Preston North End 2007-08 Season

15th in the Championship
League Cup: 1st round, Morecambe h. 1-2
FA Cup: 5th round, Portsmouth h. 0-1

Highlight:
3-2 win at Burnley, 15/12/07

Low Spot:
1-2 defeat at home to Morecambe in the League Cup 1st round, 14/8/07

Good:
Sean St.Ledger
Quick, eager centre half who never gives his man a moments peace and is more than comfortable on the ball.
Billy Jones
Faced a tough task replacing Graham Alexander at full back but was certainly a success. Although nowhere near as cultured as his predecessor Jones is okay coming forward and is a more solid defender.

Bad:
Lewis Neal
Something of a headless chicken he somehow earned a one year extension on his contract from his handful of appearances but needs to show a massive improvement if he is to make an impact at this level.
Karl Hawley
The entire North End squad of forwards struggled all season buit if I was pushed to choose the worst then Hawley just about gets the vote.

In Brief:
North End suffered a miserable second half of the previous season to miss out on the play offs and they carried that woeful form into the 2007-08 campaign. They won only three of the first nineteen games, manager Paul Simpson being sacked as a result, and were bottom of the table on New Years Day after three straight defeats.
Four good home wins pointed the way towards survival and when sixteen points out of a possible eighteen were claimed in March Alan Irvine had accomplished his first mission with the club.
A solid defence offers hope for the future but there was little to get excited about further forward and that will need to be addressed if the club are to avoid another struggle next time around.