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Match Preview: Accrington Stanley (A)
1 Hour ago

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@pnefc


After returning from Spain on Thursday evening, Preston North End will make the short journey to face Accrington Stanley on Saturday afternoon.

PNE enjoyed a productive week in Alicante, training in the warm weather conditions, as well as taking on La Liga side Getafe at Campoamor.

The Wham Stadium is the setting on Saturday, though, as North End take on John Coleman’s side for a 3pm kick-off.

Tickets will be on sale for PNE supporters from Deepdale until 1pm on Friday, while any remaining tickets will then be sold on the day from the Wham Stadium. Full ticket details can be found here.

League One side Accrington Stanley have set themselves up a tricky pre-season schedule to prepare for the new campaign, facing sides in the Championship and higher.

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First Team News
Greg Reflects On ‘Priceless’ Spain Camp
18 Hours ago
They kicked off their preparations with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, while last weekend they played two games of 60 minutes against Blackburn Rovers, winning the first 1-0 before losing 2-0 in the second. They also came out on top against Stoke City on Wednesday evening.

For North End, this will be the fourth game of their pre-season schedule and the last one away from home, with a double header at Deepdale coming up next week against Hearts and Leicester City.

Everyone appears to have returned to Euxton unscathed following the training camp in Spain, with the only first team absentee being striker Sean Maguire.

 

Accrington Stanley F.C.
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Not to be confused with Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) or Accrington F.C..
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Accrington Stanley FC

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Full name Accrington Stanley Football Club
Nickname(s) Stanley, Accy Stanley, Accy, The 'Owd Reds
Founded October 1968; 53 years ago
Ground Crown Ground
Capacity 5,450 (3,100 seated)[1]
Owner Andy Holt
Manager John Coleman
League EFL League One
2021–22 EFL League One, 12th of 24
Website Club website

Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history playing at the Crown Ground. The club came to national prominence in 1989 due to the Milk Marketing Board's popular television advert that featured the slogan Accrington Stanley, Who Are They?.

The current club was formed in 1968, two years after the collapse of the original Accrington Stanley, which played in the Football League from 1921 to 1962 after initially competing in the Lancashire Combination. The town's original club, named simply Accrington, were founder members of the Football League in 1888, though folded just six years later. The current incarnation of the club entered the Lancashire Combination and moved on to the Cheshire County League after winning the Combination title in 1977–78. Stanley won Division Two of the Cheshire County League in 1980–81 and became founder members of the North West Counties League in 1982, before being placed in Division One of the Northern Premier League five years later. They were promoted to the Premier Division in 1990–91, though were relegated in 1999.

The early 21st century saw the club win three promotions over the course of seven seasons under the stewardship of John Coleman to gain a place in the Football League. They won three divisional titles in each of their three promotions: Northern Premier League Division One (1999–2000), Northern Premier League Premier Division (2002–03) and the Conference National (2005–06). They then spent 12 seasons mostly in the bottom half of the table in League Two, though did also lose two play-off semi-finals, before Coleman led them to promotion into League One as League Two champions in 2017–18.

 

Match Report: Accrington Stanley 0 PNE 1
2 Hours ago

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Emil Riis’ first goal of pre-season was enough to earn Preston North End a 1-0 victory away to Accrington Stanley.

Daniel Johnson had seen a penalty saved with the score at 0-0, but he turned provider for Denmark international Riis on 38 minutes.

PNE probably couldn’t believe they didn’t take the lead in the opening 20 minutes, and it was eventual goalscorer Riis to have the first chance of the game, firing wide from six yards on the end of Robbie Brady’s cross.

North End then had a penalty on 17 minutes, with Ched Evans doing very well to beat his man before being brought down by the goalkeeper, but Johnson’s spot kick was kept out by Lukas Jensen.

Evans then had a chance himself a few moments later, on the end of a brilliant team move with Brady at the heart of it, however Jensen was again equal to it.

PNE did have their goal on 38 minutes, though, as a well-contested Browne header sent Johnson away and he selflessly laid the ball across to Riis, who slotted home first time with his right foot.

Brad Potts saw a long-range effort saved just before half-time, while substitute goalkeeper Toby Savin then denied Browne from distance inside two minutes of the second period.

At the other end, Freddie Woodman’s first meaningful save of the game came on 65 minutes, as he flew to his left to tip Tommy Leigh’s powerful effort round the post.

In a second half full of changes, there were few chances of note, with Liam Lindsay having the last opportunity of the game, heading over with just a few minutes left on the clock.

Accrington Stanley line-up: Jensen (Savin, 45); Sangare (Rodgers, 66), Rich-Baghuelou, Astley, Clark (Nolan, 74); Coyle, Hamilton (Pell, 67); Lowe (Longelo, 56), Pritchard (Leigh, 56), McConville (Whalley, 56); Bishop (Adedoyin, 56). Subs not used: Conneely, Martin, Procter, Perritt.

