OUTGOING Darwin Olympic coach Michael Melas couldn't have named a better replacement at the Reds than long-time teammate Steve Lolias.

Melas last night officially handed the reins over to his premiership teammate and Olympic great, comfortable in the knowledge that the 41-year-old would bring a new spark to the club.

"A new voice and direction is going to be good for the club," the premiership-winning coach and player said.

"I've got all the respect in the world for Steve as a coach, player and person.

"This is a guy who was my under-18 captain and who I played a lot of soccer with after that."

Lolias, who has honed his coaching skills with St Marys NTFL reserves over the past three years, returns to the premiership soccer ranks after a decade.

His last appointment was alongside Joe Gallagher at the turn of the Millennium. Since then he has focused on juniors, most recently leading the under-19 NT schoolboys team at the Australian Championships in 2007.

With Melas vacating and leaving an exciting young squad behind, Lolias felt the timing was right.

"I just feel fresh, I've been away from coaching soccer for a few years now," Lolias said.

"I'm not going to try to re-invent the wheel, I think Michael did a great job with boys and developed some great talent.

"Guys like Pauly Grant, Jake Toogood, Matt Hajdic and Edson Dos Reis were with Michael for four years, now I'll be hoping they can step up for me."

Lolias will juggle his NTFL duties and Olympic pre-season training for the next two months.

"I'll be busy, but that's OK," he said.

The Reds first training session of the year kicks off at 5.30pm at Tiwi Oval on Monday.

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Match Preview: Chelsea

The abiding feeling for most North End supporters going into the big game is that it's about time PNE pulled off a Cup shock. However standing in the way is probably the most formidable team in the country, leaving North End with the toughest of tasks.

Chelsea stand top of the Premiership table alongside London rivals Arsenal and also come into the game as proud holders of the FA Cup.

North End meanwhile have struggled of late in the league but the magic dust has most certainly been sprinkled on the oldest knock out cup competition in the world this year with Man Utd and Liverpool being bundled out by lower division opposition.

With a live TV audience watching on ITV1 the producers will be hoping there are goals aplenty for the soccer-loving sofa-sitters across the country and the good news is that both teams haven't been shy of finding the net in the compeition so far.

PNE netted seven times without reply against Colchester United three weeks ago and the Blues banged in five against Watford before matching North End with seven of their own against Sunderland last weekend.

Winners of the trophy five times compared to PNE's two, the bookies don't fancy an upset tomorrow but the Lilywhites will cling to the surprise Barnsley sprung on Chelsea two years ago when they beat the Stamford Bridge side 1-0.

North End probably owe Chelsea one in this competition as well because in our last two meetings in the FA Cup we've seen one goal leads reversed for Chelsea wins. Darren Ferguson will be calling on the capacity crowd to ramp up the volume in his first game in charge to try and beat Chelsea for the first time in the FA Cup and get his management career at Deepdale off to a memorable start.

Gaffer's Team News

"We're fine, we're good. Barry Nicholson and Paul Parry are the long term injuries but apart from that everyone is fit, Youl has trained all week very well, Harty's trained all week very well, both will come into contention so pretty strong really injury wise. Youl gives me a decision to make there's no doubt about that, he talks, he organises he's experienced and one thing we're going to have to do well is organise and talk because against Premiershp teams you think you're doing well and then one lapse of concentration and bang you're a goal behind so we can't have any lapses of concentration on Saturday."

Darren Ferguson tells PNE Player that Youl Mawene is in contention for the game



The Opposition

After the inconsistencies of the Luis Felipe Scolari era and the near misses of Guus Hiddink's period at the Bridge Chelsea chose the double European Cup-winning manager from AC Milan Carlos Ancelotti last summer to try and wrest the title back to Stamford Bridge.

And the man who also won Serie A with the Italians hasn't disappointed so far, leading his team to the top of the table, making sure of progress to the next stage of the Champions League and negotiating his team's way into the fourth round of the FA Cup.

There were few arrivals last summer with Daniel Sturridge, Yuri Zhirkov and Ross Turnbull the only signings made before the 2009/10 season started. But the lack of activity hasn't impacted on performances as the results testify.

Four goals without reply against Arsenal and Manchester United firmly established themselves as the favourites to lift the Premier league trophy and in Didier Drogba they have a forward who has been, along with Cesc Fabregas, the player of the season in the top division so far.

Of course, Drogba, Michael Essien, Soloman Kalou and John Obi Mikel are absent for the Deepdale match due to injuries and Afircan Nations duties but the strength in depth is such at Stamford Bridge that tomorrow's team is unlikely to lack experience or quality.

John Terry and Frank Lampard have continued their excellent form in recent seasons to form the backbone of the Londoners' success and North End will have to find a way of unruffling the England pair if they are to have a chance of emulating Leeds Utd and Reading by causing a cup surprise.



The Manager

Carlo Ancelotti has taken the unusual step of naming his team in anticipation of tomorrow's game and he also explained to the pre-match press conference why Ashley Cole will miss out and what the situation with other Cole is. The Chelsea team reads: Hilario, Paulo Ferreira, Alex, John Terry, Yury Zhirkov, Juliano Belletti, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, Deco, Nicolas Anelka, Daniel Sturridge.

"Ashley Cole is out because he has a problem on his ankle and won't be ready, I want to leave him out to rest for the game against Birmingham. Joe Cole will be in the squad next year.

"The aim of the club is to keep him in the squad because he is an important player, he is a very professional player with a lot of quality and a player of the English national team.

"For this reason we want to keep him in the squad. I cannot guarantee to Cole he will play in Chelsea every game, I cannot guarantee that to any player. I never guarantee to play every game."

And the Italian went on to preview the game for the assembled press claiming that he isn't sure what to expect at Deepdale on Saturday.

"'I don't know very well Preston but I am sure they will try to do hard work on the pitch, they will try to do the best because the FA Cup is the oldest competition in the world and a very important competition here.

"There were strange results in the last round and we don't want to have one in this round. It is an important game for this season."

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