Manager Darren Ferguson and his number two Kevin Russell met a randomly selected group of season ticket holders on Wednesday night. We have the questions and answers for all supporters to read below… we have cut the questions down to the main point, but kept the answers as they were given on the night. We have split this into two stories, due to the length.
What's your main goal for the rest of the season and how do you intend to achieve it?
DF: Since I have come in I have talked a lot about the Play-Offs. The two results against Barnsley and Swansea knocked us back a bit, but I think there is always one team that goes on a run and comes out of the back who can sneak in there. The history and the stats suggest that and we are five points off the Play-Offs at the moment and if we were to get the right result on Saturday we would be two points behind it. I am a positive person, I want positive people around me and I think that's where we should be aiming for.
Are we destined to be forever the bridesmaid, never the bride?
DF: I don't think that has to be the case. As a Club we have hit the cross bar a few times in the Play-Offs and I don't think that has anything to do with the finances of the Club. Just look around the area at Bolton, Blackburn and the best analogy at Burnley. The budget they had is not much different to ours and they got in the Premiership playing good football. If I thought Preston would always be a Championship club then there would have been no real point in coming here, the aim has to be to get into the Premiership and I definitely think it is achievable.
What style of manager do you think you are?
DF: Probably a better one for Kev to answer! You have to be a good tactician and have the nouse to be able to change games when they are not going so well and work we will do with the players - although it is difficult at the moment with Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday - on different formations if things aren't going well on the day will hopefully help us. We have done it over the past couple of years at Peterborough and we want to get that in place at Preston. I know Davie [Moyes] well, he did a great job here. I am no different to most managers, I can lose my temper when I have to and I can be quite calm when I have to. You have to assess the situation; the key to it is the man-management side of things. You have to be there to have a go at the players when they need it or pick them up. You have to analyse the situation and if they are really low on confidence, to have a go at them would be the wrong thing to do, because they need picking up and they look to the manager to do that. It is not just myself though, we have a good staff here and they come into it too.
What did you say to the players to make such a difference between Saturday's performance (Swansea) and Tuesday's performance (Sheffield United)?
DF: I know the difference was the energies we played at - which I spoke about in the press. We want to play at a high tempo and from the off on Tuesday you could just see we weren't going to get beaten, we were on the front foot from the start. We keep getting told that we are notoriously slow starters as a team in the last 12 months, but at home under the lights at Deepdale we have to start well and it picked everyone up on Tuesday. We spoke abut this beforehand and if you compare it Barnsley it was very different. That night the way we started was all wrong; it put us on the back foot and if put yourselves (the fans) a little bit edgy, understandably, whereas against Sheffield United after five or ten minutes I thought we were going to go and win the game. We started right, we started on the front foot, everyone was positive and it helps the players. We set a barrier now and we have to sustain it. If we get performances like that we will be a hard team to play against.
Do you think the balance of the side was better as well?
DF: The balance of the side was better. I have played Neil Mellor wide right and he is not naturally a wide player, even though he scored at Peterborough. We didn't have many options; we had young Danny Mayor, but with the team lacking a bit of confidence you have to be careful when you chuck the young ones in. Chris Sedgwick played very very well on Tuesday. He obviously nearly went to Barnsley, but I have been consistent with what I've said to all the players, if you come back in the building and show the right attitude then they will be in my plans and that's what happened. He gave us a much better balance on the right, as did Billy Jones going back to full back, but you have to have the players to come in there. I think everyone would agree that we have to strengthen the central midfield. We needed more energies in there and we've done that and it has enabled us to put Billy back to his natural position. I had to make sure I got the right couple of players in to do that and in Paul Coutts and Matty James we have got two good players.
Were you interested in George Boyd?
DF: He's a top player, but they want £5m for him and if I asked Derek for that, he'd have had a heart attack! That's the easiest question of the night! He's a good player and I'd like to have him, but it is not going to happen.
There has been talk of dressing room unrest, has there been any?
KR: No, there hasn't been any unrest. We have come into a club and the game is about opinions and there are players ho have not been involved and some of them have opinions that they should be playing, and rightly so, but there has been no unrest at all. On the training ground they have all trained hard and very well. It has been difficult with the games being Saturday-Tuesday, as we haven't been able to work on certain things where the whole team can be involved, but we have always tried to prepare right and concentrate on the 18 players who are going to be involved in the game and sometimes those players on the fringes have to work hard to get back in it, because if you play well you keep the shirt. Sometimes you have to rotate, but if you win the games and play well we are both of the opinion that you keep the shirt. The players who are not playing have to train hard and when they do get a chance, they have to do it out on the pitch. It is about competition for players and you need healthy competition in a football club to succeed. People have to bide their time, but they will get a chance and when they do, they have to take it.
Are there any potential outgoings now that the loan window is open?
DF: Possibly; there could be. We have brought some in, so some may have to go. Going back to the last question I wasn't aware of any rumours of dressing room unrest, but it's not true. The simple thing is, you have to pick a team, you have to be honest with your players and I tell them why they are not playing. Of course they are not going to be happy, I'd be upset if they were, but they understand the reasons. Some footballers might go away and whisper to other people that they are not happy and rumours may start, but that is football clubs; you wouldn't get a performance like we did on Tuesday if there was dressing room unrest.
KR: We try and tell the lads if they are playing or not on a Thursday, we are honest with them and we expect the honesty back. All we want is a group of players who are honest and give their all and if they weren't upset that they weren't playing you'd be worried, you want them to be upset, you want them to have a bit of anger to get in the team. Under the past regime they were told on a Friday, maybe on a Saturday what the team was, but we have always been on the opinion that we will try and tell them early.