PNE line-up: Woodman (Cornell, 66); Diaby (Storey, 66), Bauer (Lindsay, 56), Cunningham (Hughes, 56); Potts (Olosunde, 74), Ledson (Whiteman, 56), Browne (McCann, 56), Johnson (Woodburn, 66), Brady (Coulton, 66); Evans (Amaral, 82), Riis (O’Neill, 82).

Attendance: 1,897 (1,014 PNE fans)

Referee: Mr D Webb.

 

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Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the Scottish capital,[3] was formed in 1874, its name influenced by Walter Scott's novel The Heart of Midlothian.[4] The club crest is based on the Heart of Midlothian mosaic on the city's Royal Mile; the team's colours are maroon and white.[4]

Hearts have played home matches at Tynecastle Park since 1886.[5] After converting the ground into an all-seater stadium in 1990, it now has a capacity of 19,852[1] following the completion of a rebuilt main stand in 2017. They have training facilities at the Oriam, Scotland's national performance centre for sport, where they also run their youth academy.[6]

Heart of Midlothian have won the Scottish league championship four times, most recently in 1959–60, when they also retained the Scottish League Cup to complete a League and League Cup double – the only club outside of the Old Firm to achieve such a feat.

The club's most successful period was under former player turned manager Tommy Walker from the early 1950s to mid 1960s. Between 1954 and 1962 they won two league titles, one Scottish Cup, and four Scottish League Cups, and also finished inside the league's top four positions for 11 consecutive seasons between 1949–50 and 1959–60. Jimmy Wardhaugh, Willie Bauld and Alfie Conn Sr., known as the Terrible Trio, were forwards at the start of this period with wing half linchpins Dave Mackay and John Cumming. Wardhaugh was part of another notable Hearts attacking trinity in the 1957–58 league winning side. Along with Jimmy Murray and Alex Young,[7] they set the record for the number of goals scored in a Scottish league winning campaign (132). In doing so, they also became the only side to finish a season with a goal difference exceeding 100 (+103).

Hearts have also won the Scottish Cup eight times, most recently in 2012 after a 5–1 victory over Hibernian, their local rivals.[8] All four of Hearts' Scottish League Cup triumphs came under Walker, most recently a 1–0 victory against Kilmarnock in 1962. Their most recent Scottish League Cup Final appearance was in 2013, where they lost 3–2 to St Mirren.

In 1958, Heart of Midlothian became the third Scottish and fifth British team to compete in European competition. The club reached the quarter-finals of the 1988–89 UEFA Cup, losing to Bayern Munich 2–1 on aggregate.

Heart of Midlothian are one of two full-time professional football clubs in Edinburgh, the capital and second largest city in Scotland.[185] Hearts' average attendance during the 2019–20 season was 16,750.[186] Important matches, particularly the Edinburgh derby, European fixtures and games against the Old Firm, always see Tynecastle at or very close to full capacity.[184]

The Hearts Song was written and performed by Scottish comedian Hector Nicol, a St Mirren fan. A new modern Hearts Song, performed by "Colin Chisholm & The Glasgow Branch", has been played before matches at Tynecastle in recent seasons, though the original version returned for the 2019–2020 season. In 2020–2021 the modern version once again replaced the oldest.

The folk-anthem "There will always be Heart of Midlothian" by songwriter Neil Grant has been played regularly at Tynecastle Park since 2018. At the request of the Foundation of Hearts, Neil performed the rousing track live at Tynecastle during the Ladbrokes Premiership match against St Johnstone on 26 January 2019. The track gained additional exposure after being played on the BBC's popular Off the Ball radio series.[citation needed]

Hearts have many celebrity fans including Stephen Hendry, the late Ronnie Corbett, Ken Stott, Alex Salmond, Sir Chris Hoy, Wattie Buchan, Eilidh Doyle, Lee McGregor, Andrew Oldcorn, Gavin Hastings, Martin Geissler, Nicky Campbell, Grant Hutchison and the late Scott Hutchison.[187][188][189][190][191]

Hearts were featured in the second season of Succession, where the team is bought by the character Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) who, in an attempt to impress his father Logan (Brian Cox), mistakenly buys the Edinburgh rival of Logan's actual favourite team, Hibs.

