing to do with that. We agreed to interfere in your day-to-day dealings with Preston as little as possible in our last meeting back in June, remember?".

- "Yeah, I remember. But, that 'Eye' thing came so out of the blue that I somehow thought that you were involved in some way or another. Sorry about doubting you".

Again, a round of puzzled looks between the hooded men. This time, though, there was something else in their body language besides confusion. Alarm, perhaps?

- "Did you just say... 'The Eye'?". Simon snorted.

- "No, I just said 'Eye'. But yeah, Mr. Shaw was offered the sponsorship deal by someone who calls himself (or themselves) 'The Eye'. Come on, you can't tell me you haven't seen our shirts? With the big, black eye in the middle? I thought you were keeping an eye on me?". He felt a moment of guilty pleasure at putting his misterious benefactors under pressure for once. "Besides, I've got the feeling that this is not the first time you hear about this 'Eye' thing, right?". Simon absently wiped some dust that had fallen from the roof on his right shoulder.

- "You are right, we have heard about it. And nothing good. It is... not ideal to our common interests that such an entity is showing interest in you or in your club. We will investigate this matter, and will get back to you as soon as we have any information that we consider relevant to your interests".

Simon sighed. "That we consider relevant to your interests? I thought we were on the same boat here?".

- "But this is not the reason we have called you here tonight, Mr. Graham. We would like to hear about your daily work inside the club, your expectatives, and how you feel about the objectives we defined when we first met. So, if you don't mind..."

----

Rosie had seen enough. She was starting to get cramps in her right leg, and she couldn't risk moving again. The last time she had tried, the whole ventilation conduct had cracked as if it was about to break in half, and a cloud of dust had fallen to the ground. Luckily, no one seemed to notice. Her position wasn't ideal, and she couldn't hear much from the conversation besides some mentions of an 'Eye', but she had seen what she came to see. Slowly, she crawled back towards the exit. The Old Man should be pleased with her report.

[Tubey84]

Simply brilliant. I went to UCLAN in Preston and always feel a soft spot for them ^^

[Dalbeider]

@Tubey: Thank you! And yeah, I like 'em too, don't know why. Maybe it's the whole "first Premier winners evah" thing.

----

November 2nd 2016 - November 8th 2016

More or less as he expected, Simon left the meeting with more questions than he had had before. Yeah, he found an answer (they weren't "The Eye"), but that opened a few more mysteries: Who was "The Eye", then? Why were they helping Simon, and Preston? A timid businessman with bad taste in sports clothing, or something more sinister? The robe-and-cloak party seemed have reasons to believe the second, but, you know, pot and kettle and all that... After mulling the questions and the possible answers for a few hours while pretending to try to sleep, Simon decided it was no use: he had more pressing matters at hand, like the game against Watford in four days, and he couldn't afford wasting his attention and his time hunting shadows. Mysteries would have to wait for a better time.

Luckily for him and for Preston, Watford weren't the team they once were. Only three years after a brief stint in the Premiership in the 2006/07 season, the Hornets plummetted into the League 1, a division they only left briefly last year, with a 9-win, 24th place season that made them go straight back down from the Championship. As a just relegated team, they were thought to be big favourites for promotion, but reality was harsher: Watford found themselves 20th in the table, and with Shaun Brooks having replaced Peter Taylor as the club's manager only two weeks earlier. Still, they were bound to improve sooner or later, and Graham's boys would better be careful not to become the first victims of their comeback.

At first it seemed as if that may have been the case, with Watford dominating the first minutes of the game and trying their luck from afar, but things eventually went back to normal, with Preston having the ball and most of the few chances that were created in the first half. It took them until the 40th minute to open the scoring, with Walker scoring with a placed shot from the penalty spot after a good service by Hackney. Then, just before the end of the first half, Griggs scored his second goal from a corner kick in two straight games to put Preston two goals ahead before half time.

Despite Sweeney's and Hackney's injuries, Watford didn't seem to believe in themselves enough to mount a decent comeback in the second half. They managed to get one goal back, thanks to Claudio Cross, but Copil didn't give them time to dream about getting the draw, scoring the third for Preston only seven minutes later. The second half ended like the first, with Griggs sending another header into the net, this time after a free kick taken by Jackman. In the end, a convincing 4-1 win for Preston, that gave them confidence before their key Johnstone's Paint Trophy match against Crewe.

Preston North End 4 (David Walker 40, Adam Griggs 45+2, 90+2, Dimitriu Copil 78)

Watford 1 (Claudio Cross 71)

----

Mr. Shaw's self-appointed target in the Trophy was reaching the semi-finals, and that meant that Simon's guys had to beat Crewe Alexandra to reach their goal. There was extra motivation, since the squad still remembered their first (and last so far) home defeat of the season against them, and wanted payback. This time the game would be played in Cheshire, which made it even more challenging. The result? Well...

----

Recording date: November 8th, 2016. Starting time: 22:54:09h GMT.

<expletive>. <expletive> <expletive>, damn it! <expletive>!

Ending time: 22:54:21h GMT

...

Recording date: November 8th, 2016. Starting time: 22:55:10h GMT.

Oh, and <expletive> <expletive> <expletive> <expletive>. And I mean it. <expletive>.

Ending time: 22:55:32h GMT

----

[b][font=Courier New]Johnstone's Paint Trophy, North quarter final[/font][/b]

[u][b][font=Courier New]CREWE ALEXANDRA[/font][/b][/u][font=Courier New]                         [u][b]PRESTON NORTH END[/b][/u]

    [b]1 (8)                                    1 (7)[/b]


GK: Micky Mann (6.7)                    GK: Ricky Sheppard (6.7)

DR: Craig Barr (7.2)                    DR: David Shaw [/font][font=Courier New](7.0)
[/font][font=Courier New]DL: Jake Howells (7.2)                  [/font][font=Courier New]DL: Chris Mason (7.4)[/font][font=Courier New]
DC: Steve Francis (---)                 [/font][font=Courier New]DC: Adam Griggs (7.1)[/font][font=Courier New][i]
--> Min. 7, Lewis Reilly (7.5)[/i]          DC: [b]Mark Moseley* (7.6)[/b][/font]
[font=Courier New]DC: Michael Harrison (7.1)[/font]
[font=Courier New] 
MR: Steve Gradwell (7.0)                AMR: Simon Whaley (6.0)[/font][font=Courier New]
ML: Luke Sharry (7.3)  [/font][font=Courier New]                 [i]--> Min. 55, Michael Adams (6.8)[/i][/font][font=Courier New]
MC: Erik Sviatchenko (7.0)      [/font][font=Courier New]        A[/font][font=Courier New]ML: Willie Gibson (6.6)[/font][font=Courier New]
MC: Steven Forbes (7.0)                 MC: Mark Brown ([/font][font=Courier New]6.1)
[i]-->[/i] [i]Min. 90, Jack Smith (---)[/i]           [i]--> Min. 55, Martyn Ryan (6.7)[/i]
                                       [/font][font=Courier New]MC: Eddie Mearns (6.9)[/font][font=Courier New]
                                       AMC: Dimitriu Copil (7.4)

ST: Ben Vincent (6.8)                   ST: David Walker (6.0)
[i]--> Min. 71, Peter [/i][/font][i]Fjørtoft [/i][font=Courier New][i](6.7)       --> Min. 55, Zak Pollock (6.5)[/i]
ST: Lee Barnard (6.8)

[/font][font=Courier New][i]-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
Min. 38: Sharry (Reilly)                Min.  8: Copil 

Harrison      [color=Green]0[/color]                         Adams         [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font]
[font=Courier New]Sharry        [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font][font=Courier New]                         Griggs        [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font]
[font=Courier New]Barnard       [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font][font=Courier New]                         Gibson        [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font]
[font=Courier New]Sviatchenko   [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font][font=Courier New]                         Mearns        [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font]
[font=Courier New]Smith         [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font][font=Courier New]                         Copil         [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font]
[font=Courier New]Howells       [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font][font=Courier New]                         Pollock       [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font]
[font=Courier New]Reilly        [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font][font=Courier New]                         Moseley       [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font]
[font=Courier New]Gradwell      [/font][font=Courier New][color=Green]0[/color][/font][font=Courier New]                         Shaw          [color=Red]X[/color][/font]

[Dalbeider]

Wow, I've clocked a full day of real time playing with this save in just one weekend! 23 days, 5 hours, 30 minutes and counting... I'd better catch up a bit with the story before holidays. 3 days left!

