The Alex Neil era at Preston North End is officially over after the club parted company with the 39-year-old Scot this afternoon.

Neil replaced Simon Grayson back in the summer of 2017 as PNE's then-manager of four years departed for Sunderland, having established the Lilywhites as a solid Championship club once again.

The former Norwich manager got to grips with the side and almost pushed them into the top six of the Championship in his very first season, despite North End having one of the lower budgets in the division.

They eventually missed out by two points to Derby County and the following two seasons saw North End finish 14th and 9th in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, despite being top briefly earlier in the season in the latter campaign.

PNE were still on the coattails of the play-off race at the start of 2021 after winning three games in a row to end last year, but they've faltered since the start of the new year and have lost nine times.

 

 

 

And yesterday's loss to Luton at Deepdale - their third defeat in a row without scoring - signalled the end of Neil's time at Deepdale, with the club sitting 16th in the Championship and nine points off the relegation zone.

The fanbase is split, with some thankful that he is departed and others believing he has been dealt a bad hand by owner Trevor Hemmings with his best players sold from underneath him.