MANAGER

Robbie Neilson

Coaching career[edit]
Hearts[edit]
On 31 August 2013, Neilson returned to Hearts as their development team (under-20s) manager.[33] The side lost the Scottish Youth Cup final to Rangers on penalties in 2014.[34]

New club owner Ann Budge promoted Neilson to the head coach position, working for director of football Craig Levein in May 2014.[35] Neilson's first official match in charge was a 3–1 home defeat of Annan Athletic in the Scottish Challenge Cup on 26 July.[36] Hearts began the 2014–15 Scottish Championship with five straight wins, including victories against Rangers and Hibernian.[37][38] His team remained undefeated for their first 20 leagues matches until a 3–2 home defeat to Falkirk ended their run on 24 January 2015.[39]

Neilson won the Championship manager of the month awards for August,[40] October,[41] November[42] and March.[43] Hearts clinched the league championship and promotion to the Scottish Premiership, at the first attempt, on 22 March.[44] They finished the season 21 points ahead of nearest challengers, city rivals Hibernian, and 24 points ahead of third-placed Rangers. Neilson was shortlisted for PFA Scotland Manager of the Year,[45] but lost out to John Hughes of Inverness CT.[46]

Hearts finished third in the 2015–16 Scottish Premiership, qualifying for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.[citation needed] In November 2016, it was reported that Neilson had agreed to move to Football League One club Milton Keynes Dons, subject to a compensation agreement between the clubs.[47]

Milton Keynes Dons[edit]
On 2 December 2016, Milton Keynes Dons confirmed that Neilson had been appointed as manager, as well as his assistant manager at Hearts, Stevie Crawford. The club confirmed Neilson would take charge following the club's FA Cup game against Charlton Athletic.[48] In his first league game in charge of Milton Keynes Dons, he recorded a 1–0 home win against AFC Wimbledon.[49]

After a run of one win in 11 league games, Neilson left Milton Keynes Dons by mutual consent on 20 January 2018.[50] The team had fallen into 21st place, inside the relegation zone.[50]

Dundee United[edit]
Neilson was appointed head coach of Scottish Championship club Dundee United in October 2018 with a contract running until the end of the 2019–20 season.[51][52] Neilson expressed confidence that he could repeat his achievement at Hearts and lead Dundee United to promotion to the Scottish Premiership.[52] Dundee United's chairman Mike Martin stated that Neilson was the "outstanding candidate" to emerge from "a long list of impressive applications" for the post and expressed delight at his accepting the offer to take up the post.[52] Neilson's first match in charge saw United defeat Partick Thistle 2–1 at Firhill.[53] At the end of Neilson's first season, United missed out on promotion to the Premiership after losing to St Mirren in the play-off final.[54] He led the side to the Scottish Championship title the following season, which was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[55]

Hearts (second spell)[edit]
Neilson returned to Hearts, who had been relegated to the Scottish Championship after the curtailed 2019–20 season, in June 2020. He signed a three-year deal.[55] On 31 October he led them to the 2019-20 Scottish Cup Final after 2–1 victory over rivals Hibernian, thus making them finalists for the second consecutive season;[56] the final was lost on penalties to Celtic on 20 December after a 3–3 draw.[57]

Neilson's team secured the Championship title with three games remaining on 10 April 2021 after contenders Raith Rovers and Dundee drew.[58] He was the division's Manager of the Month in December and April.[59]

Neilson led hearts to an opening day victory over Celtic in the 2021-22 Scottish premiership. Hearts would follow this up with a 2-1 away win over St Mirren, their first win at St Mirren Stadium in the league for over a decade.[60] Hearts early season league form would continue with a 2-0 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice on matchday 4 [61] seeing Neilson named Scottish Premiership manager of the month for August. A last gasp equaliser at Ibrox against Rangers would see Hearts stretch their unbeaten run in top flight games to 9 games.[62] Neilson's Hearts were eventually beaten 2-1 away from home by Aberdeen on Saturday 30th October [63] having managed to go unbeaten for the full first round of fixtures for the first time since the 2005–06 season.

Neilson would once again lead hearts to a Scottish Cup Semi-Final against rivals Hibernian for the 2nd time in 3 seasons following a 4-2 win over St Mirren at Tynecastle[64] in the Quarter Finals. Hearts would defeat Hibernian 3-1 at Tynecastle in the final League game before the split, cementing 3rd place in the league in their first season following promotion for the 2nd time under Neilson while condemning their Rivals to the bottom 6.[65] Just 7 days later, Hearts would once again defeat Hibernian 2-1 in the Scottish Cup Semi-Final[66] at Hampden Park for the 2nd time in 18 months, setting up a 2nd Scottish Cup Final appearance since Neilson's return, this coupled with their league position guaranteeing a return to European group stage football for the first time since the 2004-05 season, a campaign in which Neilson played.