----

November 8th 2016 - December 1st 2016

No wonder Simon was furious with his bad luck. The defeat on penalties against Crewe had robbed Preston of the only trophy they could realistically opt to win this season. It also came in the back of a serious injury to Martyn Ryan, who had to leave the game before the end with a broken arm that kept him out of contention for a full month. And yet they were so, so close... For a few days, Simon wasn't the most pleasant fellow to meet, that's for sure.

Luckily for him, the rest of November brought better things for Preston and his manager, although sprinkled with a few pieces of bad news. First up was the first round of the FA Cup, which was played on the 12th of November. It was an easy match up for Preston in theory, against a mid-table team in the League 2, Torquay United. But the pressure of the home fans and that fighting spirit that most lesser teams find when faced with difficult odds made it harder than it probably should be. An injury to Mearns with only eight minutes played didn't help things, either.

Torquay scored first, thanks to Elliot Benyon, and Simon had bitten his fingernails to the root while his boys were dominated by a supposedly inferior team. But an unlikely hero came to rescue Preston: loanee Zak Pollock started his best performance of the season so far with a good nod towards Moseley, who drew the game with a placed shot from outside the box. Before half time, cup keeper Sheppard scored a somewhat fortuituous assist with a goal kick that flew over the defense and found Pollock unmarked. The striker scored his first goal for Preston with a good finish. Benyon scored again for Torquay in injury time, but the referee rightfully disallowed the goal - he was offside. The second half was much calmer for Preston, as Torquay looked exhausted after their effort in the first forty-five minutes. Pollock sealed the deal with his second goal of the game with a low strike from 20 yards away. Preston won 1-3, but it took them a lot more effort than they had expected. The draw for the second round was made two days later, and Preston got Plymouth away as their next rivals.

Back to the league, the fixture list for November was unusually relaxed, with only two games remaining until the end of the month. To make things interesting, though, Eliott Parish injured his chest in training in some freak accident while weightlifting, giving Sheppard a chance to play in the league for three or four weeks. Next up was a trip to the east coast to play against Norwich City. Despite being touted as relegation candidates by the media, Norwich had managed to stay far from trouble so far. They show why in the first minutes of the game, putting themselves ahead in the 8th minute thanks to James Price, and enjoying some chances to extend their lead. Preston players seemed absent-minded, and they only managed two shots at goal in the whole first half, none of them with any real danger. Simon had to show his furious side again in the dressing room, and the players came back to the pitch with a much better attitude. Walker and Griggs scored to turn things around, and they could have gone back to Preston with an even better result had they been a bit more lucky: North End hit the post twice in this half. In the end, a solid comeback for a 1-2 win. The bad news came once again from the physio room: David Walker would miss between five and six weeks with a damaged knee cartilage.

Finally, after three away games in a row, Simon and his lads came back to Deepdale to play against Exeter City on the 26th. The prototype of a mid-table team, Exeter were 10th in the league, almost exactly their predicted final position. Their arguments were a solid defense and quick and dangerous counterattacks, and they showed those weapons at full strength against Preston, who struggled to create any danger throughout the game. They certainly missed Walker's presence up front, since Pollock wasn't exactly the best option against Exeter's defense. The visitors also didn't create any real chances, and the fans had to endure a boring 0-0 draw after such a long wait. Despite the disappointing result, Preston were now on an eight match unbeaten run, their best of the season by far.

November ended in a high note: Simon Graham came second in the Manager of the Month award, his best placing so far. But the recognition left a bittersweet taste in Simon's mouth, since a win against Exeter probably would have given him the big prize. Oh well. There's always next month...

----

Result summary:

Torquay United 1 (Elliot Benyon 23)

Preston North End 3 (Mark Moseley 37, Zak Pollock 42, 67)

Norwich City 1 (James Price 7)

Preston North End 2 (David Walker 61, Adam Griggs 84)

Preston North End 0

Exeter City 0

[Dalbeider]

Eh, yeah, the holidays caught up with me. So, probably no more updates between now and Sunday (I may get one or two done, but no guarantees - Giant LAN parties are busy times ). And surely no updates for the following 2 weeks, since I'll be on the road to Wacken Open Air '09 and back, and away from the net. I'll bring my laptop with FM09, my save and my notes with me, so I may get a few updates ready to start posting on August 10th. Then again, I may not .

[Manxie_Ash]

You're going to Wacken? I don't think I like you

[Dalbeider]

Back. Wacken was awesome, if a little muddy - not too much by Wacken standards for what I've been told, which means that the mud only reached my toes, instead of my knees . Watching Heaven and Hell playing Heaven and Hell was priceless.

Didn't have time for much playing and/or writing, though. I don't really have time for an update today (first day of work after holidays = broken Dalbeider), but I'll get something done for tomorrow. Promise.

[Dalbeider]

Recording date: December 3rd, 2016. Starting time: 20:03:59h GMT.

Today I've learned something new: I care about this club. I mean, really care.

Before the Circle contacted me, I knew little about North End. The basic stuff, you know, first English league champions and such. After I was told about the prophecy and my supposed role in its fulfillment, I started reading a bit more about them. Their history, how they fell into the lower leagues a few decades back, never to return to the top, their legends. And I kept an eye on their performances, watching them sink deeper each passing season. But all that knowledge was academic. I knew that I was meant to get this job, and I tried to find any information that I could need to be up to the challenge. There was no feeling, no passion, just data collecting. Like that mad robot from some kids movie in the '80s, only without the weird noises and the crazyness. Well, without the weird noises at the very least.

I kept that cold, mechanical attitude for a while after getting the job, but then something weird happened: I started to feel it. I felt angry when we played badly, and elated when we did well. Last minute wins against bitter rivals were celebrated with beer and joy. I almost felt like an old Preston fan, even if I was just a newcomer to the club. And damn it, I don't even care if it's good or bad for a manager to become this involved, I liked it. I liked it very much.

Today we've been kicked out of the FA Cup. It's been the lowest of the lows, our worst performance since I've been here. And for most of the second half, while Plymouth were making the ball dance around us with ease and style, the only thing I could think about is what should we do to make the fans forgive us for this. Not because I fear for my job, not at all: we're better than we were last year, by far. With some luck, we could even dream about reaching the promotion playoff. No, it's not that. I just feel that I need to give this club my best. That Preston and its fans deserve to dream again.

I don't know if I'm really the prophesized one. Not even they know that for sure. And right now, I don't really care about it. All I know is that next saturday, me and my boys will make sure that today's performance is quickly forgiven and forgotten.

I told them all of this, minus the whole prophecy part, of course. Let's hope that they feel it, too, and that they show it against Brighton. If they do, then we've already won.

Man, I love this job.

Ending time: 20:10:11h GMT

----

[font=Courier New][b]FA Cup, 2nd round[/b]

[u][b]PLYMOUTH ARGYLE[/b][/u]                         [/font][font=Courier New][u][b]PRESTON NORTH END[/b][/u]

    [b]  3                                        0[/b]


GK: Jean-Luc Riviere (6.9)              GK: Ricky Sheppard (6.4)

DR: John Mousinho (7.4)                 DR: Curtis Osano [/font][font=Courier New](6.6)[/font][font=Courier New][i]
--> Min. 78, Ryan Anderson (---)[/i][/font][font=Courier New]        DL: David Shaw (6.9)[/font][font=Courier New]
[/font][font=Courier New]DL: Alan Sheehan (7.4)                  [/font][font=Courier New]DC: Adam Griggs (6.9)
[/font][font=Courier New]DC: Chris Gunter (7.6)                  DC: Mark Moseley (7.0)[/font][font=Courier New]
DC: Tom Dean (7.3)
[/font] [font=Courier New] 
MR: Chris Taylor (7.6)                  AMR: Michael Adams (5.4)[/font][font=Courier New]
ML: Alex Smith (7.2)   [/font][font=Courier New]                 [i]--> Min. 59, Dean Shiels (6.7)[/i][/font][font=Courier New]
MC: Daniel Hutchins (7.5)       [/font][font=Courier New]        A[/font][font=Courier New]ML: Simon Hackney (6.7)[/font][font=Courier New]
MC: Stephen Gleeson (7.2)               [/font][font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 55, Willie Gibson (6.7)[/i][/font][font=Courier New]
                                       [/font][font=Courier New]MC: Chris Sweeney ([/font][font=Courier New]6.5)
                                       [i]--> Min. 59, Mark Brown (6.7)[/i]
[/font][font=Courier New]                                        MC: Eddie Mearns (6.5)[/font][font=Courier New]
                                       AMC: Dimitriu Copil (6.5)

ST: Tom Vonk (7.6)                      ST: Zak Pollock (6.5)
[/font][font=Courier New]ST: [b]Jose Baxter* (8.5)[/b]

[/font][font=Courier New][i]-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
Min. 6: Baxter (Mousinho)
Min.58: Baxter (Gunter)
Min.77: Vonk (Taylor)
[/font]

[Dalbeider]

December 4th 2016 - January 4th 2017

Simon had to wait a full week to see if the lads were able to turn things around after the rout against Plymouth Argyle in the cup. When the 10th of December arrived, Deepdale looked good, with almost eleven thousand fans ready to help their team beat Brighton, although there was a certain fealing of unease in the air. The Seagulls were in deep trouble: touted as promotion contenders at the start of the year, they found themselves deep in the relegation zone with almost half of the season already gone. Andy Ritchie had replaced Simon Grayson as the club's manager six weeks ago, but there hadn't been any noticeable effects on their performance so far.

