Former Leeds United and Sheffield United man tipped for Preston North End job after Ryan Lowe exit
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Former Leeds United head coach Paul Heckingbottom has been tipped as the obvious early candidate to take over at Preston North End, following Ryan Lowe’s surprise departure.
Preston confirmed Lowe’s exit ‘by mutual consent’ on Monday after just one game of the 2024/25 Championship campaign, with Friday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Sheffield United proving fatal for his role at Deepdale. The 45-year-old was booed off by sections of the home support after another goalless game made it six league defeats on the bounce without scoring, when factoring in the end of last season as well.
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Hide AdHeckingbottom has emerged as the early favourite to take over at Preston, who have placed Mike Marsh, Peter Murphy and Ched Evans in temporary charge, with the ex-Leeds boss out of work since being sacked by Sheffield United eight months ago. And former left-back Stephen Warnock named the 47-year-old as an obvious option to succeed Lowe.
“The candidate that sticks out straight away is Paul Heckingbottom,” Warnock told Sky Sports shortly after news of Lowe’s exit. “You look at him and think ‘really good coach, really good pedigree’. I think the big question is, he’ll want to know - or whoever gets the job - why Ryan Lowe left?
“Managers speak, so they’ll be on the phone asking the questions, ‘why did you leave? What was the reason behind it?’ Now he (Lowe) might give him the absolute reasons behind the scenes, what was going on. It might be the board, it might be the team. Whatever it is, they can then make that decision based on that as well. But he’s the one person who springs to mind straight away.”
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Hide AdJournalist Alan Nixon reports that Heckingbottom is ‘in the frame’ to take over at Preston, with the former Elland Road leader top of the bookies’ odds as things stand. Having been out of work since his Sheffield United sacking in December 2023, the well-respected EFL coach has often been linked with Championship jobs but seems in no rush to get back into management.
Heckingbottom spent just four months in charge at Elland Road after succeeding Thomas Christiansen in February 2018. The former Barnsley coach guided Leeds to 13th in the Championship table and despite initially signing an 18-month contract, was let go the following June and replaced by the now iconic Marcelo Bielsa.
Meanwhile, Football Insider has named another former Leeds employee as a candidate to take over at Deepdale. They claim ex-striker David Healy is a ‘contender’ for the job after continuing to impress as head coach of Northern Irish outfit Linfield.
Healy has won five league titles in his nine years at Linfield and been named Northern Ireland Manager of the Year on four occasions. Preston will be expected to have a new manager in charge by the time they welcome Leeds to Deepdale on December 14.