Tag: Preston North End

Big Interview: Alan Kelly Snr 10th May 2005

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Preston North End’s last ever game in the top flight of English football came against Bolton Wanderers at the old Burnden Park ground on April 29th 1961. Watching from the stands that day was a young goalkeeper who was to spend his entire footballing career trying to get the Lilywhites back into the top flight but to no avail.

The matchday programme speaks to Deepdale Legend and the man who holds the record for PNE appearances, Alan Kelly Snr.

“I was really delighted when I saw that they were in the play-offs,” Kelly says from his home over in the United States.

“I was just watching the highlights of the game against Derby last Sunday and I wouldn’t pay any attention to that result. I am sure on the day the lads will have their sleeves rolled up and that they will do well.

“It would be great for the town, the people of Preston are great football-minded people and it is great that they have something to go at and I am sure the place will be packed solid and it will be the same when they play at Derby the following week.

“It would be nice for them to make a return to the top division, it will be terrific for the team after a lot of years of not being in there.”

Kelly didn’t become a regular in the North End line-up until the season after they had been relegated from the old Division One and even though many suggested that Tom Finney’s retirement played a huge role in PNE’s demise, the Irishman reckons that the Lilywhites still had some great players capable of keeping them in the division.

“I was just talking to somebody the other day and we were talking about the old days at Preston North End, the likes of Tommy Docherty, Frank O’Farrell, Tom Finney, Jimmy Baxter, Fred Else who was in goal, the time we were top of the First Division, what is the Premiership now. That was a really great side.

“Losing Tom Finney didn’t help and although there were some really good players in the team it was just Tom’s presence on the field, there used to be two or three players marking him and that created a little outlet for other players. There wasn’t many games when he didn’t do his stuff either!

“Tom was probably one of the best players in the world when he played and no side likes to be without a player of Tom Finney’s calibre.

“But when we went down the club had some really good players and we probably didn’t play particularly well. We had some good patches and some bad patches and we were a little bit inconsistent. It was a sad day for the club, for any club that gets relegated it is a sad day.”

The Lilywhites are once again within touching distance for what is probably only the third time since the club dropped out of the top flight, younger fans will only remember the play-off final of 2001 but Kelly remembers a season that the club almost made it back automatically.

“It was 1964 and it was Sunderland, Leeds and us all season and I think most years in those days if you got 56 points you were almost guaranteed promotion, of course there were only two teams went up in those days.

“That year I think we did get 56 points but Leeds and Sunderland had a few points more than us, that was the year we got to the Cup Final.

“The game has changed so much since then. They are talking about millions now when you go into the Premier League, I always think if only that could have happened to me. I was watching on the TV and I saw that Wigan Athletic just got promotion and who would have thought of that!? But good luck to them, they have done great, it is a great boost for a team like that which is basically a rugby town.”

This week’s match-up with Derby County brings back fond memories of a former team-mate for Kelly Snr, a player who started his English career at Deepdale before moving on to greater things at the Baseball Ground.

“Archie Gemmill never stopped, he was one of those players who the minute he stepped on the field he never stopped running, whether it was was in attack or defence, he wouldn’t stop for 90 minutes, he was a little dynamo.

“Derby were always a good footballing side and when you played against them you knew that you were going to get a hard game. They always wanted to play some good football as well and I am sure that it is going to be a great sort of fixture on both legs.”

But it was Alan Kelly Snr who went on to become the Deepdale Legend, so much so that they named one of the stands after him at the ground and the legendary stopper is hoping that the fans that sit in that part of the ground can cheer his team on to glory.

“Preston always get great support, even when we were having bad times we were always great with the support, they are a very knowledgeable public.

“I hope that they give the lads a lift and I am sure that they will, I hope it all works the right way, I’ll have fingers crossed, legs crossed, everything crossed hoping that it will.”

Player of The Year Awards – 10th May 2005

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The Frenchman astonishingly won four honours at the prestigious evening, scooping the Fans’ Player of the Year, the Players’ Player, the SMS Fans’ Vote and the Community Icon awards.

Speaking about winning the Fans’ Player of the Year award, he said: “I’ve tried to work hard for the team, and the team is always the most important thing. This season I have enjoyed starting in every game. It hasn’t been all good, there have been times where we had to pick ourselves up, and go on, we had heavy defeats before we started on a good run. You have to pick yourself up and keep working hard on the training ground and a lot of things have changed and now we seem more confident, we have a lot of good players who have come into the team and it’s been a good season for me.”

