George Elek: Style, substance and managerial change

Ryan Lowe left Preston on Monday, and now George Elek litigates the knee-jerk vs the slow death, the familiar vs the fresh faced, and the theoretically stylish vs the theoretically substantive.

George Elek

However mutual it may have been, Preston North End’s decision to part company with Ryan Lowe managed to be both knee-jerk and the culmination of a slow death.

There is no getting away from the reactionary nature of such partings of ways with a manager fresh off a defeat on opening day, having spent the summer investing time and faith into his vision and capabilities. 

By my reckoning, this is just the second time we have seen such an early start to Sacking Season. The other back in the summer of 2009 was iconic: Norwich City’s legendary former goalkeeper Bryan Gunn was given the full-time job at his old club having overseen their relegation as Caretaker the season before. 

Gunn’s journey to the dugout had seen him tick off most jobs at Carrow Road, from hosting Norwich fans at “The Gunn Club” to Sponsorship Manager. A cushy home tie against Colchester United looked to be the perfect way for the League One giants to start their ascent back to the second tier of English football. And in some ways it was, just not as Gunn had dreamt — over 25,000 fans watched the Canaries concede five goals in the opening 38 minutes. 

They eventually lost the game 7-1 to a team managed by former Champions League winner and Celtic legend Paul Lambert. The recently appointed Norwich MD David McNally liked what he saw, sacked Gunn and replaced him immediately. Lambert swapped the Carrow Road away dugout for the home. 

That season Norwich won the League One title with 95 points, nine clear of Leeds in 2nd. Norwich also won the return fixture 5-0, meaning Lambert could boast a +11 goal difference over two games having taken charge of both squads. 

As I said, iconic EFL chaos.