Still no signings first visit to the venue of broken dreams this season

 

Preston North End 2 Woodburn, Browne Hearts 1 Haring pen

In the main an entertaining game which we probably did enough to deserve the win we got, good to be back at Deepdale although the lack of beer was a bit of a blow inside the ground, first time ever for a glass of wine before the game.
Pitch looked in super condition and a decent support from our visitors gave the ground a bit of atmosphere

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We were pinned back in the early stages but once we got into the game we looked decent, fast passing, speed on the break not things you would normally expect from us, interesting to see both Storey and Hughes two of the centre backs ending up in advanced forward positions.
Should have taken an early lead following some woeful defending by Hearts but Woodburn delayed too long and a defender and keeper denied him.
Hearts should have taken the lead on the half hou , great move from defence to attack Boyce denied by Woodman, probaly should have scored, within a couple of minutes we did. Storey with the ball at the Hearts corner flag, found Potts not the greatest cross but it found Woodburn who was barracked by Hearts fans all night, his effort beat Gordon 1 up

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One substitution at half time Johnson for Brady who looked good going forward however have my reservations whether he is a wing back.
First ten minutes of the second peiod we were excellent, Woodburn went close again then out of the blue they equalised, Sibbick went on a lengthy run avoiding all efforts to hack him down, ball to Boyce in teh area and he was felled by Hughes looked a penalty all day long, Haring sent Woodman the wrong way.
A flurry of substitutions and one of them Browne scored from about 12 yards out after a move down the left hand side, he should have buried it, mishit it and it dribbled in off Gordon.
One other chance a shot from outside the box which Woodman didn't see flashed the wrong side of the post, there wer a few crunching tackles, a couple of bookings and a visiting fan was ejected from the ground.

PNE line-up: Woodman; Storey (Diaby, 69), Lindsay (Cunningham, 78), Hughes (Bauer, 78); Potts, Whiteman (Amaral, 88), McCann (Browne, 69), Woodburn (O’Neill, 86), Brady (Johnson, 45); Riis, Evans (Ledson, 75). Subs not used: Cornell, Coulton.

Hearts line-up: Gordon; Sibbick (Halkett, 77), Neilson (Kingsley, 45), Cochrane; Atkinson (Smith, 56), Haring, Grant (Mackay-Steven, 70), Halliday (Rowles, 56); Forrest, Boyce, McKay. Subs not used: Stewart.

Attendance: 3,286 (513 away).

Referee: Mr P Bankes.

A couple of signings wouldn't go amiss, some useful performances last night but we looked quite promising with Loweball

Fantastic

https://www.pnefc.net/news/2022/july/rya...s-victory/

 

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Leicester City Football Club is a professional football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at the King Power Stadium.[2]

The club was founded in 1884 as Leicester Fosse F.C.,[3] playing on a field near Fosse Road. They moved to Filbert Street in 1891, were elected to the Football League in 1894 and adopted the name Leicester City in 1919. They moved to the nearby Walkers Stadium in 2002,[4] which was renamed the King Power Stadium in 2011.[5]

Leicester won the 2015–16 Premier League, their first and only top tier title, becoming one of seven clubs to have won the Premier League since its inception in 1992, and the 24th club to have been English league champions. A number of newspapers described Leicester's title win as the greatest sporting shock ever; multiple bookmakers had never paid out at such long odds for any sport.[6][7][8] The club's previous highest ever league finish was second place in the top flight, in 1928–29, then known as the First Division. Leicester holds a joint-record of seven second-tier titles and have competed in the FA Cup final five times, winning their first title in 2021.

They have won the League Cup three times, in 1964, 1997 and 2000.[9] The club has played in seven European competitions to date, notably reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in 2016–17 and the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-finals in 2021–22.[10]

MANAGER

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Managerial career[edit]
Watford[edit]
On 24 November 2008, Rodgers left Chelsea to become the manager of Championship club Watford.[18] Rodgers won only two of his first ten league games as manager, leaving Watford in the relegation zone by January. Watford's form dramatically improved, however, and Rodgers was able to guide them to finish 13th, avoiding relegation.[19]

Reading[edit]
Weeks after guaranteeing Watford's survival, and following the resignation of Steve Coppell as Reading manager, Rodgers quickly became the favourite to succeed him and rejoin his old club.[20] He initially distanced himself from reports linking him with the job, saying that his "concentration (is) fully on Watford".[21][22] However, he eventually agreed a deal to become the new manager of Reading on 5 June 2009, after a compensation package worth an initial £500,000 with Watford was agreed, which later rose to £1 million.[23][24] The Watford Supporters' Trust stated that Rodgers' reputation was "severely damaged" in the eyes of the supporters as a result of the move, but they nevertheless "thanked (Rodgers) for his efforts last season" and "(wished) him well for the future".[25] On 11 August, Rodgers got his first win as Reading manager with a 5–1 win over League Two side Burton Albion in the first round of the League Cup. Despite a good start in the league, a disappointing string of results followed, and Rodgers left Reading by mutual consent on 16 December, just over six months after his arrival, with Reading one place above relegation in the Championship.[26]

Swansea City[edit]

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Rodgers celebrating winning the 2011 Championship play-off final with Swansea City
Rodgers accepted an offer to become the manager of Championship side Swansea City on 16 July 2010.[27] Prior to this appointment, he had been asked to join the coaching staff at Manchester City under manager Roberto Mancini.[28] His beginning as Swansea manager was very successful, leading to Rodgers being named the Championship Manager of the Month for February 2011 after Swansea won five out of the six league games they played that month, while keeping four clean sheets.[29] By 25 April 2011, Rodgers had managed to comfortably secure Swansea City's place in the 2011 Championship Play-Offs for promotion into the Premier League, with a convincing 4–1 victory over Ipswich Town at the Liberty Stadium.[30]

