'Homecoming' - why Alexander left Bradford for Preston

It has taken a couple of weeks for Preston North End to get all their ducks in a row.

Now, after a desperately poor start to the season, perhaps the time is right to turn to a familiar face. And not just any familiar face.

Graham Alexander is back at Deepdale - and this one feels different.

Alexander has represented plenty of other clubs during a long playing and managerial career, but there's something about him and Preston. This feels like a homecoming.

There is no doubt he was on to a good thing at Bradford City. The reaction of their supporters to his departure tells you everything.

The 54-year-old was appreciated, respected and, judging by the response on social media, will be badly missed.

That makes his decision to leave all the more interesting.

Look at where the two clubs currently sit in the EFL pyramid and only Burnley separate them.

Alexander already has five League One victories under his belt this season. His new club have lost six times in the Championship.

This is not a manager walking into an easy job. Far from it.

That is why the next two weeks on the training pitch at Euxton could be invaluable. Alexander needs to assess exactly what he has inherited before Millwall arrive at Deepdale on 10 October.

So why walk away from Bradford, a club that has been on an upward trajectory since his arrival at Valley Parade?

In time, he will tell us.

But I do not think you need to search too hard for part of the answer. The emotional pull of Preston North End must have been enormous.

This is where Alexander spent the longest period of his playing career. He lived on the outskirts of the city. His children grew up in the area.

He understands Preston, the football club and, crucially, the desperation among its supporters to one day see North End back in the top flight. He knows how close they have come before because he was part of it.

Alexander came agonisingly close under David Moyes and Billy Davies. And while he was born in Coventry and represented Scotland on the international stage, there has always been a sense that Preston became home.

Then there is ambition.

Alexander has been a manager for almost 14 years. He has experienced the highs and lows that come with the profession and, as you would expect, some jobs have worked out better than others.

But promotions with Fleetwood Town, Salford City and Bradford City are achievements he can look back on with enormous satisfaction.

Now comes something different.

This is his first permanent crack at managing in the Championship. He has waited a long time for it.

He will have a top-class training facility and everything that goes with being a second-tier club.

Anyone who knows Alexander will also know exactly what North End are getting.

This is a man who will leave no stone unturned in trying to drag them up the table. He lives and breathes football.

I remember spending some time in his company during the London 2012 Olympics and asking him which sports he was enjoying.

His response? "I'm only interested in football."

That sums him up rather nicely.

Do not expect Alexander to be the sort of fist-pumping manager racing towards the Alan Kelly Town End after matchday one.

That is not him.

He goes about his business differently. His view has always been that he had his time on the pitch. Now it is about the players who are out there wearing the shirt.

I would not expect him to walk through the door knowing absolutely everything about every member of this North End squad. But you can guarantee he will have done his homework.

And he will not need long to identify the biggest problem.

His Bradford side have conceded only four league goals this season. Preston North End have conceded 15, despite playing just one game more.

For a man who spent the vast majority of his Deepdale career as a defender, that will hurt.

Alexander was part of a North End side that made clean sheets almost routine in 2005-06. That defensive resilience gave them a platform to challenge at the right end of the Championship.

That is surely where the rebuilding job starts.

North End have kept only three clean sheets in 2026 and none since early February.

For a club with ambitions of achieving anything in the Championship, that simply is not good enough.

There will be bigger questions further down the line. But first things first.

Make them difficult to beat. Restore some belief. Get Deepdale back on side. Start moving up the table.

For Graham Alexander, this might just be the job he has always wanted.

The romantic part is over. Now the hard work really begins.