Former Preston Assistant Loses Manager’s Job At League One Side

Former Preston Assistant Loses Manager’s Job At League One Side
Graham Westley’s right hand man at Preston North End, Dino Maamria, has been sacked as manager of Burton Albion.

The League One side released a very short statement last night, stating he had been relieved of his job after a 2-1 defeat for his former side Stevenage.

It was in fact just a 13 word statement on their official website “Dino Maamria has been relieved of his first team duties with immediate effect.” The 49-year-old was appointed as manager last September and led The Brewers to 15th place in the third tier last year.

He was initially brought in as an assistant to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at Burton, and will be most remembered by Preston fans as the assistant to Graham Westley in a dark time at the club between 2012 and 2013. He had previously been Westley’s number two in a successful stint at Stevenage, and whilst the spell at Preston didn’t go well, they both returned to Stevenage for another tenure.

Maamria also assisted Westley at Newport County but has had the managerial roles at Northwich Victoria, Nuneaton Town, Stevenage and Oldham Athletic before Burton Albion.

Westley and Maamria oversaw an overhaul of the playing staff at Preston North End and despite starting the 2012-13 season positively it quickly fell apart. Neither Westley or Maamria ever endeared themselves to the Preston fans, and the football on show was never easy on the eye. Sounds familiar?

There’s no doubting they knew the recipe for success in non league football, but the fact they have never got close to managing or coaching at a club the size of Preston North End again, shows that they were perhaps out of their depth.

Some of the players brought in under Westley would prove to be key to future success including Paul Huntington and Joe Garner, but it was Simon Grayson who managed that success, which I very much doubt would ever have arrived under Westley and Maamria.

Westley has been out of work since February 2020 after his fourth spell at Stevenage which brought just two wins from 15, and looks unlikely to make a return to management. Neil Mellor recently branded him as the ‘worst ever manager he’d experienced’.

Maamria may be more likely to make a return after a decent spell with Burton. Or it may be time for the duo to link up once again.