The game couldn't have started worse for Preston - Adam Griggs was harshly sent off in the first minute after a late challenge in the midfield. Yet this misfortune helped to definetely bring the fans into the game, as they cheered the home team and booed both the referee and the poor Brighton players harder than they had done so far in the whole season, Blackpool derbies notwithstanding. And it worked. Despite Brighton's early dominance, North End quickly regained control of the ball, and Zak Pollock scored the opener with a good header after a lobbed cross from the left. The Seagulls went all-in looking for the draw, but they showed two of the reasons of their horrible league situation: bad finishing and bad luck. Michael Smart failed to score even though he had good enough chances to do so, and ended hitting the post twice. Preston held on with only ten men on the pitch, despite further misfortunes as both Gibson and Sweeney had to leave the game injured at half time. Carried by the crowd's chants, Simon's lads managed an heroic 1-0 win, despite being down one man for 89 minutes!

----

After a difficult week that saw Gibson, Sheppard and Ryan go down for some time with various injuries, Preston had to travel to Carlisle to test their good league form, now stretching to seven games without losing. The first half and most of the second were wasted in a tactically interesting but really boring to watch midfield battle, as both teams fought for the ball with all their strength. With only two shots at goal in the whole first forty-five minutes, things didn't change after half time until Simon brought in the substitutes. One of them, Dean Shiels, managed a great goal on the 68th minute after dribbling past his marker through the front of the box and placing a shot in just beside the left post. Carlisle were unable to react, and Preston brought home the three points with another 0-1 win, finding themselves up in the promotion playoff zone for the first time. The victory came with a price, though, as Simon Whaley pulled his hamstring and was sidelined for a full month. It also came with a prize: Mark Moseley made the Team of the Week after a perfect defensive performance.

----

Boxing Day came, and with it the start of the traditional Christmas rush for all League 1 teams. With four games to be played in only nine days, the endurance and depth of all squads was going to be put to a key test. Preston started the rush home, against Swindon Town, who were narrowly above the relegation zone. They started the first half dominating and looking for a quick opener, but Pollock got unlucky after his shot was cleared off the line by a defender. Worse, Swindon managed to hit the jackpot on their first chance, when Simon Cox turned around inside the box, left Saunders standing, and scored from close range.

It took Preston a while to recover, but eleven minutes before the end of the first half Mark Moseley drew level with a perfect header after a corner kick. But only two minutes later, Swindon found themselves ahead again thanks to a mistake by Brown that allowed Michael Pook to score unopposed. Copil wanted a penalty after he was brought down inside the box, but the ref waved play on. Again Moseley, and again thanks to another corner kick, scored the 2-2 on injury time. After such an intense first half, the second forty-five minutes were a forgettable affair, with zero real chances for both teams. A slightly disappointing 2-2 home draw against relegation battlers, but still another undefeated game to add to the list.

----

Only two days later, the Preston squad travelled to Milton Keynes to play against MK Dons, the first of three consecutive away games. With rotations taking place, only four members of the first eleven against Swindon started against the Dons. Still, Preston performed really well, and managed to dominate the game in the first half against a team that had been solidly placed in the top 2 of the League 1 for a while already. MK Dons held on, though, thanks to a great defensive effort. Copil and Adams played really well for Preston, but their creative efforts didn't find the expected reward. The first half ended 0-0, and with Moseley out of the game with a bruised shin. The home team then went on to steal the game away from Preston with a lucky goal by Dave Hudson, who gathered a loose ball inside the box in Preston's only defensive mistake of the game. From then on, the Dons controlled the ball and the game, preventing any comeback attempt from the visitors, and North End left the stadium:mk with nothing but an undeserved 1-0 defeat, the first in ten league games.

----

New Year's Day meant the opening of the transfer window, and Josh Meredith, the young Irish tall forward signed on a free transfer a few months ago, finally joined Preston. Simon also made a bid to extend Zak Pollock's loan until the end of the season, since the Everton loanee had performed well so far. This meant that Rimmer found himself out of the rotation at the forward spot, thanks to his lackluster performances. Kris Irvine also completed his €24k switch to Cork City, bringing some much needed cash into Preston's empty accounts.

----

Meredith had a chance to debut only one day later, when Preston continued their trip across the country with a visit to Scunthorpe. Despite placing below the half of the table, the Iron played much better than an already exhausted Preston side, who were showing a certain lack of depth in some key positions, worsened by a few key injuries. Without Moseley at the back, North End's defense suddenly seemed much weaker, and by the 17th minute they had already conceded twice. The first was disallowed, but the second, scored by Stuart Watson after a good cross from the left, stood. Meredith had Preston's best chances of the first half, but his finishing lacked accuracy, and by half time the home team was still ahead.

The second half didn't look much different until Shiels headed the ball into the crossbar in the 58th minute. That woke Preston up, and only nine minutes later a huge mistake by goalkeeper Hobbs, who left his goal to try and reach a long ball cleared by North End's defense, allowed Michael Adams to beat him to the ball and score easily. Griggs then had the chance to complete Preston's comeback with a header after a corner kick, but Hobbs corrected his previous mistake with a great save. Scunthorpe didn't miss their chance from the corner, though, and Paul Hayes scored the 2-1 with only ten minutes left. Jackman had the final chance of the game, but his curved shot hit the post and bounced clear, crushing Preston's hopes of getting something out of Glanford Park. A 2-1 defeat, the second in a row, and things suddenly weren't looking as good as only one week ago.

----

The final game of the Christmas rush brought Preston to Colchester, whose team were performing about as expected, above the relegation zone but never completely safe. David Walker's return to the starting eleven didn't exactly work as expected, and Simon's team played their worst football of the season in the first half. Everything went wrong: Parish almost gave a goal away with an uncharacteristic childish mistake in an easy clearance. Colchester scored twice in four minutes, the first a great goal from distance by Lee Currie, and the second a placed shot from a tight angle by Simeon Jackson. Saunders got himself sent off after foolishly picking two yellows before half time, and Walker fell to another injury, and had to be replaced before the break.

After such a disastrous performance, things could only improve in the second half, and they did, but not enough. Pollock had a great chance early that could have brought back some hope of a comeback, but Joe Anyon miraculously parried his point-blank shot and deflected it wide. Preston had more chances, but their mind seemed somewhere else, and they couldn't manage even a single goal before the referee signaled the end, sealing their 2-0 defeat.

The problems didn't stop there: Walker was diagnosed with a pulled hamstring and missed the following four weeks of training. Also, Simon's decision to fine Saunders for his stupid sending off was regarded as unfair by the defender, who openly complained about the decision. Surprisingly, other members of the squad seemed to share Saunders' reaction! Wondering how things could have gone so wrong in such a short time, Simon had to look at the league table to find some solace: despite their three consecutive defeats, Preston were 7th, tied with 6th placed Reading, but with a whole lot of teams only a few points behind. With half of the season gone, anything could still happen.

