displaced_seagull

I'm still thinking it over, should be done in the next couple of days.

After a quiet Sunday, Fairway was on the road again on Monday afternoon, to watch the Under 23's in a game as far removed from Saturday's dirge as possible - Wigan also playing their part in a game which finished 3-3, with Stephy Mavididi, Ross Soutar and Graham Hargreaves scoring for North End. With Alan Browne returning to full training after coming through a good hour on Saturday, Fairway had no new injury concerns, with only Dan Crowley absent, when he chose the side on Tuesday to make the long journey down to Sussex for the League Cup tie against Crawley Town . After consultation with the coaching staff, he would make changes, with Travis Bartholomew, Tom Coughlan and Brian Bell making the starting lineup for the game, with Daniel Johnson, Marnick Vermijl and Tom Clarke all rested.

Fairway reported himself pleased with the performance at Wednesday morning's press call - some questions about the game inevitable, despite the main reason for calling the conference, to announce the investment in new training facilities. Fairway would also praise his Chairman's foresight in giving the go-ahead for the new developments, claiming that the new training facilities, along with the rapidly progressing improvements to the youth facilities, would 'set North End up for a generation'. Whilst the news that the club would be covering the costs of Jason Cowan's UEFA A License course would also back this up, there was also a pang of regret on Thursday, when Fairway learnt that Scott Maxwell , the young striker he had turned down the chance to sign for £2.4 Million, had gone to Stoke City for the same fee, on the same day as Liverpool sold another of Preston's targets, Trent Alexander-Arnold to Bristol City for £1.6 Million. Whilst the developments would help Preston to develop their own stars in the future, Fairway also had to be concerned about the present, and with his own contract up at the end of the season, knew that all of the hard work would be for nothing if he could not guide Preston to - at least - safety in The Championship. He left the team selection to Saturday morning, meaning that Marvin Emnes would travel but would be disappointed, as on arrival at Ipswich Town a fitness test confirmed Alan Browne would be fit enough to be involved, with Tom Coughlan dropping back down to the bench.

An unexpected visitor commiserated with Fairway after the game, as Paul Huntingdon travelled back to Preston with the squad, having flown into London's Stansted Airport in time for kickoff. Huntington's career in the MLS had not gone as well as he had hoped - an injury sustained shortly after arriving in the States resulted in him being, despite his transfer fee, cut from the D.C United squad before the commencement of the League season, and, after just a handful of friendly games, he was reduced to helping coaching the younger players. Now back in England, and knowing Fairway had an Under 18 Coaching position to fill, Huntingdon had made himself available, and was only too happy to sit down and discuss terms on a contract. Though he had been unable to split himself in two in order to attend the opening Under 18 game of the season, Fairway did travel down with Duncan Shearer in order to watch the Under 23's on Monday afternoon, leaving Mark Morrison to run training ahead of Tuesday night's visit of local rivals Blackburn Rovers . Unfortunately for both manager and players, he would witness a defeat, Preston going down 3-1 despite Ross Soutar's goal against Nottingham Forest . When Fairway returned to Springfields on Tuesday morning, he was greeted by a delighted Huntingdon as well as Chairman Andy Lamb , who had popped in to check on progress with the new youth facilities, still very much on track for their November completion. Lamb was also - before he signed off Paul Huntingdon's contract - able to reveal that he had just approved plans for a similar upgrade to the Senior training facilities, with building work set to start in the summer on a new £3.7 Million development after planning permission had been granted, with a new canteen, upgraded equipment all round, a new medical suite and - most importantly of all in Fairway's eyes - state of the art artificial surfaces on three of the most heavily used pitches to enable training to take place continually without having to rotate between different areas of the complex. Lamb's news would be the perfect end to the afternoon for Fairway, ahead of the local derby in the evening - an unchanged side named for the visit of the side sitting just behind Preston in fifth position in the early league table.

The injury to Alan Browne would be diagnosed as just a twisted knee after initial swelling had gone down, with the medical team ruling the midfielder out for around ten days. Fairway worked on alternatives the next day, whilst the playing staff enjoyed a rest day, and would also reject a loan bid from Crawley Town - coincidentally Preston's Second Round opponents in the League Cup - for Ross Soutar . The following day there would be loan interest in another of his players, Adam Smith , with the bid again rejected, before the players and staff left for the overnight trip to Essex ahead of Saturday's game. On arrival at the Weston Homes Stadium, Fairway was pleased to receive a call from Marvin Andrews , who had taken the Under 18's up to Carlisle for their League opener, with Alex Lane scoring twice for the youngsters, fully justifying Andrews' pleas for him to be made available. With Soutar and Graham Hargreaves called into the squad, the midfield dilemma would be solved by shifting Daniel Johnson into the deeper role and handing Tuesday's goalscorer, Coughlan , a first start alongside Nicky Hughes .