Mawene just pipped Paul McKenna at the post for the SMS Fans’ Award sponsored by TravelWise, which is voted for by PNE supporters throughout the season by text message after each game. It was presented by Colette Fleming. Youl said: “McKenna, Cresswell or another could have got that. I think it’s very hard to give a grade out of ten for two players for a performance, very often it’s the whole team. I’m just happy that the fans recognised that I’m working hard for the team and that’s the most important thing.”

A new prize this year, the Community Icon Award sponsored by Total, presented by Steven Segall and PNE’s Playing For Success manager Sam O’Brien, was given to Youl because of his extensive work with people in the Preston area. He showed how much he cared about winning this award, and said: “To be honest I’ve been very welcome here so it’s a way to send back the welcome to the people of the community. I’ve been going to a lot of schools; I enjoy working with the children a lot. The kids love it, I love it, it’s just great for the whole community. It’s important that Preston [North End] take a bit part in what’s happening in town, we’re part of the city and we should take a lot of time for the community.”

The tough defender then won the Players’ Player Award sponsored by the Malcolm Woodhouse Group, presented by Malcolm Woodhouse Jnr., and was clearly a tad surprised: “I thought McKenna would have got that, I personally voted for him and Chris Lucketti. It’s so hard, it’s a squad of 11, 13, 15, 20 players, and everybody this season came in and did their thing, it’s been a good season and it’s great to pick up this award as well.”

Defender Alexander and midfielder McKenna made their 300th appearances at Deepdale against Gillingham and Brighton respectively at the start of April this year.

Graham Alexander said: “It was a total surprise, I didn’t know it was coming. Obviously it’s a great achievement for me personally, I’m so proud to have played 300 games for this club. To leave your mark at a club is great. Every game I play for this club is a pleasure because I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it.”

Prolific striker Richard Cresswell won the Goal of the Season award sponsored by Pete Marquis for his strike against Sheffield United in March. He said: “Everybody has put their bit into the team this year and it’s nice to get an award but the awards can go on hold because we’re not at the end of the season yet and we still have a long way to go to what we want to achieve.”

Rob and Margaret Cooke also won an award, the first ever Supporters of the Year John Tracey Memorial Award, which goes to the best fans of the year. The award was presented to the couple by John Tracey’s widow Christine, daughters Donna and Emma, and sister Sal. The couple, who run the Deepdale Bed and Breakfast in Ayr, Scotland, travel to every Preston home and away match, despite living north of the border! They said: “We’re over the moon, it was a big surprise.”

Big Interview: David Nugent 9th May 2005

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For Preston North End’s young striker David Nugent it has been a whirlwind 2005. Few had even heard of the chirpy scouser when he arrived on Deepdale’s doorstep in a £100,000 move from Bury at the start of January. He’d scored 13 goals for the Shakers but that’s all we really knew, four months on, the people of Preston can’t stop talking about their latest hero.

The matchday programme caught up with Nugent earlier this week to talk about his rise to stardom.

“I came here looking to get in the starting eleven,” is Nugent’s honest appraisal of his targets upon first arriving at Deepdale.

“I have done that and now we are in the play-offs so I am delighted to be in the play-offs. We have got Derby today, it should be a tough game, as we saw last weekend they are a good side but hopefully we can come through it.”

Nugent only played a bit part role in last week’s trip to Pride Park as North End boss Billy Davies chose to rest some of his key players. The fact that Rams boss George Burley only caught a fleeting glimpse of the youngster could mean that the PNE No.35 could be a secret weapon this afternoon, Nugent agrees that Billy’s cautious approach last week could be a tactical masterstroke.

It will be weird, to playing the same team three times on the bounce will be strange but that will happen sometimes in the play-offs and you just have to cope with it.

He said: “The Gaffer rested a few players last week like Brian O’Neil, the skipper Chris Lucketti and myself but players came in and did well. The Gaffer is not interested if you play home or away, he is confident that we can play well at home and away and that is the way that he wants it.

“Derby are beatable, we controlled the game for the first 25 minutes, they got a free-kick which they have taken early and it has gone in. It is a sucker punch just before half-time and when the second goal goes in you know that it is lost really. We tried a few changes to try and get back into the game, we have done that and then we lost Graham Alexander through an injury and that put us down to 10 men, they got a third and then it was definitely over. But we have got a lot of players to come back and hopefully we can beat them this weekend.