[Dalbeider]

Result Summary:

Preston North End 1 (Zak Pollock 20)

Brighton & Hove Albion 0

Carlisle United 0

Preston North End 1 (Dean Shiels 68)

Preston North End 2 (Mark Moseley 34 45+3)

Swindon Town 2 (Simon Cox 12, Michael Pook 36)

Milton Keynes Dons 1 (Dave Hudson 53)

Preston North End 0

Scunthorpe United 2 (Stuart Watson 17, Paul Hayes 80)

Preston North End 1 (Michael Adams 67)

Colchester United 2 (Lee Currie 11, Simeon Jackson 15)

Preston North End 0

MID-SEASON LEAGUE TABLE

| Pos   | Inf   | Team         |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Bradford     |       | 23    | 16    | 3     | 4     | 43    | 14    | +30   | 51    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | MK Dons      |       | 23    | 14    | 5     | 4     | 37    | 18    | +19   | 47    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Northampton  |       | 23    | 12    | 5     | 6     | 36    | 30    | +6    | 41    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Sheff Utd    |       | 23    | 12    | 4     | 7     | 40    | 33    | +7    | 40    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Luton        |       | 23    | 11    | 7     | 5     | 27    | 21    | +6    | 40    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Reading      |       | 23    | 10    | 5     | 8     | 32    | 23    | +9    | 35    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[color=Blue][b]| 7th   |       | Preston      |       | 23    | 10    | 5     | 8     | 27    | 22    | +5    | 35    |[/b][/color] 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Crewe        |       | 23    | 10    | 4     | 9     | 30    | 27    | +3    | 34    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th   |       | Carlisle     |       | 23    | 10    | 4     | 9     | 27    | 26    | +1    | 34    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th  |       | Blackpool    |       | 23    | 9     | 6     | 8     | 27    | 25    | +2    | 33    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th  |       | Scunthorpe   |       | 23    | 8     | 8     | 7     | 28    | 32    | -5    | 32    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th  |       | Plymouth     |       | 23    | 9     | 5     | 9     | 30    | 36    | -6    | 32    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th  |       | Peterborough |       | 23    | 9     | 4     | 10    | 29    | 21    | +8    | 31    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th  |       | Colchester   |       | 23    | 8     | 7     | 8     | 24    | 24    | +0    | 31    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th  |       | Southend     |       | 23    | 7     | 9     | 7     | 19    | 25    | -6    | 30    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th  |       | Grimsby      |       | 23    | 7     | 8     | 8     | 27    | 29    | -2    | 29    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th  |       | Tranmere     |       | 23    | 8     | 5     | 10    | 19    | 24    | -5    | 29    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th  |       | Exeter       |       | 23    | 7     | 7     | 9     | 20    | 27    | -7    | 28    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 19th  |       | Watford      |       | 23    | 7     | 5     | 11    | 29    | 35    | -6    | 26    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 20th  |       | Norwich      |       | 23    | 6     | 7     | 10    | 27    | 26    | +1    | 25    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 21st  |       | Swindon      |       | 23    | 6     | 6     | 11    | 19    | 31    | -12   | 24    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 22nd  |       | Brighton     |       | 23    | 5     | 5     | 13    | 25    | 35    | -10   | 20    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 23rd  |       | Rochdale     |       | 23    | 5     | 4     | 14    | 21    | 37    | -16   | 19    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 24th  |       | Cheltenham   |       | 23    | 3     | 6     | 14    | 10    | 32    | -22   | 15    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

MID-SEASON PLAYER STATS

[font=Courier New]
[u][b]GOALS[/b][/u]

David Walker   5
Adam Griggs    4
Mark Moseley   4
Zak Pollock    3
Dean Shiels    3

[u][b]ASSISTS[/b][/u]

Danny Jackman  4
Simon Hackney  4
Dimitriu Copil 3
Simon Whaley   3

[u][b]MoM AWARDS[/b][/u]

Adam Griggs    3
Mark Moseley   3
Zak Pollock    2

[u][b]RATING (10+ games played)[/b][/u]

Adam Griggs    7.29
Mark Moseley   7.29
Dimitriu Copil 7.02
Simon Whaley   7.00
Nic Saunders   6.93
David Shaw     6.90[/font][/Code]

[Dalbeider]

From the Lancashire Telegraph, published on January 12th, 2017.

Refreshed Preston improve to beat deep-frozen Blades 2-0

Graham 'absolutely delighted' with victory over promotion contenders - With Deepdale covered in snow, Sheff Utd never adapted to the harsh conditions - North End snap losing streak and set their sights on promotion playoff

"Looks like cold is good for us", Graham stated after the game ended. No one would have guessed given Preston's previous winter form. Maybe it just wasn't cold enough until now.

In the middle of one of the harshest cold waves that Lancashire has had to endure in recent decades, North End found their best level to see off Sheffield United and grab their first win in five games. With Deepdale's pitch covered in a layer of half-frozen snow, the Blades were unable to show the quality that has kept them near the top of the table so far, while Graham's boys adapted to the difficult conditions and dominated the second half on the way to an important 2-0 victory.

Simon Graham was radiating happiness in the post-game press conference. "I'm absolutely delighted with the way the team played today", Preston's manager said. "We finally found the right way in the hardest possible situation, with the world freezing around us and against one of the toughest opponents we're going to find in this league. It was great. Now let's see if we can keep this going in our next game, snow or not".

When the game started at 7:45PM, the thermometers at ground level marked -1ºC, and it did not get any hotter before the final whistle. With all twenty-two players wearing gloves (Kenyan wingback Curtis Osano also wore a wool cap), the first half was a tough time for everyone involved, and both teams had enough trouble avoiding slipping on the many small ice patches that covered the grass near the north stand to even think about playing quality football. With only one shot at goal for each side, the first forty-five minutes ended without goals.

The first minutes of the second half were similar, but Preston managed to learn the right way to play with the orange ball before the Blades did, and started controlling the game and creating real danger for Sheffield United's goal. Eddie Mearns was the first to try his luck with a long range effort, and Zak Pollock followed shortly with a quick shot on the run after receiving a long pass from Mearns itself. Chris Everitt saved both attempts, but couldn't do anything against Mark Brown's low, placed shot from just outside the box on the 68th minute, after a great dribble and pass from Michael Adams on the right wing. This was Brown's first relevant positive action for Preston in a while, after having been average to poor in the last weeks.

"That was game for us", Graham commented afterwards. "It was quite evident that United weren't comfortable at all in the pitch, and we didn't have any real problem to keep our lead in the final twenty minutes". Graham's analysis is correct: the Blades never recovered from the blow, and it was Preston who held the ball and looked for the second instead. Things became even clearer when Sheffield United's forward Kevin Smith was rightfully sent off after a completely unnecessary two-footed tackle in the middle of the pitch, with only six minutes left on the clock. Still, North End's second goal came almost by mistake - Mearns took a corner kick into the box, and after evading a few heads, the ball bounced off Moseley's left knee and into the net, only three minutes before full time.

"Yeah, that was lucky", the defender confessed at the end of the game. "I wasn't really expecting that ball to reach me through so many defenders, but it did. Guess I have a ball magnet or something in these kind of plays", Moseley concluded with a broad smile. This goal became the fifth of the season for the tall center back, all of them coming from dead-ball situations, making him an unlikely top scorer for Preston, tied with injured homegrown striker David Walker. Not every piece of news was good for Preston's manager, though: both Dimitriu Copil and Michael Adams ended the game in some pain, and will have to be reevaluated early today to see if they will be forced to rest for a while. If they do, Graham could find himself without any right winger in the senior squad, since Simon Whaley is still recovering from a pulled hamstring.

Preston's next League 1 game will bring them to Gloucestershire to play against last-placed Cheltenham next Saturday. Graham seemed wary about this match. "It's a bit of a trope, but it's true: there's no easy game, and Cheltenham won't be an exception. We've just come out of a bad slump, and we can't afford to go there all cocky thinking that they're gonna hand the game to us. Yeah, they haven't won in a while, but they're gonna break that slump some day, just as we did today. We just have to make sure that it doesn't happen against us. Hopefully we can build on today's result and performance and keep improving from here, and a win against Cheltenham it's the first step in that direction. Let's hope it's less cold down in the south, too".

----

[b][font=Courier New]Coca-Cola League 1, week 24/46[/font][/b]

[u][b][font=Courier New]PRESTON NORTH END[/font][/b][/u][font=Courier New] [u][b]SHEFFIELD UNITED[/b][/u]

[size=3] [color=Blue][b]2 0[/b][/color][/size]


GK: Elliott Parish (6.8) GK: Chris Everitt (6.7)

DR: Curtis Osano (7.5) DR: Jamie Hatch [/font][font=Courier New](6.7)
DL: Danny Jackman (7.4) [/font][font=Courier New]DL: Stephen O'Halloran (6.4)[/font][font=Courier New]
DC: Adam Griggs (7.0) [/font][font=Courier New]DC: Sam Franks (6.6)[/font][font=Courier New]
DC: [b]Mark Moseley* (7.7)[/b] [/font][font=Courier New]DC: Carl Magnay (6.6)[/font][font=Courier New]
[i]--> Min. 79, George Haslam (---)[/i][/font]
[font=Courier New]
AMR: Dimitriu Copil (6.8) MR: Timothy Pilkington (6.7)[/font][font=Courier New]
[/font][font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 61, Mark Brown (7.4) [/i][/font][font=Courier New]ML: Wade Small (6.4)[/font][font=Courier New]
AML: Simon Hackney (6.5) [/font][i][font=Courier New]--> Min. 60, Danny Joyce (6.3)[/font][/i][font=Courier New]
[/font][i][font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 61, Willie Gibson (6.8) [/i][/font][/i][font=Courier New] MC: James Pond ([/font][font=Courier New]6.8)
MC: Eddie Mearns (7.5) MC: Chris Welsh (6.6)
[/font][font=Courier New]MC: Martyn Ryan (6.8) [i]--> Min. 60, Joost Habraken (5.9)[/i][/font]
[font=Courier New]AMC: Dean Shiels (6.7)
[i]--> Min. 45, Michael Adams (7.0)[/i]

ST: Zak Pollock (5.8) ST: Theo Robinson (7.0)
ST: Kevin Smith (6.3)
[i][color=Red]--> Min. 84, Sent Off[/color]
[/i][/font][font=Courier New][i]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
Min. 68: Brown (Adams)
Min. 87: Moseley (Mearns)
[/font]

[Dalbeider]

Still tinkering with the format. The extra divisions should help making the multi-match reports a bit clearer.

