HAVE Baxi been good for Preston? That seems to be a popular question doing the rounds at Deepdale, so I thought I would write in and put my two pennorth in.

I have no doubt many people moan about Baxi because they are never satisfied. But sometimes they do have a strong argument.

On the other hand, before Baxi came on board Deepdale was a half-decent lower division ground, one which I loved to bits and didn't want to see go.

But now Deepdale is being changed into a superb stadium, a place which, I hope, will host some of the biggest footballing names in time.

But Baxi haven't spent the millions of pounds that Fulham have, which some people say is a bad thing.

To me it isn't. We spent £1 million on the United trio plus £25k on Jason Harris as well as collecting a couple of frees on the way and created a good team.

Just by spending an exorbitant amount of money to buy a team doesn't show your management skills. Blackburn are proof there (and I can't wait to visit Ewood Park next season!).

In the long term, you need intelligence as well as liberal amounts of cash, which is why I think we are building for the long term with Baxi.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.