“It is a good thing that we rested a few key players, they won’t know what to expect this week when we play them when the players come back in. They will be confident that they can do us again but with more players coming in it will be a totally different game.

“It will be weird, to playing the same team three times on the bounce will be strange but that will happen sometimes in the play-offs and you just have to cope with it.”

Nugent has already paid much of the small fee that the Lilywhites sent down to Gigg Lane earlier this year. His eight goals in North End colours have helped catapult PNE into the play-off zone. And it’s not as if the strikes have been tap-ins, some of them have been worth the admission fee alone and made the youngster a fans favourite. Nugent is a firm believer that the fans can play a huge part in North End’s destiny this season and that they are currently on form!

“The fans can play a massive part,” said the striker.

“They have a huge influence on us, when they get behind us we seem to play better, hopefully they will get behind us on Sunday and hopefully we can do it for them.

“They come away from home as well to cheer us on. It is great for the fans and us when we get the fans behind us away especially with the home crowd trying to get on top of us, our fans seem to be getting on top of their fans at the moment even if there are less of them. If we do that again next week then it will be great.”

Whatever happens over the next few days, for Nugent the 2004/05 season will be remembered as the one where the young lad from Merseyside really announced himself to a the footballing nation, he could be representing that nation in the Toulon Tournament come the start of June, however he would prefer it if he was playing in a tournament otherwise known as the Premiership.

“It has been a massive month for me, I’ve been scoring goals for Preston and then I got the call-up for the Under-20s and then getting into the play-offs.

“It has been a great season for me, I just want to get into the Premiership now with Preston, if not then there is always next year but we are in the frame of mind that we want to go up this year.”

Quotes: Billy Davies 5th May 2005

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A point would be nice but we have got to go and cement fourth place and forget about anything else. To try and get the second leg at home is very important for us, a point would be good but at the same time too we need to make sure we go there and cement fourth place.

I think they will look to win the game because they will see the second game as very important so I have no doubt that they will be looking to win the game just as we are.

We are the only club at the moment who are guaranteed a play-off place, everybody else is fighting for that play-off place and it is a great achievement for us to be there and to be able to sit back and know that we are guaranteed a place while other clubs may or may not be in there.

I’m thinking about that at the moment with regards to team selection. I have not made up my mind yet but one consideration is to give one or two guys a game or change the team about a bit. But at the same time too, not to upset anything, we want to go on and cement fourth place, that is very important.

I have said to the whole squad over a number of months now that every single member of the team becomes very important because he may be called upon in the semi-finals or the final or the last game of the season. It is very important that fitness is taken care of and condition is right, mentally they are right for the game. We have been discussing this for a long time and it is important because somewhere along the line we don’t know where that hero will come from who might just take us into the final or maybe beyond that and into the Premiership.

Every member of the staff is vital, when it gets to this stage you have got to go and beat whoever is there and it really doesn’t matter who we play against. The most important thing is that we are prepared and ready for it, we are confident and we will go in there and have a go and try and win the game. The most important thing for me is that everybody is ready in terms of fitness and conditioning, we will look forward to the games that come up whoever that may be.

Every game will have its own difficulties irrespective of what club it is. I don’t think there is any easy game when you get to this level, when you get to this stage of the season, for what’s at stake. We know that, we are prepared for that and I am sure other teams are prepared for that as well. But the most important thing is that we continue doing what we are doing and continue to show that work ethic that we showed and we will see what happens from there.

I’ve said to the players that these are the games that you look forward to and you go in and you enjoy them. They are great memories and that is what football is all about, holding on to these memories that you can sometimes never get to, it is a privilege and a pleasure to be there and we will look forward to the games and we will enjoy the whole occasion. We will do what we are good at and continue to do that but at the same time we have got players who have played in the games, we have got experienced players who have played international football and have played in a lot of big matches. Together we will go in with the belief that we can win the games and they can take us forward.

I have let David Kelly and Julian Darby join in with the training and they have had a nightmare, I sucking throat lozenges because my voice has gone shouting at them two. But the game was a good laugh I can tell you, we had a good seven-a-side game and we let the staff join in, I won’t even mention Balderston’s performance, that’s not even worth talking about!

I think the pressure comes at the opposite end of the table when you are fighting to try and stay in the league and you are fighting for safety. We are at a different scale, we have a pressure that is a joy, it’s a joy to be involved in the play-offs, it’s a joy to have the opportunity to have two or three games which could possibly take us into the Premiership, that’s a wonderful pressure.