----

January 12th 2017 - February 1st 2017

The medical tests performed on Dimitriu Copil and Michael Adams confirmed Simon's worst fears, since both wingers would be out for at least three full weeks, most likely four. With Whaley still a few days away from full recovery and Cheltenham's game coming on the 14th, he was forced to send his scouts in search of a short term solution for Preston's right winger position. In the meantime, reinforcements came for the left wing, something that Simon had been looking for given Hackney's lack of stamina and Gibson's poor performances so far. Michael Burke, a 21-year-old left winger playing for Tottenham Hotspur's reserve team, joined on loan until the end of the current season.

----

Burke debuted in the first eleven two days later against Cheltenham, while Shiels worked as a makeshift right winger. There was another new face in the match squad, this one coming from the reserves: Tom Elliott, a 20-year-old U21 Irish international attacking midfielder, was called upon to start in Shiels' usual place behind the striker. This time there was no snow, but lots of water: heavy rains had soaked the pitch, and running with the ball and performing any kind of ground passing was made almost impossible. In these conditions injuries were almost a given, and the first to fall were Sweeney (unsurprisingly) and poor Elliott, who only managed to play fifteen minutes in his senior debut. Hackney and Mearns came in, with Shiels returning to the center of the pitch and the veteran winger holding his own on the right.

Meanwhile, Burke was performing quite well, with good crosses towards Meredith that the tall forward kept putting anywhere but inside the goal. Cheltenham didn't do much in the first half, and the players went to the dressing room looking for a dry towel with zero goals scored. The second half was horrible, with long balls with no clear destination being the norm. Meredith wasted another chance after stealing the ball from a defender, then proceeding to blast it way over the target. It had to be another substitute, Mearns, who brought some clarity to this mess of a game with a great through ball towards Hackney, who smashed it into the top right corner to score the only goal of the game. Two minutes before the end Burke had to leave the pitch injured leaving Preston with only 10 men, but Cheltenham didn't take their chance and the 0-1 win became definitive.

Elliott and Sweeney were okay and didn't even miss any training time, but Burke marked his debut with Preston with a broken arm that kept him out of the game for almost two months. A full week without games allowed Whaley to rejoin the active squad, slightly lessening Simon's injury problems.

----

Back in Deepdale, and thankfully with that cold wave already gone, Preston's next opposition were Luton Town, who had taken the third position in the table from Sheffield United. This game marked the start of a series of four almost consecutive matchups agains promotion contenders, with only an away game at Peterborough in the middle to catch some breath. The results that Preston managed to get in these following weeks would surely mark the team's immediate future.

The first half hour of the game was controlled by Preston, although their attacking attempts bounced off Luton's sturdy defense. The visitors slowly fought the ball back, and Parish had to make use of all his reflexes to prevent Phillips from scoring. But Hammell wasted all his teammates' effort with a brutal challenge on Whaley, which earned him a well-deserved early bath. Preston quickly move on to exploit Luton's newly created weakness in their left wing, and after a great team effort, Osano crossed from the byline and Meredith dived onto the ball to score his first goal for North End. The tall forward had a chance for a second before half time, but his powerful finish rebounded on the crossbar, and Preston's lead at the break remained 1-0.

Both Whaley and Shiels had to be replaced before the restart due to, you guessed it, more injuries. Gibson and Elliott came in, and soon afterwards Mearns replaced Sweeney. With Preston controlling the game at their leisure, numbers on the field get levelled again when Hackney had to leave the game with yet another injury, with no further substitutions available. But Luton didn't seem to notice, and Simon's lads kept the ball and maintained their attacking pressure, with Jackman getting close to the second goal with a good long range effort that went narrowly wide. Yet the best was to come: Eddie Mearns, who had been performing admirably well off the bench in the last games with some key assists, brought some showtime to Deepdale by dribbling past two defenders through the middle of the pitch, then unleashing a screamer from outside the box that went straight into the top right corner of the goal. With only ten minutes remaining, Luton surrendered, and Preston sealed their third consecutive win with 2-0 as the final score.

The bad news came once again from the physio room. Shiels out for two weeks with a damaged heel was annoying, but the big one was Hackney's torn groin muscle. Such an injury would require visiting an specialist, and the estimated time for recovery was of 2-3 months. With Walker, Shiels, Hackney, Copil, Burke and Adams out and Whaley still far from perfect fitness, building a decent attacking line became a serious challenge for Simon.

----

Next up was another midweek home game, this time against Northampton Town, who had stolen the third place from Luton after their last defeat and were undefeated in their last seven games. Despite all this, Preston dominated the first half of the game almost completely, even though the visitor's defense managed to keep the ball out of their goal for a while. With Whaley and Gibson as their only wingers, and both pretty low on energy after playing only four days before, it was imperative that Preston found a way through before most of their attacking options became literally exhausted. And they did in the traditional British way: corner kicks. Adam Griggs scored two goals with two perfect headers after two great crosses (one from each side, just to add a little bit of variety) in only four minutes, tearing down Northampton's wall. Osano, Gibson and Pollock could have killed the game then and there, but Northampton's goalkeeper kept the visitors alive. Barely.

With Brown and Jackman replacing Whaley and Gibson at half time to preserve them from further injuries, Preston went on the defensive, and Griggs also shone in that department until yet another injury forced him to leave early, replaced by Saunders. Moseley took the role of defensive stalwart, and two last-ditch tackles by the center back prevented Northampton from getting even one goal back. Mearns' sending off after picking two yellows only four minutes before full time didn't change things at all, and North End held on without much trouble to their 2-0 lead until the end of the game. This victory put Preston on the 4th place, only 1 point behind 3rd (Northampton) and 3 points behind 2nd (MK Dons). The bad news were, once again, injury related, with Griggs missing the following 3-4 weeks with a calf strain.

----

On the 26th, Preston's scouts finally found the right winger that Simon had demanded: Anthony Powell, 18 years old and playing for Sheffield Wednesday, who joined on loan until the summer. He debuted with the team two days later, when Preston travelled to Cambridgeshire to play against Peterborough United, placed 15th, and one of the most irregular teams in the whole League 1. The new guy did well, managing some good runs and crosses on the right, and even enjoying a goalscoring chance or two. The first half of the game was very open, with both teams deserving to score but neither managing it in the end. Peterborough took the ball for themselves in the second half, but then appeared Elliott Parish to deny each and every one of their chances. Preston didn't manage a single shot in the whole half, and thus were quite happy with the final 0-0 draw, that brought their unbeaten run to five games, also five consecutive clean sheets for Parish. And yeah, injuries: Sweeney out for 11-13 days with a bruised thigh, his fifth injury of the season.

----

The first month of 2017 ended in a high note, with Griggs being inducted into the Team of the Week thanks to his awesome performance against Northampton, and Eddie Mearns grabbing the Goal of the Month award for his fantastic effort against Luton. Preston had managed to become promotion chasers thanks to their latest results, but there was still more than enough room for failure, and Simon feared that the many injuries in his attacking line would become his undoing. Bradford City, undisputed League 1 leaders and top promotion favourites, were next in line.

----

Result summary:

Cheltenham Town 0

Preston North End 1 (Simon Hackney 77)

Preston North End 2 (Josh Meredith 33, Eddie Mearns 80)

Luton Town 0

Preston North End 2 (Adam Griggs 23, 27)

Northampton Town 0

Peterborough United 0

Preston North End 0

[Dalbeider]

February 2nd, 2017. Early afternoon

- "We should have gone with him", Markus muttered. It was the ninth time in the last two hours. Rosie had counted them all.

