When the historians look back on the 2007/08 campaign in years to come they will see the month of November as a real watershed period in the Club's history.

The departure of the Club's manager is usually reflective of a lowpoint in the fortunes of any team and that was exactly the case when Paul Simpson's tenure at Deepdale came to an end. Simpson took the Lilywhites to their highest position in more than 40 years in his first season in charge but 2007 proved to be a real reversal of fortune for Simpson's PNE and poor performances and results would ultimately cost Simmo his job.

Whilst one door closes another opens and the Preston board would move swiftly to appoint a new man at the helm, Alan Irvine taking his first job in management after years as David Moyes' second in command...more on Mr Irvine later.

The month of November opened with both departures and arrivals. Full-back Jon Halls moved north from Reading in a one-month loan deal and on the same day Danny Pugh joined a growing number of former Northenders at the Britannia Stadium when he moved on loan to Stoke City.



Halls would be thrown straight into action for the weekend trip to Barnsley's Oakwell, an afternoon of high drama where the South Yorkshire side claimed all three points after Neil Mellor saw an injury-time penalty acrobatically saved by Heinz Muller. Barnsley's Istvan Ferenczi grabbing the only goal of the game in the Tykes' 1-0 win.

The highlight of the afternoon for the Preston fans was the excellent effort in a fancy dress theme with hundreds of Northenders making an effort to get dressed up.



North End didn't have too much time to dwell on the defeat as they were straight back in action at Deepdale the following Tuesday night with Leicester City the opposition. PNE boss Simpson threw down the gauntlet to his players ahead of the game but the Lilywhites had to settle for a 1-1 draw against the Foxes after DJ Campbell had cancelled out Andy Carroll's first goal for the Club. After the game Carroll told pne.com that he was delighted to finally get off the mark for is adopted club.

Despite the indifferent results and performances defender Sean St. Ledger was in fine form and he gave his manager Paul Simpson plenty of credit for his revival in form. Simpson himself told the Whites World cameras that he was taking things one game at a time ahead of the trip to Hull City's Kingston Communications Stadium. Youl Mawene meanwhile said that the trip to East Yorkshire held no fear for the Frenchman.



Despite the pre-match optimism the result went against the Lilywhites, the Tigers claiming a comprehensive 3-0 victory in a match Paul Simpson described as "the worst performance of the season by far." After the match Matt Hill told Whites World that the players need to look at themselves following the poor performance.

The speculation on Paul Simpson's future went into overdrive and on Tuesday 13th November the Club announced that following a board meeting the manager would be relieved of his duties, bringing an end to his 17-month reign at Deepdale. Chairman Derek Shaw went on record to explain the decision immediately.



After being placed in temporary charge of first team affairs, Robert Kelly said that it was time for everyone connected with Preston North End to pull together following a turbulent time.

There was some more positive news at boardroom level with Chairman Derek Shaw deciding to stand for re-election at the next AGM, after previously indicating that he would like to stand down from his position. More off-field developments concerned the naming of the fourth stand which would be named the Invincibles Pavilion when it opens for business at the start of the 2008/09 campaign.



Shaw had clearly not been resting on his laurels and within seven days the Club were ready to announce that they had agreed a compensation package with Everton for the release of their assistant manager, Alan Irvine.

Irvine was confirmed as the new Preston North End manager and he gave his first exclusive interview as PNE boss to Whites World. Irvine later faced the press and he told them that he hoped to get the Lilywhites performing at the other end of the Championship sooner rather than later. Irvine even got a good luck message from his old boss, David Moyes. The new PNE boss also got a few words of encouragement from one of his former players, Alan Stubbs.

Andy Lonergan, Youl Mawene and Matt Hill welcomed the new Gaffer and both admitted that they were prepared to roll up their sleeves in order to get the team out of trouble.



The new Gaffer's first match in charge of the Lilywhites would be a home tie at in-from Charlton Athletic, live on Sky TV. Ahead of the match Irvine said that he would be relying heavily on his backroom staff in order to pick the team having only been at Deepdale a couple of days. The game itself was something of an anti-climax, a good performance but late goals in each half of the game cost the Lilywhites in a 2-0 home defeat. After the game Chris Sedgwick said that North End must scrap for everything and looked ahead to their next game against Crystal Palace.

The trip to Selhurst Park would see the newly installed North End boss returning to one of his former clubs. Speaking exclusively to pne.com the manager said that he was having to take a crash course in Championship management. Sean St. Ledger meanwhile was nursing a sore ankle but was hopeful of being selected for the match against the Eagles. Meanwhile as the team was travelling down to South London, the ever-changing face of the Invincibles Pavilion was taking shape with the installation of the crossbar.



Back down in South London and the crossbar was no use to the Lilywhites as they lost 2-1 to Palace, Clinton Morrison smashed one in off the woodwork and Clint Hill lobbed Lonergan after Youl Mawene had headed PNE into an encouraging early lead. Mawene was frustrated after the match, but not as frustrated as manager Alan Irvine who described the performance as 'very disappointing'.

It was a disappointing end to a turbulent month for the Lilywhites, one of huge change, but were the early signs there of things to come? Only time would tell!