No-nonsense North End to make Preston proud

There are signs that Graham Westley`s Preston revolution is going to work so back the first-ever English champion to win its English League One curtain raiser versus Colchester.

North End`s glory days that earned it the nickname Proud Preston are more than 120 years in the past and Westley`s non-nonsense style of football probably does not sit all that well with the club`s most famous player, Tom Finney.

But Westley`s approach achieves results - he did a terrific job taking Stevenage not only into the English Football League but also out of League Two and into League One - and he has put a broom through Preston`s dressing room during the summer, so much so that the North End starting line-up against Huddersfield in the League Cup first round featured 10 new signings, the exception being the goalkeeper.

Preston beat English Championship newcomer Huddersfield 2-0 in one of the eye-catching League Cup scorelines and, while Westley is on the record as saying that he is worried about how quickly his new side will gel, the reality is that his tactics are so rudimentary that they will not take long for any professional footballer worth his salt to grasp them.

Colchester is out of the English League Cup after losing 0-3 at Yeovil and a repeat of that disappointing performance would make it easy for Preston to pick up three points.

Bookmakers have got North End at around even money to beat a Colchester team that has not won any of its last eight competitive games away from the Weston Homes Community Stadium. Evens looks a few rolls over the odds.

Staying in English League One, Milton Keynes Dons and Bournemouth stand out for their matches versus Oldham and Portsmouth respectively. The Dons are around 8-11 to collect three points, while the Cherries are around even money.

Milton Keynes won last season`s corresponding fixture 5-0 and its promising young manager, Karl Robinson, has made a few moves in the transfer market to strength its push for promotion to second level of the English football pyramid.

Oldham boss Paul Dickov does not enjoy the same level of financial support from his board and there were worrying signs in his team`s 2-4 English League Cup home loss to Sheffield Wednesday that it let slip having led 2-0.

One would think that the Dons and the Latics will be in opposite halves of the English League One table at the end of the campaign so take the 8-11 about a home win because, by May, one may wonder how the odds offered were so long.

Bournemouth travels to Portsmouth and, for the time being at least, any side that lines up against crisis club Pompey has to be of significant interest to serious football punters.

Portsmouth had to field a de facto youth team in its English League Cup tie away to Plymouth which, unsurprisingly, it lost 0-3. Pompey manager Michael Appleton has managed to sign 10 players on one-month deals in time for his club`s League One opener but surely they are going to struggle having barely met each other before the Cherries arrive.

Some pundits are tipping Bournemouth to mount a promotion challenge. If they are right then the Cherries ought to take advantage of Portsmouth`s perils. It is remarkable to think that Pompey won the English FA Cup just four years ago.

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19/08/2012     © Frixo 2024