Sitting by the window, with her eyes fixed on the empty street below, Rosie sighed. She agreed, they should never have let the Old Man go alone to the meeting. But he had insisted, and the had no other option than hoping for the best and waiting for his safe return.

Her report about Simon Graham's last meeting with the hooded ones that called themselves The Circle had clearly disturbed the Old Man. Not so much because of The Circle themselves: he already knew of them, and expected them to be involved in this story in one way or another. No, the really disturbing part of the report could be summarized in one word: 'Eye'. As Rosie mentioned the mysterious investors for the first time, the Old Man's eyes widened with surprise, and... maybe fear? Yeah, it did certainly look like that. And if her gut feeling was right, it was the first time in her many years with her mentor that the Old Man had shown fear.

She and Markus had been instructed to investigate this point further, but with care: they should not be detected under any circumstance. But they hadn't found much of substance, if anything at all. The name didn't even appear in those nutty websites about conspiracies, flat earths and chemtrails. After two months without results, the Old Man had opted for a new strategy.

Something moved outside the window, catching her attention again. An elderly figure turned the corner and slowly walked towards their building, advancing with some difficulty against the cold winter wind. Thank God, she thought.

- "He's back", she said aloud, as she stepped down from her watch point. The Old Man had stopped below the window and was waving at them to come down.

- "At last! God, he had me worried sick!", Markus yelled, as he stood up from the sofa to pick his coat.

No one would have guessed, Rosie said to herself with a cheeky smile. Although I was worried too. Yeah, and more than a little bit.

Both left the house a bit faster than usual. They were eager to hear the news of his meeting with The Circle.

----

- "So, we're going to help them?". Markus couldn't hide his surprise. They were sitting in a wooden bench in Preston's biggest park. It was a quiet place, and the cold wind blew on the few leaves remaining in the trees, creating a soothing ambient.

- "Precisely", the Old Man nodded. "And they're going to help us, too".

- "But why?", the strong man retorted, raising his voice. "I thought they were trying to..."

- "Sssh, Markus. People will take you for a nutjob if you keep screaming about prophecies like that in the middle of the park". The Old Man put his hand on Markus' arm, smiling broadly. "Calm down and let me finish, you'll understand everything when I'm done".

Rosie couldn't help but feel amused at the scene. She had seen it countless times already, but it never ceased to amaze her how easily someone as small and frail as the Old Man could control someone more than double his size.

- "Yeah, you're right". The Old Man put his right hand up, one finger up. "The Circle, as we suspected, are the ones behind Simon Graham's appointment as Preston's manager. And, also as we suspected", a second finger rose, "they've done this because they want the prophecy to be fulfilled. But, and this is what we've learned today", third finger up, and both Markus and Rosie seem hypnotized by the Old Man's voice, "they have a plan to prevent what this fulfillment would bring to our world. In fact, if the plan works as expected, they hope to rid the world of this threat once and for all".

- "Our job", he continued, "as you surely know already, was to prevent the fulfillment of this prophecy, in order to protect everyone from its effects. As you can see, our objectives are, in essence, the same as the Circle's. We simply have chosen a different method to do the job that has been handed to us. The Eye, on the other hand", and a fourth finger joined his three fellows, "they're an unknown agent. The Circle know little more than us about them: they're probably powerful and rich enough to be a threat, and they're helping Graham and Preston financially with their sponsorship for some reason. The Circle's suspicions, and mine too, are that this has to be related with the prophecy in one way or another".

The Old Man paused, and Rosie shook her head, as if breaking free from a feeble spell.

- "You fear that The Eye want the prophecy fulfilled in full, with all its consequences. Right?"

- "Correct", the Old Man nodded. The fifth and final finger was up, and after waving his hand vaguely for a second, he put it down. "And that's exactly why I've decided to join forces with the Circle, at least until we get some more information about what are the real objectives of The Eye".

- "Fine", Markus agreed. Rosie also nodded her agreement. "So what do we do? We go to their hidden underground base to conduct secret experiments or something?"

- "Haha, not exactly". The Old Man laughed. "No, we'll stay at home. But you two will soon have a chance to put your knowledge and skills to a better use."

- "You mean..."

- "Yeah, Rosie, that's what I mean. And if the information I've received today is right, and I have no reason to suspect otherwise, your chance is quite likely to come soon. Very soon..."

----

From TheCitizen.com, published on February 3rd, 11:35h

Richard Kelly to leave Preston in June

On a joint press conference held this morning at Deepdale, Simon Graham and Richard Kelly announced to the press and the fans that Preston's assistant manager wouldn't be extending his current contract with the club, due to expire next June. In Kelly's words, he felt it was "time to move on. I've been here for a long time, and I feel like a need further challenges in my career. I've been wanting to try my hand at being a manager, and I feel that it's the right moment to make the jump". The announcement comes only one day before Preston's crucial match agains League 1 leaders Bradford City.

Graham showed all his support to Kelly's decision. "It will be hard to miss him, he was the first face I saw here at Deepdale besides Derek Shaw's, but I understand his motives, and I wish him the best of lucks in his future endeavors". When asked about whether this move would be only the first in a thorough renovation of North End's backroom staff, given that most coaches and scouts also end their contracts this summer, Graham didn't want to commit to a definite answer. "It's too soon to talk about that, and I don't wish to unsettle my staff with talk about their future. Me and Mr Shaw will be looking at this matter once the season has ended".

[Dalbeider]

Recording date: February 4th, 2017. Starting time: 23:09:13h GMT.

Things get tougher to higher you go, they say. Truer words were never spoken. Today's game against Bradford was a full-fledged battle.

Every battle has a reason, an objective. Today's battle was a battle for promotion, an objective that everyone thought that Bradford had already on their hands, but their latest away form had taken the dream a bit further away from them. They still were the leaders, but the pack was getting closer, and they knew that the fight wasn't over yet. Not at all.

Every battle has casualties, too, and there were a lot today. I'll have to keep an eye on tomorrow's newspapers to see if any of their players will miss games, but we battered each other mercilessly, and it showed in the bruises in my player's legs, and in their moans of pain while they took the protections out. The physios have told me that everything's superficial and everyone will be cleared to participate in tomorrow's training, except David Shaw, who'll be out for two or three weeks. He's been playing really well on the left back lately, and with Jackman covering on the left winger position most of the time with Hackney out, it can prove a problem.

There's also at least a villain in every battle. A deserter. Someone who leaves his army in the worst possible moment. Saunders would be that villain today. Nah, I'm probably being a tad too harsh on him, the game was tough and there were lots of cards flying around for both sides, so someone picking two of them wasn't exactly out of the question. But it's not the first nor the second time that Nic has had discipline problems this season. Also, Griggs is still injured, which means I'll have to recall Smith from the reserves to play next Tuesday against Crewe, since I'll probably need Mason at the left. In any case, Saunders will get a fine for his sending off. Let's hope he doesn't throw a fit again...

And what would be a good old-fashioned battle without heroes? Elliott Parish didn't surprise me or anyone else with yet another great performance today. He managed to keep another clean sheet, the sixth in a row, against the top scoring team in the league by far. The defense did help, too, specially Moseley, who's shaping up as a fantastic player for us, but Parish's saves were still key today.

But there's also the unlikely heroes, the ones that come out of nowhere to save the day and bring victory to their side. And ours came from the reserve squad only a few weeks ago. Tom Elliott started for us today behind Meredith, linking midfield and attack with quality and style. And of course, he also was the one to score the only goal of the game, in the third minute. He dribbled past two defenders and placed the ball inside the net with ease. We won the battle in the end, and we're a bit closer to promotion now, and it was mostly thanks to our unlikely hero, Tom Elliott. His name shall be remembered. And this one goes for him.

(sounds of liquid pouring on glass and, presumably, ice) ...aaah, why do I always feel this philosophic after the third glass? I bet this entry will be a blast to hear when sober, hahaha.

Simon out.

Ending time: 23:16:40h GMT.