On 16 May 2011, Rodgers led Swansea to the 2011 Championship Play-Off final as the favourites after defeating underdogs Nottingham Forest over two legs in the semi-final.[31] He faced his old club Reading in the final at Wembley Stadium on 30 May 2011, which Swansea won 4–2 thanks in part to a hat-trick from Scott Sinclair, meaning Swansea became the first Welsh team ever to gain promotion to the Premier League.[32] Rodgers was praised by the media and supporters for consoling Reading manager Brian McDermott and owner John Madejski before receiving the trophy.[33]

Rodgers' first win as a Premier League manager came on 17 September 2011, when Swansea beat West Bromwich Albion 3–0 at the Liberty Stadium.[34] Despite many predicting before the season began that Swansea were favourites to be relegated, their debut season proved very impressive, as they picked up points against Liverpool, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, keeping them well above the relegation zone.[35][36][37][38] In January 2012, Swansea claimed their first away win of the season at Aston Villa, a month which also saw them beat Arsenal 3–2 at home and hold Chelsea to a 1–1 draw. This saw Rodgers earn his first Premier League Manager of the Month award.[39][40][41] In February, Rodgers signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract to keep him at the club until July 2015.[42]

Liverpool[edit]
2012–13 season[edit]

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Rodgers with Liverpool in 2014
On 1 June 2012, Rodgers was unveiled as the new Liverpool manager on a three-year contract, following the departure of Kenny Dalglish two weeks prior.[43][44] Rodgers' appointment was immediately endorsed by former colleague and Real Madrid manager José Mourinho.[45] In July 2012, Rodgers wrote an open letter to the Swansea City supporters, thanking both the staff and supporters for his time at the club, and wishing them well for the future.[46] Days later, Rodgers held his first training session at Melwood as the squad reported back for pre-season training.[47][48]

On 2 August 2012, Rodgers oversaw his first competitive game as Liverpool manager, a 1–0 win in the UEFA Europa League against Belarusian club Gomel, and won his first home game in charge in the second leg one week later.[49] In his first league game as manager on 18 August, Liverpool lost 3–0 against West Brom at The Hawthorns.[50] His first win in the league came against Norwich City at Carrow Road, Liverpool winning 5–2.[51] On 31 October, Rodgers welcomed his former club Swansea to Anfield in the fourth round of the League Cup, a match Liverpool lost 3–1.[52] On 6 December, Liverpool defeated Udinese 1–0 away in the Europa League to qualify for the round of 32 as group winners.[53]

On 27 January 2013, Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round, surprisingly losing 3–2 to League One team Oldham Athletic.[54] Liverpool finished in seventh position in the Premier League in his first season in charge, one position higher than the previous season.[55]

2013–14 season[edit]
At the start of the 2013–14 season, Rodgers was named the Premier League Manager of the Month for August 2013 as Liverpool won their first three league games of the season.[56] In January 2014, he was fined £8,000 after making comments about referee Lee Mason after a 2–1 loss to Manchester City in December 2013.[57] He was later named Manager of the Month for the second time that season for March 2014, after Liverpool won all five of their games that month to go top of the Premier League.[58]

A run of 11-straight wins for Liverpool left them five points clear at the top of the Premier League with just three matches to play.[59] However, they then suffered a 2–0 home defeat to Chelsea on 27 April.[60] This result handed the advantage to Manchester City in the title race. In their next game away to Crystal Palace on 5 May, Liverpool led 3–0 with 11 minutes to go, but the game finished 3–3.[61] Liverpool ended the season as Premier League runners-up, two points behind champions Manchester City.[62]

Liverpool scored 101 league goals in the season, the club's most since the 1895–96 season and the third-highest in Premier League history.[63] Later that month, Rodgers was named the LMA Manager of the Year, becoming the first Liverpool manager to win the accolade in its 20-year history.[64][65] On 26 May 2014, Rodgers signed a new four-year contract at Liverpool.[66]

2014–15 season[edit]
Liverpool were eliminated from the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League after drawing against Basel in their final group match, dropping into the Europa League.[67] The Reds were subsequently knocked out in the Europa League round of 32 after losing 4–5 on penalties to Turkish side Beşiktaş.[68] On 19 April 2015, Liverpool were defeated by Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final. Liverpool finished the season with a 6–1 defeat to Stoke, finishing sixth in the Premier League. This meant Rodgers became the first Liverpool manager since the 1950s not to win a trophy after three seasons in charge.[69] Despite this, Rodgers received the backing of Liverpool's owners.[70]

