Preston part company with Lowe after opening game

Preston North End have parted company with manager Ryan Lowe after just one match of the Championship season.

Lowe has left the club following their 2-0 defeat at home to Sheffield United on Friday night.

The 45-year-old had been in charge at Deepdale since December 2021 when he joined from Plymouth.

But despite finishing in 13th, 12th and 10th, he has departed after discussions with the club’s board on Sunday.

In a statement, club director Peter Risdale said it was “mutually agreed that now was an appropriate time for a change to be made.

“Ryan leaves with the thanks of everyone at the club for his hard work, dedication and commitment, and we wish him and his family the very best for the future.”

Lowe’s assistant Mike Marsh has been placed in interim charge for this week’s matches against Sunderland in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday and away to Swansea City on Saturday.

The club say arrangements over what happens after those games will be announced next week.

Lowe’s stock was high when he arrived in Lancashire from Plymouth Argyle over two and a half years ago to replace Scot Frankie McAvoy.

The Liverpool-born manager had won promotion with both Bury and Plymouth out of League Two and Argyle were riding high in League One when he left to take up the challenge at Preston.

They were 18th in the Championship at the time and an impressive return of 39 points from his 25 games led them up to 13th.

He improved on that by one place in the next season, eventually finishing six points shy of the top six.

However, that campaign was marked by a serious lack of goals. North End managed just 45 across the season.

Five of their first six games finished 0-0, while it took them until the 13th game to score more than once in a match.

However, last season Preston were revelling in their best start for 120 years as they sat top of the Championship with six wins and a draw from their opening seven games.

North End have never played in the Premier League and there was a big dose of realism handed out by a run of seven games without a win.

That included comprehensive defeats by three of the division’s top five in Leicester City, Ipswich Town and West Bromwich Albion.

A seven-game unbeaten stretch in the New Year reignited their play-off hopes, and as late as 13 April they were eighth.

But a brutal finish to the season saw them lose the last five – admittedly playing four of the top six – as they slipped down to 10th.

While Lowe had pushed them up the league in terms of position, the gap to the play-offs had actually grown from six points in 2022-23 to 10 last term.