----

[b][font=Courier New]Coca-Cola League 1, week 29/46[/font][/b]

[u][b][font=Courier New]PRESTON NORTH END[/font][/b][/u][font=Courier New]                       [u][b]BRADFORD CITY

[/b][/u] [size=3]     [color=Blue][b]1                              0[/b][/color][/size]


GK: Elliott Parish (7.2)                GK: Rob Elliot (6.8)

DR: Curtis Osano (7.0)                  DR: Aaron Munday [/font][font=Courier New](7.4)
DL: David Shaw (6.7)                    [/font][font=Courier New]DL: Ben Parker (6.4)[/font][font=Courier New]
DC: Mark Moseley (6.9)                  [/font][font=Courier New]DC: Tommy Elphick (6.7)[/font][font=Courier New]
DC: Nic Saunders (6.8)                  [/font][font=Courier New]DC: Laton Wint (7.4)[/font][font=Courier New]
[i][color=Red]--> Min. 56, Sent Off[/color][/i][/font]
[font=Courier New] 
AMR: Simon Whaley (6.9)                 MR: Aaron Doran (6.9)[/font]
[font=Courier New]AML: Willie Gibson (6.8)                [/font][font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 70, Craig Fagan (6.4)[/i][/font][font=Courier New]
[/font][i][font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 45, Danny Jackman (7.1)[/i][/font][/i][font=Courier New]        ML: Daniel Galbraith (6.5)[/font][font=Courier New]
MC: Eddie Mearns (6.8)[/font][font=Courier New][i]                  --> Min. 70, Aiden Palmer (6.7)[/i][/font][font=Courier New]
[/font][i][font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 57, Martyn Ryan (6.8)[/i][/font][/i][font=Courier New]          MC: Rhyss Devlin (6.9)
[/font][font=Courier New]MC: Mark Brown (6.9)                    [i]--> Min. 82, Reece Jones (---)[/i][/font]
[font=Courier New][i]--> Min. 45, Anthony Powell (6.8)       [/i]MC: Oliver Lee (7.2)
[/font][font=Courier New]AMC: [b]Tom Elliott* (7.6)[/b][/font]
[font=Courier New] 
ST: Josh Meredith (6.8)                 ST: Lewis Grabban (6.7)
                                       ST: Danny Keen (6.7)
[/font][font=Courier New][i]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/i]
Min. 3: Elliott (Brown)
[/font]

[Dalbeider]

February 7th 2017 - February 18th 2017

With most of the squad still recovering from what the press dubbed as "the Battle of Deepdale" against Bradford, Simon had to prepare his players for a game that four weeks before looked like another season decider, the fourth match against promotion contenders in a row. But Crewe Alexandra, who had been comfortably lodged in the playoff zone, had managed to chain four straight games without winning, and this bad form had brought them down to the 10th position. Preston were battered and energy was in an all-time low, but they hoped that their fantastic run would continue.

The game was another tough affair, with Crewe dominating most of the first half and Parish performing his now-usual heroics at goal, saving two clear-cut chances coming from a header by Barnard and a point-blank shot by Mensing. Preston's chances came from a counterattack well led by Osano and badly finished by Pollock, and from a weird mess inside Crewe's box that ended with the ball bouncing on top of the crossbar before going over and out. The score remained unchanged at the end of the first forty-five minutes, though.

Tom Elliott was making the most of his recent run on the first team, and only three days after becoming the hero of the win against Bradford, a great through ball sent between Crewe's center backs by the Irish youngster found Zak Pollock on the run, and the loanee didn't miss this time, placing it out of Mann's reach and into the net for the opener. From then on, Preston did what they'd been doing for the previous weeks: flawless defending. Crewe had a pair of chances, but Barnard was denied by another great save by Parish, and Vincent sent a diving header wide when half of the Alexandra Stadium was already celebrating the draw. The 0-1 result stood, and Preston extended their unbeaten and clean sheet runs for another game.

----

The win put North End in a great position to face the final third of the season: fourth in the table, with the second position only three points away, and five points above the seventh. No one could have guessed back in June, when a then unknown Simon Graham took charge, that Preston would be completely safe from relegation and with a realistic chance of promoting back into the Championship by the beginning of February. Attendances at Deepdale were slowly but steadily rising, as the fans started to believe that yeah, this could be their year after all. And so, with back-to-back home games against Rochdale and Tranmere Rovers coming next, the stands looked better than ever in the last two or three years. Hope was reborn.

| Pos   | Inf   | Team         |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Bradford     |       | 30    | 20    | 3     | 7     | 58    | 20    | +38   | 63    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Northampton  |       | 30    | 17    | 6     | 7     | 46    | 34    | +12   | 57    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | MK Dons      |       | 30    | 17    | 5     | 8     | 44    | 27    | +17   | 56    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[color=Blue][b]| 4th   |       | Preston      |       | 30    | 16    | 6     | 8     | 36    | 22    | +14   | 54    | [/b][/color]
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Reading      |       | 30    | 15    | 6     | 9     | 40    | 25    | +15   | 51    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Luton        |       | 30    | 14    | 9     | 7     | 37    | 34    | +3    | 51    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Sheff Utd    |       | 30    | 14    | 7     | 9     | 50    | 42    | +8    | 49    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Blackpool    |       | 30    | 13    | 8     | 9     | 41    | 36    | +5    | 47    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

----

Rochdale were battling relegation with all their strength, but still not quite managing to escape from the drop zone, and found themselves stuck at the 23rd position. This, coupled with their great form, made Preston's fans, players and, probably, coaching staff think that this should be an easy game. But it wasn't, not by a long stretch. Rochdale defended really well, apparently taking lessons from their opposition about how to keep your keeper out of trouble. The first half was boring, with North End's only decent chance coming from a corner kick and ending with reserve defender Scott Smith heading it over the bar.

Elliott was brought in in the second half, and his presence gave Preston's midfield a new burst of energy. Still, the young attacking midfielder couldn't perform another miracle, and the game dragged on with Walker missing a sitter in front of Rochdale's goalkeeper. Maybe to compensate for the boring game, the last five minutes of the match were frantic, as Rochdale's defensive wall suddenly fell down almost on its own. A corner kick reached Walker's head on the far post, and the striker, from a very tight angle, nodded it back towards the near post. The ball went over the keeper and two defenders who didn't even try to reach it, and reached Scott Smith, who only had to extend his right foot to put the ball inside the goal. With only three minutes remaining, Rochdale desperately threw themselves on the attack, but a counterattack well into injury time ended with a controversial penalty kick being given to Preston after Elliott fell inside Rochdale's box. Shiels converted, and Preston grabbed an unexpectedly difficult 2-0 win in an ugly but effective way.

----

One week later, Tranmere Rovers came to Deepdale. The Rovers were playing below expectations, and instead of fighting for promotion they were languishing in the middle of the table. Still, they had more than enough quality to put Preston into deep trouble, and that's exactly what they did in the first half, with a great midfield performance that saw them keeping the ball for most of the time and keeping Preston away from their goal. Their first real chance turned out to be the good one, as Dale Andrews flew above the defenders to head a perfect cross from the right into the net, breaking Parish's clean sheet run after eight games and twenty-five minutes, and putting Tranmere ahead in the score. Preston were surely missing Mark Moseley in the center of their defense, as the center back had been suspended after picking five yellow cards. The Griggs-Saunders pair didn't look as solid. Mark Brown was the only Preston player to create some danger, but his two finishes ended in the keeper's hands and bouncing off the crossbar. Preston found themselves behind at half time for the first time in many, many weeks.

The second half starts with Tranmere still commanding the flow of the ball, and Parish has to perform again to keep Preston from falling two goals behind. Simon quickly brings new pieces into the board, reworking his offensive line with Meredith up front and Copil and Mearns creating behind him. The fans roar, the tide turns, and North End lay siege to Ryan's goal, but even though they create many goalscoring chances, none goes in thanks to Ryan's saves or some poor finishing. Sweeney, Copil and Meredith miss once and again, and the match quickly reaches the final ten minutes with Preston still trailing. But what couldn't be won on the grass was won on the air. Josh Meredith headed a corner kick taken by Shiels to draw the game. The goal gave Preston a burst of energy, and Tranmere felt suddenly intimidated, and instead of trying to regain their advantage, they found themselves trapped inside their own box. Whaley had a close-range finish saved by Ryan, but on the following corner kick Adam Griggs repeats Meredith's previous movement and scores the 2-1. With the visitors shellshocked at having lost a game that they probably had deserved to win, Preston went on to celebrate with their fans their ninth consecutive unbeaten match, a fantastic feat.

----

Recording date: February 18th, 2017. Starting time: 19:42:24h GMT.

Another win, but this time we got lucky. Tranmere had us against the ropes for most of the game, and I'm just glad that we have a couple of really tall guys in the team to take care of the corner kicks. Moseley and Griggs surely must have won us quite a few points by now.

Still, nine games unbeaten and now we're only two points behind Dons and one behind Northampton. If we can keep this up we could even challenge for direct promotion. But... I don't know. These last two games have left me a bit uneasy. We're winning, but we're not playing as well as we did just two weeks ago. Even the fans notice it, I could hear a few confused murmurs coming from the stands today. Maybe the guys are tired, maybe it's the aftermath of that beast of a game against Bradford, maybe it's overconfidence, or maybe it's a bit of everything... I don't really know. And that's what scares me.