Obviously the loss of two players is concerning, Callum Davidson and Eddie Lewis are two quality players, they give us great balance. But there are many permutations we can put out there, with regards pushing McKenna or bringing in Marlon Broomes and pushing Hilly forward, changing the 4-4-2 system, there are lots of different things we can do and we are looking at that at the moment. There is no point us crying over spilt milk we have to get on with it. We have lost two important players and that gives great opportunity for other players to come into the side and no matter what changes have been made, we have got to continue to do what we have been doing which is preparing right and trying to win games of football.

Every day I contact him and every second day I speak to him, I was out for dinner with him last week and the miserable so-and-so never bought the meal. But we speak a lot through texts and phone-calls and he was one of the first to congratulate us and I am delighted about that. We are great friends not only on the field but also off the pitch, we were great workmates and I am delighted for the education he gave me and the opportunity he gave me in English football and he knows that very much and that is something that I will never forget.

Two defeats in twenty and looking forward to a play-off place or games in the play-offs. Thee mood is bright and bubbly and we are pleased that we are the only side guaranteed a play-off place at the moment with many other good sides fighting to get there. It is a nice dressing room at the moment but we won’t get carried away, we know the situation, it’s still to be played for, we know what’s got to be done. These are a great bunch of players and they know exactly what is required.

Quotes: Billy Davies 30th April 2005

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We played at a good pace, a good tempo and it’s all credit to both sets of players because they showed a lot of determination and worked extremely hard.

I think our preparation this week was good, we know exactly what we had to go and do, we knew the game would be difficult.

I thought they scored against the run of play, it was a disappointing goal to lose, nice to get back in it just before half time with a vintage Brian O’Neill goal, another one for the collection(!)

Overall, I’m delighted for everyone connected with the football club, the fans, the players, the staff, the board. For everyone connected with Preston North End I think it’s a very proud day to now be in the play-offs and three games to try to get into the Premiership…hopefully.

We’re now prepared for the next match, and try to finish fourth and try to do the job that we’ve been doing all season because these players deserve absolute wonderful credit.

The staff have been great, and one in particular, my assistant David Kelly who’s come into this club and has been absolutely first class. He’s a bit of an unsung hero but he’s been a wonderful signing for me.

I think, and I still genuinely believe that a top half finish in this league is a wonderful achievement for Preston North End, there’s not doubt about it. When you look at the teams here, the money that’s been spent, the fan base and the training facilities, and all these things that you can look at with very very big clubs in this division, then you have you say that we’re absolutely over the moon, we’re thrilled to bits, there’s no doubt about it. It’s a tremendous achievement and we’ll go and enjoy the occasion.

Big Interview: Carlo Nash 31st March 2005

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If Preston North End are looking for a good luck omen as the season approaches it’s exciting climax they may have just got one in the form of goalkeeper Carlo Nash.

The 6’5 strapping goalkeeper was a deadline day signing from Middlesbrough 12 days ago, he’s the final piece in Preston North End’s jigsaw for the 2004/05 campaign and after tasting promotion to the Premiership with both Manchester City and Crystal Palace in recent years he is a goalkeeper aiming for a hat-trick with North End this year.

Nash was a member of Kevin Keegan’s squad which took this division by storm three seasons ago but more importantly he has got to the Premiership via the play-offs in his first ever season in league football with Crystal Palace.

It is the experience of that Wembley play-off final win that PNE boss Billy Davies will be hoping that Nash can bring to the fore.

“Hopefully it will pay dividends,” Nash told the PNE matchday programme this week.

“I’ve been in this situation twice before once I got automatic promotion with City and previous to that I was with Crystal Palace when they won promotion via the play offs so hopefully those experiences will stand me in good stead for the end of the season.

“It’s important that I use my experience to help others around me. Because I’ve been there before I know what will be going through their minds and really it’s up to me and the other senior players to calm a few nerves if there are any and hopefully everyone will be fine.”

Nash has yet to have a full week’s training with his new team-mates, he only joined in properly on Tuesday of last week after the extended Easter weekend break and his first opportunity to meet his new colleagues was at a session of ten-pin bowling.

“It’s not a bad start to a new club really, we went bowling on Thursday and then we were off till Tuesday, it has been quite an easy start really but we have been working really hard since I came back in.

“I’m back to earth now we returned to training on the Tuesday and then we had the rest of the week building up to the Gillingham game.