Whilst thoughts of Preston supporters were still with their - slightly fortuitous - opening day victory on Sunday morning, Stuart Fairway was, at last, getting his man. Left wing back Rico Henry had become available earlier in the summer, and though the fee for a permanent deal was too high for Fairway's liking - at this point in time at least - a season-long loan deal with an option to make the move permanent was certainly agreeable to him. Fortunately Bristol City agreed, and after appearing for The Robins in their League opener, Henry made his way northwards to put pen to paper on the deal. He would not be Fairway's only signing, as suddenly, deals which had dragged on throughout the last week of preseason came through - Henry just one of three unveiled at a Monday morning press conference, with Travis Bartholomew , an eighteen year old right wing back from Charlton Athletic (£300,000) and Tom Coughlan , a 20 year old midfielder from Cork City (£100,000) joining Fairway, Lamb and Henry behind a packed top table. Coughlan, despite his tender years, already had just over 100 league appearances to his name, both with Cork and University College Dublin , whilst the Trinidadian-born Bartholomew had just nine Chartlon appearances to his name, having broken into the Addicks side at the tail end of last season. The two though had been long-term targets for Fairway, and with the preseason injury to Dan Crowley , adding another midfielder became a higher priority. The signings would reduce Fairway's transfer budget to just over £450,000, meaning that, whilst two who had been on his summer shortlist, St Johnstone striker Scott Maxwell and Liverpool's versatile Trent Alexander-Arnold attracted offers on Tuesday, Preston would be in no position to match the bids. Fairway briefly considered petitioning Lamb for extra funds, but decided against, content with his £3 million spend. A light session on Wednesday ahead of the trip to North Yorkshire saw Rico Henry and fellow new signing Tom Coughlan named in the squad in one of two changes, with Adam Smith and Marvin Emnes not joining the party for the League Cup game against Harrogate Town .

With Preseason done and dusted - and, after the saga of the summer finally reached a conclusion, Arsenal appointed Luis Enrique as manager, there would now be just a few short days to go before the commencement of the 2021/22 Football League season. Fairway expected a busy time, and got it, with his Sunday interrupted by a phone call from Neil Aspin of League Two Gateshead , asking for permission to take winger Richard Macrae on loan for the season. Fairway agreed with the move, with the 20 year old not having figured in his preseason plans, and off the back of a successful spell at lower level AFC Fylde last season, felt it would be a good step up for the diminutive player yet to make his first team debut. Another of the formalities would take place on Tuesday morning, with Tom Clarke confirmed as Captain for the season, and Johnny Burn stepping up to the plate in place of Cunningham as the newly appointed Vice Captain. Macrae would make his move the following day, heading eastwards to the International Stadium, but it would not be all positive for Fairway, with news of yet another rejection from yet another left sided defender casting something of a shadow over final preperations. With no other options, he would be forced to advise a delighted Adam Smith that, eleven days before his 20th birthday, he would be making his first appearance in a Preston shirt some three years after joining the club from Chester . Smith had worked hard in preseason, and deserved his chance, but Fairway was still keen to add to the squad, although a chat with Andy Lamb revealed that the £1.7 million in his transfer budget would have to do for now, with no room - unless further players were sold - to add to it. Fairway brushed off the newspaper predictions in his press conference on Friday afternoon, reusing a line he had used on his appointment, stating that he believed "Preston have what it takes to stay up". Only time would tell if he would be proved correct.

On Wednesday morning Fairway spoke to teenage defender Marvin Buchanan after agreeing for a request from Gainsborough Trinity to send the youngster on loan to the Northolme Stadium for six months. It would though not be the big news of the day, as just after lunch, Fairway shook hands with Steve Michaelis on an initial £650,000 deal to bring the Australian international to Deepdale. He considered it a bargain, with the 21 year old having scored four goals in seven international caps for Australia, including a brace in their most recent game, a friendly against Uzbekistan . Michaelis' impressive domestic record - 15 goals in 31 games for Brisbane Roar in the A League had also been a factor in his acquisition, with Fairway telling a surprisingly sparsely-attended press conference that he hoped Michealis' could continue his fine form now he had moved to England.

