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Tom Barkhuizen interview

Tom Barkhuizen interview

Very interesting comments within.


He twice refers to the previous manager as ‘the previous manager’ - rather like ‘he who must not be named’. Or am I reading too much into that?
 
The long throws have been such a massive plus for us. It makes Barky much more of an important cog in the wheel and he has been decent both FM games truth be told.
 
The long throws have been such a massive plus for us. It makes Barky much more of an important cog in the wheel and he has been decent both FM games truth be told.
in reality it's hardly rocket science..................get the ball and bodies in the box and anything can happen.
 
I could ne
The long throws have been such a massive plus for us. It makes Barky much more of an important cog in the wheel and he has been decent both FM games truth be told.
I could never understand why Alex Neil only seemed to use the long throws in the last 10 mins or so if we were chasing a game. I know it's a bit 'Tony Pulis' but so what if it's effective?
 
I personally don't think Neil ever "lost" the players, in the sense that I still think they were honest enough to go and do what they were asked, as proven a number of times over the season, but certainly in the last few months it looked like they were losing faith in it a bit which resulted in such flat performances.

It seems like they're enjoying being allowed to have a bit of a go at teams again and now they've got a couple of results they should be feeling good about themselves again. Long may it continue!
 
The long throws have been such a massive plus for us. It makes Barky much more of an important cog in the wheel and he has been decent both FM games truth be told.
Definitely, noticed a few decent corner/free kick routines aswell, nice bit of imagination.
 
“At the end of the day, the previous manager has gone and Frankie has come in and he’s just tried to lift the mood. Let’s be honest, we were struggling, we were heading towards League One at one stage. It’s great all-round, it will be a nice trip home and a nice couple of days off.”
 
North End has gained 4 points against two well-funded outfits, albeit with two last-gap deflected goals (it doesn't matter when or how you score goals). That said, performances wise, at Swansea, North End earned the right to claim that they ought to have been 2 goals ahead by the latter stages. Versus parachuted Canaries, any point gained deserves recognition.
I previously endorsed promoting new managers from within the camp. I had Paul Gallagher in mind. At a critical time of the season, McAvoy's promotion has already yielded some much-needed points and stopped the rot, which has - for the time being - justified the board's decision to promote from within.
Not only does promotion-from-within allow the new manager to hit the ground running - but it also imbues a club philosophy that demands managers improve the club and smooth the transfer of power for the next man and so on. It doesn't waste time with a random new guy asking for 16 months' of patience from the fans. Credit goes to Alex Neil for recently bringing Paul Gallagher in as coach. I am sure that Gallagher is popular with the players and this may have presented a direct threat to Neil's tenancy. I suspect that Neil had tired of the club selling his best players, and was getting a bit fed up with what he had left to work with. Whether his promotion of Gallagher to coach was inviting mutiny, it appears more likely after the recent performances and results. Come what may - 4 points from 6 were desperately needed to maintain a 10 point distance from 22nd place.
There is the question of why Preston's professional footballers didn't show this recent burst of fight and enthusiasm 4 weeks ago? If I was their employer I would be asking that question of them and why the sudden burst of passion? The answers would be interesting. Player and agent power is strong these days. Recent weeks events indicate that a mutiny in the ranks is a strong causative contender. Significantly (perhaps), once Neil's lieutenants - Pearson and Davies - had departed, Neil soon found himself on the plank.
I would endorse a policy of continuity at the club, for the foreseeable future.
 
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