By Paul Fletcher

I believe that clubs are essentially about the players, not the staff Paul Simpson

Paul Simpson could be forgiven for wondering what he had walked into when he left Carlisle for Preston in June.

Claude Davis had just been sold to Sheffield United, Tyrone Mears made it clear he wanted to leave and just about Simpson's entire backroom staff quit.

But with the new Championship season just over a week away the new North End boss is brimming with enthusiasm.

"I'm loving every minute of it," Simpson told BBC Sport. "Preston is a great club to be involved with.

"There has been a lot of hiccups to deal with but we are getting there now. Hopefully by the start of the season all the staff will be in place and we will have people who want to be here."

First-team coach David Kelly seems certain to leave the club, perhaps following the centre of excellence director, assistant director, goalkeeping coach and physio in linking-up with former North End boss Billy Davies at Derby.

"The centre of excellence director we allowed to go straight away," explains Simpson, giving an example of what happened shortly after he was appointed.

PAUL SIMPSON FACTFILE Born on 26 July 1966 Played for Man City, Oxford, Derby, Sheff Utd, Wolves, Walsall, Blackpool, Rochdale and Carlisle Managed Rochdale and Carlisle before moving to Preston

"He told us it was for personal reasons, that he did not enjoy being in full-time football. He popped up 72 hours later at Derby County."

The only position yet to be filled is that of physio and Simpson revealed a new person has been found but that his identity will not be made public until his current club has found a replacement.

Simpson believes the uncertainty that engulfed Deepdale shortly after his arrival provided him with a superb opportunity to assess the character of his players.

"I believe that clubs are essentially about the players, not the staff," said Simpson, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Wednesday.

"The staff are there to help the players, to get the players into the right condition and the right frame of mind.

"The big plus out of all of this is that the players have not been distracted by it whatsoever, they have been totally focused on what we want to do.

"The players attitude has been spot on. There are helping each other and there seems to be a well balanced squad."

There is nothing that scares us and we are all looking forward to the season Paul Simpson

The sales of Davies and Mears raised more than �3.5m and the manager is confident that no more players will be leaving the club - though the possibility remains that more will arrive.

"We don't have to sell anybody - the likes of David Nugent - to balance the books," added the North End boss, who had a trial at Deepdale as a 12-year-old.

"If I feel the need to go out and buy there is money available and we are continuing to look around."

Simpson won promotion from League Two with Carlisle last season, 12 months after taking the Cumbrians up out of the Conference.

Preston also had a successful couple of years, reaching the Championship play-offs in successive seasons.

And the new manager is confident that his move to Deepdale will ensure more happy times.

"We have a tough run of fixtures to start with but there is nothing that scares us and we are all looking forward to it," he said.

"I think it is going to be a tough season if we give 100% in every game and the attitude is right I'm hopeful we can achieve the same things as last season and maybe even better."