Graham Alexander was appointed as the new manager of Preston North End, confirmed on Monday. Alexander succeeded Paul Heckingbottom at the deep end, with the club currently sitting second from bottom in the Championship with six defeats in the first eight league matches.
Alexander, aged 54, made 372 league appearances for the club in two stints. He ended his career at Preston at the end of the 2011-12 season, aged 40, and during that season briefly served as acting manager. He had previously declined the option of starting a coaching career at the club academy, after which he led Fleetwood, Scunthorpe, Salford City, Motherwell, and MK Dons. He left his previous role at Bradford City, a League One side, ahead of his move to Preston. This is his first appointment in the Championship.
The new manager told BBC Radio Lancashire that he felt as though he had returned home. 'Yesterday was a bit surreal - it didn't feel real until I put on the training kit,' Alexander said. 'When I got home last night, my wife and I had a moment about the journey we have taken to reach this point.'
When asked if Preston felt like home, he replied affirmatively. 'It does, yes, it does,' he said. He also recalled the decision to move to Scotland for the role at Motherwell. 'When I took the job at Motherfield, it was a big decision for my wife and me to move to Scotland because we were so happy in Preston for 20 years, but our children were leaving,' he said. 'When we decided to return to England, I gave my wife the choice of where she wanted to live as she had followed me around for so long.'
He explained why the choice fell on Preston. 'The natural choice was the West Midlands, where we both are and where our families are, or Preston and the north-west region due to our connections and how we felt here - and she chose to come back here, which I was hoping she would say,' Alexander said. 'This was a special place for us.'
Alexander said that his arrival gave the players the opportunity for a 'restart' at the club and that he 'would not pull anything forward'. The extra time to work with the squad before the first competitive match was assessed as important in his attempt to turn their fortunes around. 'When taking over other clubs in the middle of the season, it was late in the week, it was Thursday or Friday and then the match, so having two full weeks of work with them is precious for us, but the proof will be in the pudding when we play Millwall,' he said.
'That is important because there are certain things we truly believe in and commit to, so the two-week window to implement those things will be good, but it will take longer than that to be a complete team as we are,' he added.
The Lilywhites will return to league action after a three-week international break with a home match against Millwall on Saturday, 10 October.