2015–16 season[edit]
On 4 October 2015, Liverpool played their 225th Merseyside derby against Everton with the game ending again in a 1–1 draw. This was the fifth time in Liverpool's previous six games that they had taken a 1–0 lead, then to have the game end in a 1–1 draw; while they had just one win in their previous nine games.[71] Just one hour after the game, Rodgers was sacked, leaving Liverpool in tenth place after eight matches played.[72][73] Later, it became known that the decision to sack him had already been made prior to the match against Everton.[74] The following day, Rodgers released a statement through the League Managers Association stating, "I am, of course, incredibly disappointed to be leaving... [but] it has been both an honour and a privilege to manage one of the game's great clubs."[75]

Rodgers' signings for Liverpool included James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana, Joe Gomez, Dejan Lovren, Divock Origi and Mario Balotelli.[76]

Celtic[edit]
2016–17 season[edit]

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Rodgers with Celtic in 2018
Rodgers was appointed manager of Scottish Premiership champions Celtic on a 12-month rolling contract on 20 May 2016, following the exit of Ronny Deila.[77] Upon his arrival in Glasgow, Rodgers spoke of his admiration for the late Tommy Burns, the former Celtic player and manager who was in charge of Reading when Rodgers began his coaching career.[78]

On 12 July, in his first competitive game in charge, Celtic lost 1–0 away to Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg of their second qualifying round of the 2016–17 Champions League.[79] He said of the surprise result, "There is obvious disappointment. There is no embarrassment."[80] Celtic overcame their one-goal deficit with a 3–0 win at Celtic Park. On 23 August 2016, Celtic qualified for the group stage of the 2016–17 Champions League for the first time in three years after a 5–4 aggregate victory over Hapoel Be'er Sheva.[81] In the first game of the group stage, 13 September 2016, Rodgers suffered a 7–0 defeat against Barcelona at Camp Nou, this was Brendan Rodgers' heaviest defeat and the worst result for Celtic in European competition.[82]

On 27 November 2016, Rodgers won his first trophy as a manager as Celtic beat Aberdeen 3–0 in the final of the Scottish League Cup.[83] The win also gave Celtic their 100th major trophy.[84]

On 31 December 2016, Rodgers became the first manager in Celtic history to win his opening three games against Rangers. This victory meant Celtic went 19 points clear, with a game in hand, in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership table. It also secured Celtic their 5th consecutive league victory, 58 points from a possible 60, and stretched their unbeaten run in domestic football to 24 games.[85]

On 2 April 2017, Celtic defeated Hearts 5–0 to secure the club's sixth consecutive league title, with eight games to spare.[86] Five days later, Rodgers signed a new four-year contract with Celtic.[87]

As Celtic's unbeaten domestic run continued, they subjected Rangers to their heaviest defeat at Ibrox since 1915, thrashing their rivals 5–1 on 29 April.[88][89] Celtic's 2–0 win over Hearts on 21 May saw them finish 30 points ahead of second-placed Aberdeen in the league with a record 106 points, and the team become the first Scottish side to complete a top-flight season undefeated since 1899.[90] On 27 May 2017, Celtic defeated Aberdeen 2–1 to win the Scottish Cup, securing a domestic treble for the fourth time in their history, and ending the 2016–17 season unbeaten in all domestic competitions.[91]

2017–18 season[edit]
On 4 November 2017, Rodgers guided Celtic to a 4–0 victory over St Johnstone. This victory meant Celtic were unbeaten for their last 63 domestic games. The victory also meant they surpassed the 100-year British-held recorded for consecutive domestic games undefeated, which was also held by Willie Maley's Celtic team, set in 1917 at 62.[92] On 26 November 2017, Rodgers won his fourth trophy in a row as a manager as Celtic beat Motherwell 2–0 in the 2017 Scottish League Cup Final. Rodgers became the first manager in the club's history to win his first four domestic trophies and also stretch the unbeaten domestic record to 65 games.[93] This unbeaten run finally ended after 69 games, ending with a 4–0 loss to Hearts.[94]

On 29 April 2018, Rodgers secured his second and Celtic's seventh consecutive league title with a 5–0 win against Rangers at Celtic Park. This win also extended Celtic's unbeaten run against Rangers to 12 games.[95] The season ended with Rodgers winning the first 'Double Treble' (a treble in two consecutive seasons) in Scottish football history with a 2–0 Scottish Cup Final win over Motherwell on 19 May 2018.[96]

2018–19 season[edit]
Rodgers said that he turned down an approach from a Chinese club during the summer of 2018. He told BBC Scotland: "With China it's big money, but I've found happiness here."[97] After failing to qualify for the Champions League,[98] Celtic qualified in second place from the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.[99] They were knocked out by Valencia in the round of 32, 3–0 on aggregate.[100] Celtic won the Scottish League Cup in December 2018, Rodgers' seventh successive trophy with the club.[101] In February 2019, with Celtic leading the Premiership by eight points, Rodgers departed Celtic, joining English Premier League club Leicester City.[102]

