After nine failures to negotiate the promotion play-offs Preston will take nothing for granted in their pursuit of a place in the Championship.
But if Simon Grayson can lay the jinx to rest in his second attempt as the Preston manager by overseeing victory against Swindon Town in Sunday’s League One play-off final at Wembley, he will have completed an impressive turnaround at a club who were going in the wrong direction when he took charge just over two years ago.
Under the management of Graham Westley, North End were in danger of exiting League One from the bottom. Westley spent just over 12 months in charge at Deepdale where the methods he had employed successfully at Stevenage did not work. His dealings with players and backroom staff, along with his training regime and tactics, alienated, rather than inspired. After a run of one win in 14 league games he was sacked, with Preston five points above the relegation zone.
His replacement was a safer pair of hands and no one knows his way round the division better, Grayson having led Blackpool, Leeds United and Huddersfield to promotion from League One.
Grayson, who also played in Lancashire for Blackburn and Blackpool, immediately reinstated a fitness coach, dietitian, chief scout and IT department to supplement his footballing staff and, since then, the only way has been up.
Grayson said: “I didn’t think it could get much lower than it had in terms of the harmony between the supporters, players and the staff. When we came here there was a lot of negativity between the supporters and everybody else. That’s not helpful.
“What we had to do straight away was get everyone back onside. That means winning games, getting the connection again and everybody – the players – coming in and enjoying work.
“But also supporters coming and focusing on what they want to do and that’s support the club and the players who are playing. I think that had become a side issue. People weren’t coming in here to support the team, but to probably have a go at previous management staff.
“That’s all history. What we have now is a unified club. Everybody wants the same thing. That’s played a massive part in the success in the two years we’ve been here.”
After beating off the initial threat of relegation following his appointment in February 2013, Grayson took Preston into the play-offs in his first full season in charge but a semi-final defeat by Rotherham last year ended hopes of a return to the Championship for the first time since 2011.
Promotion eluded them again on the final day of this season when they lost at Colchester to allow MK Dons to follow Bristol City up automatically. However, a comfortable semi-final win over Chesterfield, winning 4-0 on aggregate, has given Preston – backed by the property tycoon and treble Grand National-winning racehorse owner Trevor Hemmings – a chance to rewrite their play-off history and compete again at a level where Grayson believes they belong.
He added: “Somewhere down the line that record will be broken and hopefully it’ll be this year,” he said. “You need to take that second chance. We’ve done that so far and have one game to finish it off.”