DF: It is not about 11 players anymore, it is a squad game. We have to utilise the squad, but if you get a good performance, like we did on Tuesday, and unless there are big tactical reasons, then you'd probably keep the same team, because they deserve it and they have earned it. The other ones have to work hard to get back in.
What is your preferred formation?
DF: We have more or less always played 4-4-2, we did at Peterborough. The only times we have changed it, were Chelsea, where we had to match them up and the Swansea game, but apart from that it has been 4-4-2. You have to be flexible though. You want your players to be able to adapt to a 4-3-3 without having to make substitutions, because not every game is going to go right and sometimes you need to change it. If you get the right players in who can play more than one position it helps and adds to that flexibility.
KR: It's about flexibility. You don't want to have square pegs in round holes; but ultimately if you play 4-4-2 and you full back keeps kicking the ball in the stand it is not about the system it is about the player. You have to get a system that suits the club, but you have to be flexible as well. You can have all the systems you want though, but if you don't have the hunger and the energy, no matter what you play you are going to get turned over. The biggest thing to me is the appetite and the desire of the players to do well.
Previous regimes didn't like loan players, you have some in, how does that affect the squad?
DF: I think if I was a player at Preston and Danny Welbeck walked in the building I would be rubbing my hands and would be desperate to play with him. I think the lad has showed the potential he has got. Both he and Matty James are good characters, they have good temperaments and coming from Man Utd they have to be at it every day in training, because if they are not the other players will dig them out and they know that. I can see where Alan is coming from, but sometimes it is a necessity and you have to get them in. The players have responded really well to particularly Danny coming in, because he is exciting and he will entertain people. He does things on the pitch that gets people off their seat and you want to see that as a player or manager. The lads have got on great with him; he's a bit scared of Parky, but that's understandable! In fact, very scared! It's a tight knit group and the ones you bring in have to be the right characters, you don't want to split the group up and we feel we have brought the right characters in.
The team seemed to be rotated a lot under the previous regime, is it your philosophy that players who play regularly together, play better together?
DF: I think as a manager you have to be consistent to your players - every one of them - otherwise they find you out. If they are at it, show the right attitude and play well then generally they will keep the shirt and it is up to the rest to work hard to get back into the team. We played three games in a week and I think some of the players had never done that and I think that had an effect in the game against Barnsley, because the energies just weren't there. That's not me being critical of Alan, different managers do different things, but as long as you are consistent with all the players then I think that is the right thing to do. One thing that has to improve is the fitness of the players - to play three games in a week you have to be fit and that is something we will work on.
You've brought a fitness coach to the club, what was your initial view of the players' fitness? And what did you make of Jon Parkin's display on Tuesday?
DF: I am not criticising the fitness of the players, but I think the players we have tried to bring in add a little bit more pace to the team and we needed that, along with more energies. We have done all the fat tests and they weren't bad.
Parky has been great since we came in, he has had to wait for his chance, but he took it big time on Tuesday. There are always areas you say you can improve with players, even if you go to Chelsea or Arsenal, you can always improve players whether it is fitness or technical and that's how we look at it. Different players need different things and I think in some of them the fitness can be improve.
What are your views on reserve team football?
DF: I don't like to sound critical of anyone, but to get the fitness you have to play games. You can train as much as you want, but there is a training fitness and a match fitness and quite a few of the lads needed a game and played against Wrexham on Wednesday. That's the way it is, if they are not in the first team they will play in the reserve games and I think that is right, because they do need the match fitness. If you play all the young lads sometimes it is difficult for them, they need the help of the older lads, but as far as I'm concerned, if you are not in the first team and you have not been playing games, you are in the reserves.
You talked about honesty, are the players honest with you?
DF: I'm no different to anyone else in the room, the one thing I want to see is work ethic. You will all give them a chance if they work. If they are not working, then you are quite right to have a go at them. We have tried to freshen things up and we have brought Paul Coutts in, who is going to be a good player, he has good energies and a good change of pace and then young Matty came in and he does the same.
KR: If we have good players coming into the football club then it gives the rest a kick up the backside and they respond as well.
What instructions are given to the goalkeeper on distribution?
DF: Darren Ward has come in as goalkeeping coach and the goalkeeper is no different to any other player, he is told what to do. Preferably we want him to throw to the full backs if they are on, but it not then we indentify one of the full backs to kick it on and go and find a forward to go and play against them. What we do try and tell the keeper is to do it as quick as we can, to lift the tempo, because if he takes a long time the other team can set up quicker. Sometimes in games if you are under a bit of pressure you need to take your time though.
When Alan Irvine was in charge, if Callum wasn't available Andy Lonergan was captain, can you tell us why you chose Sean St. Ledger?
DF: There wasn't really a massive thought process to it. In terms of the delicate situation we had with Sean and the bids from Celtic, I thought it was the right thing to do and it has put a spring in his step. Celtic didn't come up with the money and Sean has been spot on in training, he is a good professional and he has just got on with it and for that reason I probably chose to give him the captain's armband.
When do you think Callum will be back?
DF: Possibly fit for Saturday.
David Unsworth has been brought it, will someone replace his role with the younger players and what has his impact been?
DF: When we got offered the job David Unsworth was the first person I spoke to. I knew Unsy from playing - not a great deal, but you kind of get a respect from playing for a long time. When you have a career like Dave at the level he did, it deems respect straight away, so I knew what I was getting. He has always been a solid pro and knows the game well. Added to that he is a defender, I was a midfielder and Kev was a striker, to that helps. He has been good, we work with him really well, he has been a big part of it. Jamie and him did a great job with the young lads and that has just carried on. He's a solid lad who looks you straight in the eye and you know you can trust him and that's what you want from your staff.
Part two will be online shortly.