Next stop: Reading. Let me check the table... (pause) Yep, sixth. Gonna be tough. I'll ask Richard to find me some videos to watch on Monday. I have a feeling that this game will be decisive. And I'm not confident. At all.

Simon out.

Ending time: 19:45:01h GMT.

----

Result summary:

Crewe Alexandra 0

Preston North End 1 (Zak Pollock 53)

Preston North End 2 (Scott Smith 87, Dean Shiels pen 90+5)

Rochdale 0

Preston North End 2 (Josh Meredith 81, Adam Griggs 84)

Tranmere Rovers 1 (Dale Andrews 25)

[Dalbeider]

Slow day at work, for a change. I might as well make up for last week with another update.

----

February 19th 2017 - March 4th 2017

Simon's gut feeling that something was amiss was right. The next week brought Preston to the headlines for various reasons. The first time it was for good, since Dean Shiels had been selected in the Coca-Cola League 1 Team of the Week after his good performance against Tranmere, and following a productive stream of games in the last weeks, adding both goals and assists to help Preston get closer and closer to the top of the league. The second came the same day, and well, let's just say that the reason wasn't as positive for Simon's side.

----

From Sky Sports News, published on February 20th, 2017.

Nic Saunders on his way out of Deepdale

Simon Graham, Preston North End manager since last June, is reportedly willng to offload center back Nic Saunders at the first opportunity, according to SSN sources. Graham, who already had a near-fallout with Saunders back in November, supposedly after an internal fine after his sending off in Preston's 2-0 defeat against Colchester United, has apparently had enough of the player's lack of discipline both on and off the pitch. The straws that broke the proverbial camel's back were what our sources call "personal problems", which seem to be behind Saunders' recent decline in his defensive performances. With Hibernian interested in the defender, a deal may be worked out soon to allow Saunders to leave Deepdale as soon as the transfer window reopens next July.

----

From The Lanscashire Telegraph, published on February 21st, 2017.

Graham denies wanting Saunders out

On a surprise press conference held today at Deepdale, Preston's manager Simon Graham has enfatically denied wanting to sell young center back Nic Saunders as soon as possible, after yesterday's reports suggesting this coming from sources such as Sky Sports. Graham called this reports "the usual SSN thing, you know, that brownish stuff that comes from bovines, smells bad and rhymes with 'trap'", and reminded everyone that Saunders was a member of the first team squad and would remain as such for the rest of the season. He refused to comment on Saunders' reported personal problems, and asked anyone interested to "ask Nic directly. If he's willing to talk about his private life, he'll do so. I won't". Saunders' perfomances have taken a small dip lately and he's found himself more often than not relegated to the bench, with Moseley and Griggs consolidating themselves as the starting pair at the center of North End's defense.

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Recording date: February 21st, 2017. Starting time: 13:25:19h GMT.

Yeah, ok. I lied like a bastard today. SSN didn't get everything right (do they ever?), but yes, Saunders is leaving this summer if I have a choice about it. He's just not performing, and whenever I play him it's always fearing whatever reckless thing he will do that day. And those "personal problems"... yeah, sounds about right. I don't know the details, nor care about them, but there's something in his mind that doesn't let him concentrate on the job at hand. He's absent-minded in training, and Richard has had to call him on it a few times already.

The only thing SSN didn't get right is that I'm not going to sell him now. I can't afford to have my third best center back on his way out now, I'm probably going to need him more than once before the end, and even though he wouldn't really leave until July, his head wouldn't be here anymore. Not that it would make that big of a difference, but oh well. Once the season is over I'll talk with him and tell him how things are, but not before. Hibernian can wait.

Ending time: 13:28:59h GMT

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I guess you get the picture: not exactly the best environment to prepare to a difficult trip to Reading, with promotion chances for both teams at stake. When the day came, things went on more or less as anyone would expect: with Saunders on the bench looking rather uninterested in the match being played in front of him, and with the Royals dominating the first half from start to finish, holding the ball, moving it around with skill, and creating goalscoring chances. Only Elliott Parish's fantastic form allowed Preston to come alive of the first forty-five minutes. Preston's only chances come from counterattacks, and only Shiels gets close to scoring after a cross by Osano, but the ball flies high above the bar. In all fairness, it would have been a totally undeserved goal, given both teams' performance so far.

Things changed quickly in the second half, but not in the way that Simon would have wanted. A cross from the right by Dickinson just five minutes after the restart gave Mark McCulloch the chance to open the score with a good header, and the forward didn't disappoint the fans. There was nothing Parish could have done, neither then nor eight minutes later, when a similar cross performed this time by Smith was finished by an unmarked Jonathan Franks with a placed shot. Preston reacted then, but even though Copil and Griggs had two decent chances to get one goal back, neither scored, and the final result of 2-0 was a fair representation of Reading's domination over Preston.

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With their unbeaten run finally snapped in half, bad news started piling on Simon's desk. First, Dimitriu Copil's gashed leg, that kept him out of contention for the following three weeks. Second, a short interview with Nic Saunders published in thecitizen.com, in which the defender defined himself as "not exactly happy right now", although confident in that his manager would "look past his previous performances and trust him to do the best possible job on the field". Lastly, the news that Simon had probably just missed out on his first Manager of the Month award, with Preston's defeat against Reading relegating him to the third place. Suddenly, everything was going against him.

To make things worse, Preston faced their second away match in a row against a known enemy: Plymouth Argyle had kicked North End out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy with a resounding 3-0 win at Home Park. The Pilgrims were 11th then, but memories of their cup exit still haunted most Preston's fans, and everyone was quite wary before the game. Ton Vonk, Argyle's Dutch striker, made sure to keep that fear in their hearts with some early good chances that force Parish to start his usual show a bit early. But things took a somewhat unexpected turn when veteran right winger Simon Whaley, whose performances had dropped into the 'average' zone after a fantastic start of the season, brought out the best of his repertoire with a quick run down the right flank, culminated with a fantastic dribble past two defenders and goalkeeper Jean Luc Riviere, allowing him to score the opener with an easy tap past the goal line. The goal shocked Plymouth, and Moseley had two chances to double the lead with two headers after two corner kicks, but the first went high and the second hit the crossbar. Another chance for Vonk closed the first half, but his finish ended up going wide, and Preston kept themselves ahead at the break.

Preston looked for the second in the first minutes of the second half, with Burke missing an easy header and Riviere stopping another, this time by Meredith. Plymouth looked defeated, and only Vonk kept trying, his best chance coming after an uncharacteristic bad clearance by Parish, who managed to correct his own mistake with a fantastic save. But Ton Vonk wouldn't leave the stadium without scoring at least once, and with only five minutes the striker received a nice through ball from the midfield and finally managed to beat Parish on the one-on-one, bringing the draw back to the scoreboard. Ghosts of both recent and not-so-recent past haunted Preston's fans for a moment, but the players had other plans. Simon Whaley crowned his best game in the last months with a low cross from the right that went past most of Plymouth's defenders before reaching Tom Elliott, who waited unmarked near the far post to simply tap it in and give Preston the lead again just before injury time. Argyle were left without time to react, and Simon and his boys went back home with a 1-2 victory and the three points in their pocket. The crisis had been averted.

Or so it seemed.

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Result summary:

Reading 2 (Mark McCulloch 50, Jonathan Franks 58)

Preston North End 0

Plymouth Argyle 1 (Ton Vonk 85)

Preston North End 2 (Simon Whaley 24, Tom Elliott 90)

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| Pos   | Inf   | Team         |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Bradford     |       | 34    | 23    | 3     | 8     | 69    | 22    | +47   | 72    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | MK Dons      |       | 34    | 21    | 5     | 8     | 51    | 27    | +24   | 68    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Northampton  |       | 34    | 19    | 7     | 8     | 57    | 43    | +14   | 64    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[color=Blue][b]| 4th   |       | Preston      |       | 34    | 19    | 6     | 9     | 42    | 26    | +16   | 63    | [/b][/color]
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Reading      |       | 34    | 18    | 6     | 10    | 46    | 28    | +18   | 60    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Carlisle     |       | 34    | 16    | 7     | 11    | 45    | 34    | +11   | 55    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Sheff Utd    |       | 34    | 16    | 7     | 11    | 60    | 52    | +8    | 55    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Blackpool    |       | 34    | 15    | 9     | 10    | 47    | 40    | +7    | 54    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|