Neil: My men are no fakes
Alex Neil has warned the English Championship is full of fake teams – and he’d rather trust his tried-and-tested Preston players.
The Scots boss faces the hard task of getting North End promoted in a climate of massive spending by clubs bidding for the top flight.
But Neil says his rivals’ squads reek of having been manufactured – while his side have grown together over a period of years.
Neil added :“The Championship is a bit of a mismatch these days because you have the so-called bigger clubs with bigger budgets and those who’ve come down from the Premier League with the parachute payments.
“But at some of them you can see that any team spirit is manufactured, because you’re basically trying to purchase the best players.
“My players want to be here. We had our best finish for decades last season.
“It hasn’t been a difficult sell for us[ to keep the best players].
“But in the short- term future we’ ll have to get ourselves up if we’re going to retain our best players and manage to keep this team together.”
Neil, 37, is a realist who knows that the scramble to reach the Premier League – where the side finishing bottom earns a minimum £100million – can leave many clubs hovering on the brink of financial ruin.
He achieved promotion from the Championship with former club Norwich City but confessed: “It’s getting harder to compete for promotion because of the big clubs in the league.
“Arguably, Norwich would have been considered to be in this category when I took t h em up into the Premier League.
“When you’ve got quality a t your d isposa l , it certainly helps.”