Ayoop ... trouble at t'mill

Last updated : 17 August 2005 By Ribble

Beaten by a single West Ham goal in Cardiff last season, North End could so easily have been playing this year against Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. Yet the Mighty Whites were soundly beaten on Saturday, at home 0-3 by Reading.

Rather than plotting and scheming to overcome the fearsome threats posed by Brighton and Stoke, this same team could be en route for Stamford Bridge or a clash of the Titans with David Moyes at Everton.

Makes you think, don’t it ?

Well, not quite the same team. Departure for Leeds of the combative Eddie Lewis from Preston’s left flank has presented a problem which the close-season signings have failed to address, and supporters are at a loss to understand why players who performed so well last year to take Preston to the playoff Final are now being asked to play in different positions in a different formation. Indeed there were some at the Reading game who wondered if they had somehow been transported back in time to the era of the widely unlamented Craig Brown.

To the impartial observer it may seem odd that North End’s ever-present top-scoring striker seems to lack the heading ability normally associated with one who plays in his position, though this may be part of the plan since, with no dedicated wingers on parade, the crosses are likely to be few. The remedy then - to introduce Danny Dichio to feast upon those non-existent crosses - was also puzzling for those who know little of the finer points of these tactical gambits. Or why the young starlet David Jones, on loan from Man Utd, doesn’t get to play, nor Claude Davies, so prominent at the end of last season; these things are unfathomable to the common, untutored fan.

By all accounts and from every aspect, the effort was disjointed .. "as if the players had never played together before." Interesting then that newly-signed Dichio was widely acclaimed as the success story of the day (though only deemed worthy of a substitute’s role). After all, he’s one of the few who didn’t travel to Italy with the rest of the crew to train and "bond". He’s only just arrived.

The Preston gaffer says "It's a huge disappointment. We didn't work hard enough or show enough energy."

So,maybe the lads need a break, then? Or some more bonding sessions? Perhaps a mid-season jaunt up the Limpopo would do the trick? Or a weekend of sky-diving in Peru?