Leicester City[edit]
2018–19 season[edit]
In February 2019, Rodgers was appointed manager of Leicester City, following the sacking of Claude Puel.[102][103][104] Rodgers' first game in charge of The Foxes was on 3 March 2019 away against former club Watford. The game ended in a 2–1 defeat, with Andre Gray scoring a 92nd-minute winner for the Hornets.[105] In Rodgers' home debut, his second game in charge, Leicester won 3–1 over struggling Fulham. Striker Jamie Vardy scored his 100th goal for the club in the match.[106]

2019–20 season[edit]
On 6 December 2019, Rodgers signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2025. At the point of signing the deal, his team had recorded 7 wins in a row and sat second in the table after 15 Premier League games.[107] In his first full season, Rodgers guided Leicester to fifth place and therefore qualifying for the UEFA Europa League group stage.[108]

2020–21 season[edit]
They started the 2020–21 season strongly, beating Manchester City 5–2 away from home on 27 September 2020, meaning that Rodgers is the first manager whose team have scored 5 goals against a team managed by Pep Guardiola.[109] In Europe, Leicester managed to win the Europa League group with Braga, AEK Athens and Zorya Luhansk to progress to the round of 16, but they were eliminated by Slavia Prague after a 0–0 away draw in Czech Republic and a 0–2 home loss.[110]

On 15 May 2021, he led Leicester City to win the first FA Cup title in their history, after a 1–0 win over Chelsea in the final.[111] The end of the season in the league saw a fierce battle between Leicester, Chelsea and Liverpool for the remaining UEFA Champions League spots. Despite being in third place for most of the season, a 1–2 loss to Chelsea in the penultimate round saw Leicester drop to 5th place after Liverpool's 3–0 defeat of Burnley, with Leicester and Liverpool tied on points and Chelsea up in third via a solitary point.[112] Despite Chelsea's 1–2 loss against Aston Villa giving them a chance to a fourth-place finish, Leicester couldn't take advantage due to a dramatic 2–4 loss to Tottenham Hotspur after maintaining a 2–1 lead until Kasper Schmeichel's own goal in the 76th minute, coupled with a brace from Gareth Bale. Thus, Leicester once again finished fifth, qualifying for Europa League.[113]

Management style[edit]
Rodgers believes in his teams keeping possession of the ball and playing a flowing passing and attacking game with the ball always moving; defensively, he likes his team to put a lot of pressure on the opposing team.[114]

His Liverpool team during the 2013–14 season interchanged from 4–5–1 to 3–5–2 to 4–4–2 to 4–3–3 to a diamond formation.[115] Steven Gerrard described Rodgers' one-on-one management as the best he had seen.[116]

Leicester Music

Family

Rumours of signings abound two loan however they are still in the pipeline, a long one, no doubt they will pop out shortly, starting line up will be interesting

 

PNE will conclude their pre-season schedule on Saturday afternoon with a home tie against Premier League side Leicester City.

North End will welcome the Foxes to Deepdale for a 3pm kick-off in their sixth and final friendly, before Championship action kicks off against Wigan Athletic on Saturday 30th July.



PNE Team News

Sean Maguire will miss out once more through an Achilles problem, while Matthew Olosunde is a doubt due to a calf issue which ruled him out of the midweek Hearts friendly.

Speaking after that game, manager Ryan Lowe admitted he hadn’t decided what his plan was going to be in terms of giving minutes to his players on Saturday afternoon.

Lowe’s main priority is that he comes out of the weekend with at least a 20-man squad to pick from when it comes to the opening game of the Championship season against Wigan Athletic next Saturday.

The Opposition

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Leicester City – who finished eighth in the Premier League last term – have played three games so far in pre-season, with their most recent outing ending in a 4-0 victory over Championship side Hull City.

While the Foxes also have a friendly scheduled for 1pm against Derby County on Saturday, there will be a strong squad heading to Deepdale.

Leicester are yet to welcome any additions to the side this summer, but there’s certainly no shortage of quality in their side, with the likes of Jamie Vardy and James Maddison just two attacking threats for PNE to be wary of.

 

Watched 2nd half for free on LCFC's youtube site.

 

Match Report: PNE 1 Leicester City 2
2 Hours ago

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@pnefc

Preston North End were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Premier League side Leicester City in the final game of pre-season.

The visitors had a two-goal lead inside 18 minutes through Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes, before Ali McCann got one back for PNE early in the second half.

It was a strong display from the home side in the second 45, but North End couldn’t quite find an equaliser.

The Foxes were the side on top in the early stages and they took the lead on 12 minutes, with Keirnan Dewsbury-Hall’s through ball finding Vardy, and the experienced forward calmly rounded Freddie Woodman before slotting home.

Six minutes later it was two, as Barnes cut in from the left to take aim, seeing his effort sneak in off the inside of the post.