With Dan Crowley ruled out for two months, Fairway felt his preseason preparations had taken one step forward and two back on Wednesday morning as he sat with Alistair Lishman and Mark Morrison to pick through the bones of the 2-0 victory. The gut feeling amongst the pair was that the performance was OK - somewhat underwhelming, given Preston's statistical dominance, with a concern that whilst chances were being created, they were not being taken. Training resumed on Thursday, and with no game at the weekend the coaches took the opportunity to up the intensity with the season rapidly approaching. Fairway took something of a back seat, instead concentrating on transfers, and was very disappointed to take a call on Friday morning advising that Louis Campion had turned down the loan approach, claiming that he did not want to move away from London. New scout Nigel Keady was also in touch, filing his report on a left wingback who Fairway had targeted - but the fee, at £2.5 Million, would not only smash Preston's transfer record, but also end any chance of adding further to the squad over the summer, meaning that, although a real talent, the player would have to go onto the back burner for the time being. Final reports though had been recieved on another player, with an offer made. Fairway found himself the target of some unwanted speculation over the weekend, laughing off rumours linking him with a move to Queens Park Rangers , but after a quiet enough weekend was able to welcome back Daniel Johnson following his summer in the USA, as Jamaica saw their Gold Cup dreams ended at the final hurdle by El Tri , as Mexico saw off the Caribbean nation 4-2 in New Orleans. Johnson, after a very hectic summer which also saw him help Jamaica to the little-known Carribbean Championship , and appear in two qualifying games for China 2022 , understandably reported back a little fatigued, but the coaching staff felt that, with a few days rest, he would be able to be considered for the first game of the new campaign, if not Saturday's friendly against Southport . It was a player from the other side of the globe however who was uppermost in Fairway's thoughts on Tuesday morning, and whilst the majority of the squad just had a light session ahead of the short trip to Chorley , Australian international striker Steve Michaelis arrived after firstly an intercontinental flight to London, and then a shorter connecting one to Manchester. It was no wonder the 21 year old looked a little drained by the time he arrived, but perked up having been shown around Deepdale, and, after discussions, personal terms were quickly offered.

As he reflected on the defeat, Fairway learnt of a change to the preseason programme, with the game against Newport County at Deepdale cancelled by the visitors due to a plethora of preseason injuries. He decided against sandwiching a replacement game in between the trips to Bamber Bridge and Chorley , instead leaving just the visit of Southport on the 31st of July as Preston's final warmup game. Sunday's big news came from London, where, as Tottenham were putting the final touches on a £19.5 Million signing, Sporting Lisbon fullback Jonathan Silva , across town their rivals Chelsea were making plans for life without Victor Lindelöf , as the Swedish defender moved on to Barcelona for an enormous £62 Million. For Preston though there would be two pieces of good news - with Johnny Burn passed as fit to return to training on Monday ahead of the trip to Bamber Bridge, and, equally as importantly, a name finally emerging for the vacant left wingback slot that came without the complications of work permits. Fairway had spent much of his summer chasing left wingbacks from all over Europe - and beyond - and when a work permit for Tobias Badila , a Democratic Republic of Congo international was turned down on Monday morning, he made his move - and broke the habit of a lifetime, or at least a managerial career, by making a loan bid for Tottenham Hotspur's England Under 21 international Louis Campion , who had appeared against his club in the final game of the 2020/21 season for Millwall . Whilst the offer - at 50% of Campion's wages - was quickly accepted, and the youngster weighed up the move, Fairway told Burn that he would get at least a half on Tuesday night, down the road at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium , home of Bamber Bridge.

Thanks, glad you are enjoying it - I've always been drawn to 'fallen giants', so when the Preston job came up, I couldn't resist applying Typically I haven't been able to play Blackpool yet! I did look for them when it came to arranging friendlies, but they weren't interested unfortunately.