“The training has been brilliant, much the same as what I am used to, Pete Williams takes the goalkeepers and we do a lot of work with him before and then we do some work with the gaffer and the rest of the lads.

“It takes a bit of getting used to because I don’t really know how each player performs and it is just up to me to manage that and getting them playing as I want them to play in front of me. Every keeper is different and it will take a little bit of time to get used to but hopefully we will get it right quickly.

“The lads have all been quite polite to me at the moment, I’m still waiting for a bit of a backlash but they are a good set of lads and they have made me feel right at home.”

Once Nash does get into the swing of things he won’t have too much of a honeymoon period as the North End squad are in the middle of a intense period of high-pressure games to reach the play-offs.

It’s a situation Carlo is more than aware of.

“Every game is a big game from now until the end of the season, we have just got to aim as high as we can and hopefully if we can get into the play-offs at the end of the season then who knows from there.

“We are just taking each game as it comes, we are trying to get the results and if we do that then we will have done well.

“Every game is going to be a tough game, mentally as well as physically but we have just got to be strong and get the results.”

For Nash the move to Deepdale is almost something of a return to his home roots, as a Bolton born lad the big keeper started his career at non-league Clitheroe.

“It’s great to be here. I was brought up in Bolton and spent a lot of my teenage years there. I played in Bolton town team and played at Deepdale when there was a plastic pitch so I do know the area quite well and it’s a great chance for me to come back here – back to my roots if you like.

“I started my career playing for Clitheroe and working as a Sales Manager selling office equipment in Blackburn and then the Chairman rang me up a week after the FA Vase final and just said Crystal Palace have offered £35,000 for you, do you want to speak to them? So I thought that if I don’t go down now I’ll never know, so I went down and spoke to Harry Bassett and the rest is history.”

Whilst Nash is very much a part of Palace’s and Manchester City’s recent history it is the thought of completing a promotion hat-trick which is exciting North End’s latest recruit.

“I was in the same situation in the play-offs when I just started at Crystal Palace so I know what it’s all about and it’s a great position to be in. I’ve been keeping my eye on the Championship league and I know they’ve been doing well and I knew they had a great chance of going up. The play-offs are a bit of a lottery so obviously the first aim is to get in there and we’ll take it from there and hopefully we can push on and get promotion.

“Preston were always been there or there-abouts even when I was at Stockport and they were always a great side to play against. I know what great sides they’ve had over the past years so I think the squad that we’ve got at the moment and obviously with Billy at the helm we’ve got a great future ahead of us. We need to take each step as it comes and hopefully we’ll get promotion this year.”

Training and playing with Preston North End will be like a breath of fresh air to the No.33, he has had to endure a couple of seasons as understudy to one of the Premiership’s most consistent stoppers in Middlesbrough’s Mark Schwarzer.

“It has been very frustrating for me because obviously I want to play, I don’t want to sit on the bench every week. Obviously at Middlesbrough when I signed I knew it’d be tough for me because Mark Schwarzer is a great keeper and unless he got injured I wouldn’t really be getting a shout. I don’t look back and regret that move and see it as an integral part of my career as the training and facilities there enabled me to push forward and get better as a player as well as in the fitness department. Hopefully I can put into practice what I’ve learnt over the last two years.

“Billy Davies has done well this season to get Preston where they are and when he rang me up he made me feel at ease. He obviously he wanted me to sign here and thought I’d be great asset to the team so he more or less convinced me – if I needed any convincing to sign.

“There was a few more clubs interested but not at this present time and the factor for me was that Preston really wanted to sign me and I saw it as an opportunity to play in the Championship and with the position they’re in hopefully get promotion.”

Big Interview: Guy Butters 31st March 2005

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“It is just a shame that we haven’t done so well of late,” Butters told the North End Matchday programme.

“If we had picked up a few results in them games, I know it sounds strange but you are not that far off the play-offs if you win a few games. We just want to survive really, it’s just about staying in this division but with about eleven games to go it was looking quite healthy. But we have lost four on the trot and it is looking a bit tighter down there.

“I was at Brighton when they went down before but I wasn’t playing at the time. It has been an eventful five years for the club, they have had promotions or relegations every year so it is pretty apt that we are in a relegation struggle.”

The fact that Butters and his team-mates have been dragged into the relegation dogfight probably owes more to the competitiveness of the Championship. Even with just seven games to go it’s almost as if every club has something to play for.

