Ex-Preston North End and Leicester City star makes management ambition crystal clear

Preston North End legend Paul Gallagher wants to embark on his own journey as a manager, after having a taste of it with Stoke City.

Gallagher’s time at Deepdale came to an end last summer, after a decade. In a Preston shirt, he made 313 appearances and then stepped on to the coaching team for two plus years - working alongside Alex Neil, Frankie McAvoy and Ryan Lowe.

But, Neil lured him to the Potters last year and after he was sacked in December, Gallagher stayed on until the end of the season. He took two games as caretaker, before the appointment of Steven Schumacher. Gallagher then left the club this summer and is now driven to start his career as a number one, wherever that may be.

Speaking to the Lancashire Post, Gallagher said: “I think, now, I would like to go around and watch other teams train. You are always learning and I want to be the best coach I can be. The next step, I hope, is to be a head coach/manager. I feel like I’ve done the coaching for four years and don’t get me wrong, I love that - being on the grass with the players, giving them detail, information and trying to improve them.

“I think the next step, I would like to go out and watch other teams and go to other games - at League One and League Two level even, just to see how other things work. Hopefully, the time might come where I get an opportunity to a young head coach. I would like to be an aggressive manager, I always feel personality is a big thing. I think your team has got to play with personality and if you set up aggressive without the ball, the other team knows they are in for a game.

“I remember being at Preston and the opposition would always say they hated coming to us, because they knew they were in for a tough game. I want my players to play with personality and believe that they are good players. You want to dominate possession, but you’ve got to have a few different ways of playing - with and without the ball. There can be three or four different ways of pressing, so the analysis comes into it of watching games and breaking it down.

“With the ball, I want people to express themselves and enjoy it. When you get wide, put a cross in the box. Defenders don’t want to defend crosses. Fans want to see opportunities. I have seen so many times now over the last few years - teams get into the final third and they will come back and recycle. It’s nice on the eye to watch, but you’re thinking it’s 50 passes for a goal. At the end of the day, you want to score goals, excite and get the fans behind you.

“That is what I’d like to implement in a team, obviously if I get the chance to manage one. I am very open minded, in terms of (going in) anywhere. I’d just like the opportunity, because I’d like to believe I could get a team going. When I played, tactically was one of my strengths and I’ve learned so much about tactics coming on to the coaching side. But, man management as well. I felt it when I did a little stint, that my job was to get the best out of the player and the collective.

“And that is not just the players on the pitch, it is the players not playing and the staff - squeezing every per cent out of them, to get where you want to get to. I enjoyed that and felt comfortable in that environment, doing that. I had a call to go in somewhere, but I just felt that the time now - I want to recharge and get ready for the next step of my career. You never know, my son always says: ‘Why don’t you go back to Preston?!’. I always say: ‘You never know’ - because as a player in 2007 I left and I came back a better player in 2013.

“So, who says when you leave as a coach, you don’t go away and come back as a better coach. That is something I am open to and just seeing what comes. I am really excited for the future, because I feel like I’ve still got a lot of learning to do. But, these experiences have put me in good stead. I love football, it’s all I’ve ever known and I always knew I wanted to be a manager. I like that pressure. I know it’s not easy and I know it’s tough, but that’s something I want to strive for. Whatever level that is, when it comes I want to try and dive in it with two feet and enjoy it.”