Marc Albrighton could have made it three for the Foxes just after the half-hour mark, but he blazed his effort from just inside the area over the bar, and McCann produced a crucial block a few minutes later to deny Barnes at the back post.

McCann – who lined up at right wing back – then came up with the goods in an attacking sense early in the second half, getting himself on the end of a lovely floated cross from Andrew Hughes to head into the top corner.

There was a standing ovation on 63 minutes from the North End faithful as last season’s Player of the Year, Daniel Iversen came on for the visitors, and one of his first actions was to dive to his right to keep out a Jordan Storey volley.

It looked as though Barnes had doubled his tally for the afternoon ten minutes later, as he beat Woodman after being played in by Maddison, but he was denied by the post.

Riis had the ball in the back of the net at the other end on 75 minutes as he brilliantly controlled Browne’s missing volley and thumped the ball home, but the linesman’s flag was up for offside.

Goalscorer Barnes had the final chance of the game, seeing his close-range shot well kept out by Woodman, and the score ended 2-1 to the visitors in the final game of pre-season, with attention now turning to next weekend's Championship opener against Wigan Athletic.

PNE line-up: Woodman; Diaby (Storey, 45), Lindsay, Hughes; McCann (Woodburn, 70), Whiteman, Ledson, Brady; Browne, Johnson (Evans, 45); Riis. Subs not used: Cornell, Cunningham, Bauer, Coulton, O’Neill, Potts.

Leicester City line-up: Schmeichel (Iversen, 63); Pereira, Fofana, Evans, Justin; Soumare, Dewsbury-Hall; Albrighton (Perez, 63), Maddison, Barnes; Vardy. Subs not used: Braybrooke, Nelson, Ewing, McAtee, Hughes, Appiah.

Attendance: 4,553 (470 Leicester fans).

Referee: Mr J Gillett.
Ryan Lowe was on the whole pleased with his side’s performance against Premier League side Leicester City as the Lilywhites played out an entertaining final pre-season friendly of the summer at Deepdale.

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Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes struck early in an opening 45 minutes which Ryan felt was ‘okay in patches’, before the Lilywhites changed things up slightly in the second half – in which Ali McCann pulled a goal back – to the satisfaction of the gaffer.

Although North End could only pull one goal back in the second half, Ryan was pleased with the ‘fantastic test’ that the Foxes provided for his players.

He told iFollow PNE: “Second half was good, first half was okay in patches. We wanted to try [something] a little bit different in terms of the personnel in different positions.

“We gifted them two goals. The first one was a great goal by them, even the second one for their behalf, but for us we felt we could have dealt with it.

“We made a couple of changes second half, we were a lot better, on the front foot a little bit more. Without being disrespectful, I thought the first half we showed a bit too much respect.

“Second half we came out with a different attitude, a different style, different intensity, and we were well worthy of a goal and potentially another one chalked offside. Our mate Daniel [Iversen] has made a great save from a good strike from Jordan Storey.

“Really pleased with the second half performance and I’m more pleased now that we’re through pre-season without potentially any injuries.

“I thought the second half performance was fantastic in a different way, with another striker on the pitch.

“We’ve got to make sure that we give ourselves the best opportunity of getting results. If that’s making one or two changes and different personnel then we’ll certainly do it.”

Overlapping centre backs was a feature of North End’s play, particularly in the second half, as Andrew Hughes provided the cross for McCann’s header.

“It worked last season,” Lowe continued. “This season we’ve implemented a bit more of what we want them to do and how we want them to play. We’re asking them to be brave against a Premier League team but sometimes you can’t be too brave, you’ve got to be a little bit respectful.

“I thought they were fantastic at stepping in at the right times on the front foot. You can see the patterns of play we work on, on a daily basis, and getting involved and joining in.

“The more they do that, the better, because as you’ve seen, I think our goal came down the left-hand side from Hughesy doing it and joining in and a great cross from Ali. Really pleased overall with the performance, especially second half.”

North End appear to have come through their final outing of pre-season without any additional injury woes, as Lowe spoke of the players’ recovery period over the coming days and Monday’s open training session, ahead of next weekend’s league opener at Wigan Athletic.

“We’ve got to make sure that we’re all alright Monday morning first and foremost.

“For them to get through it, the lads who only played certain amount of minutes was meant to be, we wanted to make sure they gave everyone the calculated numbers of what they need. We’ve certainly done that and hopefully Monday morning we’ve come unscathed.

“The lads will have a rest day tomorrow, recovery day, we’ve got our open training day Monday which will be slightly second day recovery, but we’ll do a little bit of tactics stuff maybe in the video anaylsis room and then we’ll work Tuesday right the way onto the week for the Wigan game.

“Really looking forward to it now, it’s obviously around the corner, a week away, and we just can’t wait.”

 

As for the friendlies

Hasta la Vista