“We have been looking at all the teams and everyone has got to play each other, we have still to go to Rotherham, we have got to play Leicester and Coventry so we know that we have got to play a few of the teams down there, it is in our hands really. As long as we play the way that we know we can fingers crossed it will be alright.

“When it gets down to this period of the season then it is all about winning games, at the start of the season you want to win every game. Sometimes you get managers who more bothered about how well you play whereas now we would take playing absolutely awful as long as we win.”

One of those teams at the bottom who will be battling to stay up along with Brighton is Butters’ former club Gillingham. The centre-half spent just under six years at Priestfield and he will be hoping that he can spark up some of the Gillingham curse tonight.

“I still talk to a few of the Gillingham lads, there was a stage a few games ago where we had a better goal difference then them by about 10, but they have overtaken us on that one so we have got to make sure that we start picking things up.

“We beat Preston in the play-offs one year and we used to do quite well up there. I think I remember only being beaten once when I was at Gillingham. You always knew that it was a difficult place to go and if you got something out of the game you would be pretty relieved, before the game you would take a point if it was offered you.  We used to have some good battles when Sean Gregan was there and all them lot.”

With the Brighton team making the long journey up for a night match, Butters knows that a good result is important so that they don’t have to endure what would be a very quiet and long journey home should things go wrong. He’s hoping for a repeat of what happened at the Withdean earlier this season.

“You want to get the result because if you lose it is a long journey home, but it will be two away games on the trot and hopefully we can get a few points.

“I remember the game earlier in the season, we played pretty well that day. We knew that you were a good side yourselves and we seem to raise ourselves against the better sides, unfortunately we don’t seem to be able to do it against the lesser sides. It was 1-0 but we know that since then Preston have gone on to better things and that they are looking to get into the play-offs so it is going to be a difficult game.”

Those big results have come at all sorts of places and he has even managed to notch a couple of important goals at Upton Park and Elland Road, the one against the Hammers proved to be the winner and upset a few members of his family.

“My dad is a West Ham fan so he weren’t too happy. We train at a University and I got talking to a few West Ham fans throughout the season, they kept saying that they were going to go and give me some stick, so to actually score, I saw one of them when I was coming off the pitch and it was quite funny.

“It was a good result but we have had a few like that this year, we beat Leicester away and done quite well and we have beaten Sheffield United away so we know that on our day we are capable of giving anyone a good game really.”

The 35-year-old will be hoping that his team-mates have one last good away performance in them to take all three points tonight!

Big Interview: Carl Cort 7th March 2005

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Amid all the speculation and rumours surrounding Glenn Hoddle’s managerial future at Wolverhampton Wanderers, one player has stepped forward and offered the former England boss plenty of support at the same time as doing the business on the field.

Wolves paid £2,000,000 to prise Carl Cort away from Newcastle United following a successful loan spell at Molineux and after the striker scored a brace of goals in last weekend’s impressive 4-1 victory over Crewe he was full of praise for his gaffer.

“The manager has come in and introduced new ideas and his coaching skills are very high,” said Cort. “He knows a lot about the game.

“I just think at the moment, in terms of the fans and maybe the players as well, he has signed a contract until the end of the season and you don’t really know what is going to happen.

“I think that is a shame because you can’t really build.

“It has nothing to do with me – I’m just here to play football – it is down to the board. They are 100 per cent sure what they are doing and we’ll leave that to them.”

Following last weekend’s eye-catching display at Gresty Road the former Wimbledon man is still hopeful of a place in the play-offs, the win over Dario Gradi’s men put them eight points off the play-off places.

“You have to have some sort of target and ours is still to get in the play-offs, otherwise you end up just drifting through the season and going through the motions,” he added.

“We have to have that in mind to keep the motivation and the confidence there.

“It is one of those situations where we maybe need a couple of good wins to lift the club.”

Things have definitely changed at Molineux since Hoddle took over the reigns from Dave Jones at the start of December. Pessimists amongst the Wolverhampton faithful would say that the team who were plying their trade in the Premiership last season are not winning enough games, 10 draws from the last 16 games means that the team have only won four games, but then they have only lost twice.

“The boss is very technical and very experienced, with a good knowledge of the game and we’ve only lost once in the League since he’s been here so it’s not gone too badly.

“He’s only here initially for six months so certain things he’s had to rush in a sense. We have played a lot of different formations since he’s been here and done things which are new for some players  – which could have had an effect on the way we played.

“We’d all like the gaffer to sign a longer deal because he’s done well for us. The boys are enjoying it because he has brought something new to us and we look a lot more organised and the confidence and motivation is still there.”