A rather subdued performance from Daniel Mbolloma , combined with his work permit problems meant that the young Macedonian would not be earning a contract, and, with the scouts having other options waiting in the wings, he would leave Deepdale on Monday morning with his trial spell ending early. Fairway was delighted to be able to welcome a permanent addition to the squad the same morning, as Ross Soutar finally made up his mind to link up with his old manager again, putting pen to paper on the £100,000 move from Inverness Caledonian Thistle . The manager was determined that Soutar's arrival would not be the only one over the course of the week, with the glamour friendly against Glasgow Rangers approaching on Saturday, and left training to the coaching staff whilst he and Morrison plotted the future over the first couple of days of the week. By late on Tuesday, they not only identified a target, but had seen an offer accepted. In fact, by the time the news was out, personal terms had been agreed, and Rico Vanzie was in discussions with his agent as to if he would be accepting the move to Lancashire, with the Twittersphere ablaze with Preston and Middlesbrough supporters alike trading opinions on Vanzie's ability. Fairway however was pleased with the striker - first spotted by the scouting team last season when he scored 13 in 30 games on loan at Dundee United , although it was clear from the reports that his main strengths lie not in the scoring of goals, but the creating of them. Fairway had not been overly happy with anyone he tried last season in the deeper laying of the two forward roles in the 5-3-2 - Emnes and Windass both maddeningly inconsistent, leading to the latter's departure, and the quicker strikers, loanee Davis and Stephy Mavididi somewhat wasted . As well as a left wing back, a player to fill the role had been one of the prime targets, and now he would have that man. By Friday morning Andy Lamb had authorised the transfer of the funds - £1.3 Million initially, with the potential for the fee to be a little higher with add-ons, rising to a maximum of £1.4 million. Fairway was reasonably pleased with the fee, though it was a little higher than he initially wanted to pay, and was frustrated that Vanzie's agent, the redoubtable Jack Grant , who he had previously dealt with when arranging the signings of Cameron Dawson and Johnny Burn , had insisted on a £3.2 Million release clause for higher division sides. Vanzie's arrival was announced via a Friday morning Press Conference ahead of the game against Glasgow Rangers , which came too soon for Johnny Burn and Stephy Mavididi , though fellow new striker Ross Soutar would be included in the squad.

Mballoma's performance had indeed been a revelation, and Foulds too showed some good touches. The latter, however would be a non-starter - when Fairway approached the 23 year old on Wednesday morning, the penultimate day in Portugal, he was informed that the former Everton man wanted a guarantee of first team football, which Preston were not prepared to give. Fairway gave him permission to leave the camp early, with Charlton Athletic having joined Chesterfield as potential suitors. After another days rest and relaxation, a reluctant group of players and officials boarded the plane for the relatively short flight back to England on Thursday morning. Daniel Mballoma would be amongst them as he continued his bid to earn a contract, but the better news, in Fairway's opinion, was that Stephy Mavididi had been considered fit enough to join in with some light work on the final day, fully justifying the gamble of taking the previously injured forward with the squad to Portugal. Upon their return to England, Fairway sat down with Mark Morrison for a debrief. The pair had enjoyed the time abroad, and felt that it was a very worthwhile exercise, with the manager quick to thank Andy Lamb for his foresight in arranging the training camp. Lamb smiled, before revealing further good news - that the board had agreed to give Fairway the freedom of the globe with regard to scouting, no longer just restricting him to Europe. Preston's summer, after a shaky start, was so far going very, very well.

The site appears to be called 'Hop Oast' though 'Worthing Road' also comes up in news reports!

Speaking with Fairway and Morrison after the game over a couple of very enjoyable bottles of Sagres , Head Data Analyst Alistair Lishman[/i] was able to reveal that the game's three goals were the only shots on target all evening - both sides playing at a somewhat leisurely pace in searing heat. As the trio went through the game, two names stood out for all as impressive - debutant Bowles and teenage prospect Lane , who put himself about well and linked up play in the 'Number 10' role. Trialist Foulds did his prospects little harm defensively, but offered little going forward, which would be a concern in the longer term. With a couple of days before the final game, the management team were pleased to welcome a second trialist, Macedonian international Daniel Mballoma , who had agreed to link up with Preston for a couple of weeks and had offered to pay his own way to Portugal. The attitude instantly endeared him to the manager, although there were concerns that the striker, capped four times by his country, would struggle to gain a work permit for a permanent switch. After Sunday's much welcomed rest day, with just some light work on the beach followed by the chance for the players and coaches to relax, Monday began with the unwelcome news that Chesterfield had made an approach to Matty Foulds , although the trialist seemed content to stay in Portugal for at least the final match, against local amateur side Lagoa on Tuesday evening. Marvin Emnes joined the unavailabilities for the game, with a damaged heel, although Jonathan Mooney had sufficiently recovered from his stomach bug to be involved.