[themaclad]

6 April 1968 a 0-0 draw against Birmingham at Deepdale, was the day a lifelong pursuit of mediocrity began. Actually won the game, but in true PNE stylee the goal was disallowed, the recent deceased Willie Irvine forced the ball home after an error by Jim Herriott(he's also died this year) Granada TV had the match as the Sunday afternoon highlights game and it was clear the official had erred, there have been many error's since then.
My first full season 1968/69 saw us relegated

So Season 57 begins with a trip to West London to play Queens Park Rangers, who have had a busy summer appearing on the Big Match Revisited virtually every week.

Last season managed to lose both games against them, once remembered when we always won but that seems to be a long time in the past.

Under new managership Julian Stephan, nope never heard of him, as with the first game of the season hope springs eternal, then you remember the three relegated sides have parachute payments, rewards for being pants, also Wrexham and Birmingham, seem to be unaware of FFP payments and have spent a bucket load.

Sky will have difficulty this season tagging virtually 75% of the clubs in the Championships as big clubs.

5 am alarm on Saturday, a new coach firm to take us to various parts of the compass, but first up is the Hoops

Quuens Park Rangers



Tight little ground, with seats in the Upper Level of the away end are a heallth and Safety hazard for anyone over 10 stones

MANAGER

Julien Stéphan (born 18 September 1980) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of EFL Championship club Queens Park Rangers.

As a player, he was as a defensive midfielder. From December 2018 to March 2021, Stéphan managed his hometown club Rennes, winning the 2018–19 Coupe de France, before managing Strasbourg from July 2021 to January 2023. In November 2023, he was reappointed as manager of Rennes before being sacked a year later.




HISTORY




Early news from Deepdale

Brady and Thompson apparently out until the New Year and Potts until November, apparently this has been heard in a pub and on Facebook.

More to be added later

[themaclad]

Team News
A number of North End’s summer signings will be hoping to make their competitive bows for the club on matchday one.

One of the nine arrivals, Jordan Thompson will have to wait for his PNE debut, though, as he recovers from an ankle operation.

Robbie Brady is the only other known absentee after picking up a calf injury in a behind-closed-doors friendly which will keep him sidelined for a couple of weeks.

The Hosts

QPR will officially begin life under head coach Julien Stéphan on Saturday, following the arrival of the Frenchman in June.

The former Rennes and Strasbourg boss has taken over from Marti Cifuentes who guided the R’s to a 15th-placed finish in the second tier last term.

There hasn’t been too much change to the playing staff since the end of last season, although new additions Kwame Poku and Rumarn Burrell will be hoping to make an early impression following their arrival from League One.

Match Officials

Referee: Oliver Langford
Assistant Referee: Mark Stevens and Lee Venamore
Fourth Official: Jacob Miles

Oliver Langford will be the man in the middle for this first match of the season.

Langford last officiated North End in February 2024 and he has also refereed this fixture before, back in December 2022.

The official took charge of 31 matches during the 2024/25 season, showing 102 yellow cards and six reds.

Langford, why?

We’ve Met Before
PNE’s last victory at Loftus Road came on Good Friday in 2023, when Tom Cannon was at the double.


So here we are again, I genuinely have no idea how we are going to play, been an odd last couple of weeks, little from the club or the local press. Possibly Devine might be signed today, which will make the good people of ONEOnline happier, as I type, the transfer rumour thread has hit 1507 pages.
Coach at 7.30am, back to the M6/M40/A40 just a gentle 400 mile round trip to get the season started, bring it on

[themaclad]

THE GAFFER

It’s that time again as the Sky Bet Championship season is coming back around, and Paul Heckingbottom and his players can’t wait to get started.

It’s been a busy six weeks of pre-season, with competitive friendlies played, hard graft on the training pitch, and team-building activities away from it – all working towards 9th August, when PNE take on Queens Park Rangers.

Hecky said: “I’m glad it's here. As far as pre-seasons go, I enjoyed this one, but it's not like the real thing. All of a sudden you turn up Monday morning this week and you're building towards a proper game, so I'm glad it’s here.

“I think the players are ready. We've worked hard. I think we've been ready in terms of fitness-wise for a couple of weeks now. The lads have worked really hard on the grass, in the gym, in the pre-season games, so I think they're looking forward to a competitive game as well.

“Everyone's ready for that feeling again in games. It is different again like six games in, if you've played all six you feel in the flow – really, really good. In terms of the fitness and wanting that competitive edge again, everyone's champing at the bit for it, definitely.”

It’s more than three months on from the final day of the 2024/25 season and there’s been a lot of change since.


Nine new faces have joined North End and many of them will be hoping to make their Lilywhites bow on matchday one in the capital. They’ve integrated seamlessly behind the scenes, so the hope is that will be reflected on the pitch.

Hecky said: “We've been able to work with those boys and get them to understand what we expect of them and their role in the team, so that's been good.

“We needed the bodies because there's been a big turnaround this summer. As excited as I am by that, I know that brings its own problems, the bedding-in things like that.

“Once you're under pressure, once you're actually really tested in the competition that you're playing in, that's only really when you begin to understand, ‘Yeah, we still need to work on that,’ or ‘He still needs a bit more help with this’. So yeah, that's the bit I'm looking forward to from them on Saturday.”

There’s always an element of the unknown when a new season begins and in the case of QPR the opening day of the campaign will be their first competitive match under the management of Julien Stéphan, who took over his first English role in the summer.


Hecky added: “There's been so many changes at the management level in the Championship. There always is, but this season seems more than ever, so that always changes things. New ideas, even managers that you know well who have maybe been out of the game and they have different ideas when they come back.

“It's exciting but the challenge of that is getting to understand what each team's trying to do as quickly as possible. The first two or three months of the Championship are mayhem for trying to get your head around that.