It is sure to be an interesting atmosphere at the Wolverhampton Wanderers training complex, especially following reports that appeared in several national newspapers last weekend, with Paul Ince supposedly being lined up as the successor to Glenn Hoddle for the Molineux hotseat.

Despite the stories it is business as usual as far as Cort is concerned: “There’s bit a bit of banter flying around about the Incey report but not too much has been said because at the end of the day it’s just paper talk.

“But whatever happens our job is just to play football. We’ve got to stay confident that we can maybe make the play-offs because the season is coming to a close and we don’t want to be drifting our way through from now until the end with nothing to play for.

“We’ve got to keep that as an incentive. It’s going to be a tall order but we just have to go out and try and win every game.”

Cort’s Career

Club From To Fee League FA Cup League cup Other
Wolves 25-01-2004 £ 2000000 41 (5) 17 2 (0) 1 1 (0) 0 0 (0) 0
Newcastle 05-07-2000 25-01-2004 £ 7000000 19 (3) 7 2 (0) 0 3 (0) 1 0 (1) 0
Lincoln 03-02-1997 01-03-1997 Loan 5 (1) 1 0 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 0 (0) 0
Milton Keynes 07-06-1996 05-07-2000 Trainee 54 (19) 16 6 (4) 2 8 (2) 7 0 (0) 0
Totals £ 9000000 119 (28) 41 10 (4) 3 12 (2) 8 0 (1) 0

Championship Round-Up: 18th February 2005

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Cat In A Flap
North End’s visit to QPR a fortnight ago not only made headlines because of Preston’s 2-1 victory. Eagled eyed spectators will have noticed that Rangers’ furry mascot, Jude The Cat, was banished to the dressing rooms during the game as officials were confusing him with players!

Jude, a seven foot furry black cat, is perplexed by the decision from referee Lee Probert and he warns that other mascots are set to go on strike if the cat is banned from the touchline or forced to wear a different kit.

Preston North End’s Deepdale Duck has never had such problems although Burnley’s Bertie Bee was almost confused for a player a few years back when he ably tackled a streaker during a Clarets and Lilywhites game at Turf Moor.

Ticket Freeze
PNE may be offering their fans a great deal by freezing their season ticket prices for next season but the Deepdale outfit are actually bucking a Championship trend by offering the same deal next season as this season.

Teams at opposite ends of the Championship table have both announced significant price hikes for the 2005/06 campaign.

Ipswich Town have said that they will be increasing ticket prices for games whether they get promoted to the Premiership or not. Season tickets at Portman Road will go up by an average of five per cent although many fans will be hoping that they are watching the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United next season rather than Luton and Crewe.

Another team unsure of what division they will be playing in next season are Gillingham and their prices could increase by up to 10 per cent.

Transfer Scramble
The transfer window may have closed three weeks back but that hasn’t stopped Championship clubs recruiting for what is sure to be an intense last few months of the season.

Leeds United seem to the big movers once again with Ken Bates showing that he is prepared to back manager Kevin Blackwell. The Yorkshire side moved for Crystal Palace’s Shaun Derry late last week, the midfielder had only just completed a loan move at Nottingham Forest before making a permanent move to Elland Road.

Other transfer moves in the last fortnight have seen Stoke’s Ade Akinbiyi finally complete a move to Sheffield United, Coventry have completed a double swoop for Trevor Benjamin and Ian Bennett and Derby County have signed up Leicester’s Chris Makin on loan for the rest of the season.

Injury Woes
Andy Lonergan is not the only major Championship casualty to hit the headlines recently. The England Under-21 goalie will miss the rest of the 2004/05 campaign after damaging knee ligaments in training.

Brighton’s rookie keeper Ben Roberts also damaged knee ligaments this month and faces eight weeks on the sidelines.

And it wouldn’t be right if Leeds United weren’t mentioned in some capacity, Lucas Radebe and Eirik Bakke have both suffered recent setbacks on their comebacks from long-term injury problems.

Flashback: Burnley 18th February 2005

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Today’s game between Preston North End and Burnley could be regarded as the oldest derby in the Football League. That’s because on the opening day of the first ever season of the oldest league in the world the Lilywhites tackled the Clarets at Deepdale. September 8th 1888 was the date, 5-2 was the scoreline in North End’s favour.

It was a game that almost never happened due to the Burnley side arriving late to the ground, maybe there was traffic jams on the M65, but whatever happened it meant that the game did not kick-off until 3.50pm in the afternoon, by which time the rest of the Football League had already completed one half of football.

Six thousand patient fans awaited Burnley’s arrival and even though the Clarets were perhaps the favourites for the game, having won the previous 15 encounters, it was a game that was keenly anticipated.

Two minutes in and Fred Dewhurst etched his name into the history books of North End by becoming the club’s first ever league goalscorer. One minute later Jack Gordon made it 2-0 for Preston and it looked like a rout was on the cards. PNE put the visitors under intense pressure for the opening 15 minutes of the game and they were fortunate not to go further behind with Sandy Robertson and Dewhurst again going close. The Clarets finally clawed their way back into the game in 21 minutes when Gallacher scored a tap-in after good work from Keenan.

North End had a goal ruled out just before the break but in the second half Preston’s Jimmy Ross aka ‘Little Demon’ showed his class to hit two quickfire goals to make it 4-1. The more the game went on the more the Burnley defence became exposed and Fred Dewhurst completed his brace of goals to make it 5-1. A late goal for Burnley from Poland was little compensation as Major William Suddell’s team won the first of what would be a 27 game unbeaten run and hence the Invincibles were born.

It was a different story entirely 25 years later, PNE had not won any of their first nine fixtures of the 1913-14 campaign and confidence was at a low following promotion from the Second Division the year before.

Things looked to have gone from bad to worse when Hodgson put Burnley ahead with only two minutes on the clock, this despite PNE’s England international Joe McCall’s best efforts to stop the ball from crossing the line.

But McCall didn’t have legendary status for nothing and in front of 28,000 eager fans he turned the game on its head with same great craftsmanship. On 35 minutes he picked up the ball in the centre of the park and set off on a surging run right at the heart of the Burnley defence before delivering a ball towards Toward, the Preston striker turned and shot in one movement to level matters.

Still the game looked to be heading for a draw and with it PNE’s hopes of a first win of the season looked to have been dashed. But McCall was having none of it, with just seven minutes left the centre-half played a wonderful ball into the box and Barlow slotted home to make the final score 2-1 to Preston North End.

Sadly it would prove to be a false dawn for PNE and they would return to the Second Division after finishing second bottom of the table.

Twenty years later in the 1933/34 season both teams were languishing in the Second Division after some lean years in North Lancashire. But an early season double over the Clarets would lead to North End being promoted. In fact PNE would play Burnley twice and Blackpool once in the opening four fixtures of the season.

The first game against Burnley was at Deepdale, goals from future PNE boss Jimmy Milne, David Galloway and George Stephenson helped the Lilywhites to a 3-2 win. Then six days later Preston travelled to Turf Moor and inflicted a painful 4-1 defeat on their hosts, Stephenson got a brace this time with Frank Wilson and John Torbet weighing in with the other two.

The Clarets would not join Preston back in the top flight until after the Second World War but when they did return in the 1947/48 season they retuned in style. Cliff Britton’s Burnley side had beaten their local rivals 1-0 in a Christmas Day fixture with a last minute goal and they arrived at Deepdale aiming to clinch a record for undefeated away games one day later on Boxing Day. Fortunately Preston were having nothing of it, in front of 39,400 fans the Lilywhites won 3-2 thanks to a brace of goals from Andy McLaren and Harry Jackson grabbing the crucial third goal.

Fast forward 25 years and the sharp suits and brillcream had been swapped for big sideburns and flares as both teams were once again playing their football in the Second Division.

The 1972/73 campaign will be one that is remembered by Clarets fans for their promotion to the First Division but they arrived at Deepdale for the final game of the season still needing one more point to claim the Second Division title. But with QPR breathing down their necks they faced a PNE side who needed one point to ensure safety.

Burnley arrived at Deepdale to find that the pitch had been narrowed and watered heavily. And temporary PNE boss Frank Lord was taking no chances as he set an ultra-defensive formation packing defenders around goalkeeper Alan Kelly.

Surprisingly it was Preston who managed to score first when Alex Bruce slotted home on the stroke of half-time. Most of the 21,550 fans packed inside Deepdale erupted praying that this would be the goal that kept them in the division, they had suffered relegation at the hands of Blackpool three year earlier and to suffer the same fate again would have been too much. There would have been plenty of nails been bitten when Colin Waldron equalised just after the break but Lord’s team held on and kept their Second Division status whilst Burnley would march towards the top flight as Champions.