Graham Alexander says Preston return 'feels like home' after 'surreal' first day as new Deepdale boss
New Preston North End manager Graham Alexander has described his return to Deepdale as "surreal" and "special", insisting the club where he made 372 league appearances as a player "feels like home".
The 54-year-old left League One leaders Bradford City on Monday to succeed Paul Heckingbottom at Deepdale, inheriting a North End side second from bottom in the Championship with six defeats from their opening eight league games.
'It didn't feel real until I had the training kit on'
Alexander, who was speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, admitted the emotion of the homecoming caught up with him almost immediately after his appointment.
"Yesterday was a bit surreal – it didn't feel real until I had the training kit on. When I got home last night, me and my wife had a bit of a moment about the journey we've had to get to this point."
Asked whether Preston felt like home, he replied: "It does yeah, it does."
Alexander retired as a player with Preston at the end of the 2011-12 season, aged 40, having also had a brief spell as caretaker manager at Deepdale during that campaign. He turned down the option to begin his coaching career in the club's academy and went on to manage Fleetwood, Scunthorpe, Salford City, Motherwell and MK Dons.
Family ties pulled him back to the north west
The new boss revealed that his family's connection to the area endured long after his playing days ended. When he took the Motherwell job, it was a "big decision" for him and his wife to move to Scotland, having been "so happy in Preston for 20 years" – but only moved because their children were growing up.
"When we decided to move back to England, I gave my wife the choice of where she wanted to live because she'd been following me around for so long. The natural one was either the West Midlands, where we're both from and our families are from, or Preston and the north west area because of our relationships and how we felt here – and she chose to come back here, which I was hoping she would say."
"It's been a special place for us," he added.
Two-week window 'valuable' ahead of Millwall test
Alexander, who has never managed in the Championship before, believes his arrival gives the players a chance to "restart" at the club and says he is "not going to drag anything forward".
North End return to league action after the three-week international break with a home game against Millwall on Saturday, 10 October, and the new manager is relishing the rare luxury of almost a fortnight on the training ground before his first competitive fixture in charge.
"When I've took over a couple of other clubs mid-season it's been late in the week, it's been Thursday or Friday and then a game, so to have a full two weeks working with them is valuable to us – but the proof will be in the pudding when we play Millwall."
"It's important because there are certain things we really believe in and commit to, so a two-week window to implement those things will be good – but it will take longer than that to be the full team we are."
Alexander now faces the task of dragging Preston off the bottom of the early-season table, with the visit of Millwall offering the first chance to show whether his Deepdale homecoming can spark a turnaround.