“You're trying to watch every minute of every game, whether it’s a live match on TV, getting out to games live, downloading the ones that you can't see live. But I feel like if you do that hard work and get on top of that early doors, there's not too many surprises as the season goes on.”

[themaclad]

Well that's the first 455 miles ticked off, just about another 7500 to go, the M6/M40 combo always a sexy duo, Norton Canes, with a mixtures of Rochdale, Carlisle and Wigan fans on the way down and that peculiar bunch of MK Dons support on the way back.
Prematch walk down past Gary Lineker towers, down Uxbridge Road, and back up Bloemfontain Road.



No Jebbison now injured month out, looked a side picked to get a point, although you would never have guessed that from our first half performance which was less than impressive although in saying that probably should have scored when I think it was Gibson who headed wide from close range.
The two diminutive wingers Dembele and Poku caused us lots of problems and we had our usual difficulties with Chair although if his team mates had difficulty locating his excellent runs into space
When their goal came, probably deserved the lead, Dembele easily out foxed two defenders, his cross was cleared by Hughes well it would have been if it hadn't hit Whiteman and gone in.

Level virtually straight after the break, Iverson clears ball down field, Rangers defenders watch transfixed as this white thing falls from the sky, Osmajic reacts first and lobs ball over walsh in the Rangers goal, dreadful defending. Looked the side more likely, but Iverson made a great save from Dembele to keep parity. From that moment we probably looked the side more likely to win, didn't take advantage when Walsh spilled the ball.
Some good and bad bits but that's a point more than we got from Rangers last season.

In the shade of the away end hadn't realisd how hot it was out there, we look a fitter outfit than last season.



Queens Park Rangers 1 Preston North End 1
Referee: Oliver Langford.

Attendance: 16,804 (1,322 PNE fans).

HECKY

Paul Heckingbottom felt his side were “much better” in the second half of the opening match of the season against Queens Park Rangers.

North End had gone into the break one down after an unfortunate own goal gave the hosts the lead, but a superb lobbed finish from Milutin Osmajić drew his side level.

The Montenegrin also had PNE’s best chance to win the game, while at the other end Daniel Iversen produced a big stop to deny Kader Dembele.

Hecky said: “If you go behind in the Championship and come back to get a point, we're pleased with that.

“There’s not much in the first half, but we were just passive. Just how we don't want to play. I felt we were comfortable in lots of moments in the first half, but just not aggressive enough against the ball and then not enough quality in the final third.

“We just didn't make the game difficult enough for QPR so it was a bit of a non-entity the first half, if you like. While ever you're performing like that, you give them chances or opportunities to get in your box. They didn't get in much and then the goal was because we weren't aggressive enough on the front foot.

“Second half we were much better. We passed the ball better, we made them defend a lot more so we can't be greedy. I accept the point, take the point, but I would have liked three. I would have liked to have got off to a really good start.”

It was a fantastic goal which saw PNE draw level, as Iversen came out to claim a corner before sending a superb ball into the path of Osmajić, who ran through on goal.


The striker still had plenty to do and he did it in style, sending a first-time lob over goalkeeper Joe Walsh with the outside of his boot.

Hecky said: “Dan's pass is great. Milly’s finish is great and I'm delighted with it because I've not worked with Dan before but he strikes me as someone who wants to get involved in a lot more than just between the goalposts and the tactical element of things, whether it's setting up set plays, his role when we play out, keeping the ball, who he likes to target from goal kicks. He's been very engaged with it.

“We know how high QPR like to be on their set plays, with all ten bodies 30 yards from our goal, so we wanted two players with pace on the edge, so if he did claim it or have a good clearance, we can put them in all sorts of trouble. Dan does come, he claims it, but then it’s one thing to come and claim it, but then he sees Milly’s run. Milly’s run's fantastic and then he executes a great pass, Dan. We’ve exploited the situation really, really well there and it's two players who have switched on.”

French Bloke

QPR head coach Julien Stéphan said he was particularly impressed with his team's first-half performance following Saturday's opening-day draw with Preston.
Following Ben Whiteman's first-half own goal, Rangers were pegged back shortly after half-time in W12 and were subsequently forced to accept a share of the points.

"I think we did a very good first half, collectively," Julien told www.qpr.co.uk after his competitive debut in the R's dugout.


"Honestly, we created good movement with the ball. We had some good movement also with the wingers to take speed and create one-v-ones.

"Sometimes we need to have more players in the box to finish the situation, but we did well also without the ball. Overall, I think we managed the situation well, defensively.

"But for the first one, it was a very good performance in the first half. We conceded the goal very quickly at the beginning of the second half, after a corner kick for us.

"I think it (conceding) was difficult, mentally, for the players. Just after that, they tried to do their best.

"In the second half, we had more difficulty in creating danger, even if we had the best opportunity with Kaddie (Dembele) and a fantastic save from the goalkeeper.

"I want the players to continue to play like this, especially in the first half, because it was very good and it was the way that we wanted to play."

shutterstock_editorial_15433735v.jpg
Julien added: "We just have to be clever in the analysis and say that it was very, very good in the first half.

"Of course, we also have a very young team, so we need to learn. We started with Kieran Morgan who is 19 years old, Esquerdinha who is 19, Liam Morrison 22 and Joe Walsh who is 23.

"They did so well in the first half. Sometimes we will make some mistakes, but I hope we will learn very quickly from them. With the performance today, especially in the first half, perhaps we deserve a better result. But it is what it is.

"Honestly, the guys gave 100% today. We have to continue. It's just the first game. It's a long journey.

"Now let's go focus on the next game."

Rangers head to Plymouth Argyle in round one of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening.