PNE 'Legends' (3)

Andy Smith


Yet another woeful Craig Brown signing, who was tipped as a future striking star, after a prolific time playing for the mighty Glentoran in Northern Ireland. He signed for PNE in 2004 for £130,000. He never even looked like bagging a single goal in his 14 appearances for the club, and is arguably one of the worst players to ever wear the North End number 10 shirt.

He was sent out on loan a couple of times to the likes of Stockport and Motherwell but still failed to score, then he had the opportunity to go on loan and become a hero at Cheltenham Town. Who in the 2006-2007 season asked their fans to help raise the funds required for a loan player, which they brilliantly did. Unfortunately for the Cheltenham fans the player their hard earned money would be spent on was Andy Smith.

'... from joining PNE in 2004 Smith failed to score for 5 years...'

His time at Cheltenham was farcical, he played two games and needless to say didn't score in either of them. But he then refused to sit on the bench for an FA Cup tie and was promptly returned back to PNE days after. How mad would you be if your were at Cheltenham fan?

In fact from joining PNE in 2004 Smith failed to score for 5 years, including a period at Portadown where he  did not turn up for training for over two months, he finally scored for Ballymena United in 2009 after a series of unsuccessful trials at various clubs. He stayed at Ballymena for two years making 49 appearances and scoring 10 goals.

Andy Smith definitely goes down as a 'Legend' for his clear lack of ability, terrible blonde highlights and the rapid decline of his footballing career after he signed for North End. But I bet Cheltenham fans dislike him even more than we do.

No New Years Joy

It was a poor display against Sheffield Wednesday and is likely to spell the end to any chances of Unsworth or Alexander being appointed the managerial job permanently. The game highlighted both the lack of ability in our squad and strength in depth.


In an attempt not to dwell on the match for too long, we have decided to just include player ratings from the game, rather than a gruelling and slightly depressing match report.

Player Ratings

• 01 Stuckmann 5- made a crucial error for second goal and kicking was wayward all game, but must remember he has saved us on many occasions recently.
• 02 Gray 6 - Unbelievably awarded M.o.M, looked average, poor control and weak defending, lots of chances created for Wednesday down their left flank in first half.
• 06 Morgan 6 - Didn't do too much wrong, best defender but will be caught out by the better strikers in the division due to his lack of pace.
• 14 Smith 5 - frustrating, delivery was frequently poor and not particularly solid at the back.
• 39 McCombe 5 - got caught out often, extremely slow and distribution not good enough. Need to find better defensive options in the transfer window if we want to make a serious play-off push.
• 08 Coutts 6 - Looks good on the ball, but struggled to create anything mainly due to lack of options up front. Needs to boss the game more.
• 15 Barton 6 - Looked better in a more familiar role, but still too easily bypassed in the centre.
• 16 Mayor 7- should have been M.o.M looked positive on the ball, gained confidence with early runs and troubled defenders. Probably his best game for PNE.
• 17 Parry 6- Just not involved enough, try's hard and does job but doesn't offer enough to the team, he has a good left foot but we don't see it enough. Should have scored header and maybe even the chance that was cleared off the line.
• 07 Hume (Tsoumou 31) 6- early injury disrupted team and as good as ended any chance we had of a comeback. (6- offered more than some players, puts his body between defender and ball, just needs more confidence and more backing off the crowd).
• 09 Proctor (Douglas 58) 5 - very poor, in fairness he didn't look match fit. Touch was bad and had no impact, rightfully substituted, main element of our impotent attacking force. (6- struggled to get involved, a few good touches but can't be critical or put any expectation on his inexperienced shoulders to get us back into the game).