Preston North End hired former player Graham Alexander to help them turn things around, but the recent findings could have changed the picture dramatically.

North End terminated Paul Heckingbottom in mid-September, after six defeats in their first seven Championship fixtures.

Since then, the Lancashire team has secured one point, moving them above bottom-placed Burnley, with Alexander leaving his role at Bradford City to rejoin his previous club.

Robbie Keane, who is without a club, was associated with the Preston hot seat, and now there are some intriguing developments about why he did not accept the position.

Why didn’t Robbie Keane take the Preston North End job?

Keane left his position as Ferencváros’ head coach in May, explaining that he believed it was time to move on, and was later linked with a return to English football.

After Heckingbottom was fired, Preston was alleged to have contacted the Irishman about the vacant position, and the reasons he did not accept the job have now been disclosed.

According to Alan Nixon, Keane withdrew from the battle to become North End manager barely 24 hours before the club approached Alexander.

Nixon says that the 46-year-old was approached about the position and was even considered a favourite at one point, but he declined to participate in the final rounds of the campaign, prompting the club to focus on their former player.

He adds that Keane’s reasons are unknown, although sources close to him say he is close to agreeing to another job he wants and is being pursued by another Championship club, as well as Italian interest.

Would Keane have been an appropriate appointment for Preston?

Given that Keane is new to management and has only worked abroad, it is difficult to say whether he would have been successful at Deepdale.

After leaving his position as Leeds United’s assistant manager, the former Republic of Ireland international took over at Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he led them to a domestic double, winning the league and cup.

Before taking over at Ferencváros in January of last year, the Dublin-born head coach had a superb record with the Israeli club, winning 38 of his 53 games in charge.

Taking over midway through the season, he guided the team to the Hungarian league title before winning the domestic cup the following season, though Ferencváros was unable to retain their league victory.

Keane’s managing record (Source: Transfermarkt)

Club

Matches

Points per Match (PPM)

Maccabi Tel Aviv

53

2.32

Ferencváros

82

2.07

While he has had a lot of success so far in his career, his move to Deepdale would have been a risk for a club in desperate need of results, but only time will tell if he would be a success in England.

Why is Alexander a better fit for Deepdale?

The obvious advantage of Alexander getting the Preston position is that he is quite familiar with the club, having spent about nine years at Deepdale in two spells.

Indeed, that could be the key to North End’s turnaround, as the former Bradford manager will quickly settle in and become accustomed to his surroundings.

The 54-year-old is also an experienced manager, having led six teams before joining Deepdale, five of which were English clubs.

In his most recent spell with the Bantams, he transformed the club from an underperforming League Two team to a League One promotion contender in the space of three years, thus he deserves a shot at the Championship.

While Alexander has never played in the second tier, this appears to be a suitable fit, not only for the near term, but also for Preston to move up the table in the coming years.