Preston boss Ryan Lowe explains changes to his backroom team

Steve Thompson and Jack Cudworth left the Lilywhites last week having held the roles of first-team coach and first-team development coach respectively.

PNE boss Lowe now leads a ‘core’ of first-team coaching staff which contains Mike Marsh, Paul Gallagher and Mike Pollitt.

Lowe told the Lancashire Post: “Thommo had a few personal things going on in his life which will remain private and confidential.

“I brought Marshy in while Gally and Polly were in, they are the main ones on the coaching staff.

“We’ve got the analysts, the fitness team and physios.

“Jack Cudworth, a lovely lad, was a development coach here having been a goalkeeper coach before that.

“We have moved the young lads he was working with back to the academy and they will be called up when needed.

“The main coaches at a club are manager, assistant manager, first-team coach and goalkeeper coach.

“That is the core group and before that I just felt it was a little bit overcrowded in these areas.

“We’ve made the decisions, we wish Thommo and Jack all the best. They are two great lads who I’m sure will get back into football sooner rather than later.”

One of Lowe’s first tasks when he became PNE boss was to bring in Marsh as his No.2.

It’s the first time the pair have worked together, Lowe having had Steven Schumacher as assistant in his previous two posts at Plymouth Argyle and Bury.

Schumacher replaced Lowe as Plymouth manager, hence the new partnership.

Lowe said: “Someone told me that Sir Alex Ferguson used to change his assistant every two years but I better not be telling Marshy that I’m going to change him in two years!

“Myself and Steven Schumacher had a great relationship, he’s one of my best mates and that relationship will continue.

“Marshy has come in, he’s seen it, been there, done it, he has a lot of experience.

“We talk about sessions on a daily basis and he spins something on it which is a Championship or Premier League type session,

“That is what you want, we are trying to advance every day and we bounce off each other.

“Gally had stepped-up to the mark in the sessions we have been putting on, we all have a voice.

“In terms of the model and plan here, Marshy’s brain is ticking all the time in how we advance and get better.

“He has been a breath of fresh air to work with.”

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